Skip build step in debian packaging?

[Dave Mateer <dave_mateer@ntm.org>]

Is there any way to skip the build step when creating a debian package? 

I already have the means of building my application using relative paths for my dependencies. That is, I do NOT have to install the *-dev packages, just have local versions per-application that are pulled down via svn:externals. Some of those I compile with special parameters, or they are new versions; thus declaring them using Build-Depends is impossible or incredibly inconvenient. This method lets me keep my system clean and makes it easy to have different applications compiling against different versions of those dependencies.

In trying to make a Debian package the correct way, I am having to create a dummy package for each dependency, install those packages on my build system, and then declare those in Build-Depends. All of this so that the debuild process can make a binary version of my application ... but I already have that taken care of!

Is there a way to just create a valid (binary-only) debian package from existing binary files? I know exactly what my (runtime) dependencies are, where to put them, how to load them, etc. We have no intension of making a source release, and the package will be hosted on a private repository.

Sorry for the noob questions!

Thanks,

Dave