Finish schedules for new construction (free template)

On a new build, the finish schedule ties design to purchasing. The plans show where things go. The finish schedule says what they are, who supplies them and when they have to be ordered. Without one, those answers live in text messages and somebody's memory.

This guide explains what belongs in a finish schedule and how to fill one out. The template is pre-filled with finishes from our Forest Lawn project. Writing finish schedules and selection packages is also a core part of the new construction interior design Native Plans does for builders.

Want it filled in for your plan? Send the plan set and we'll return a finish schedule your purchasing team can order from.

What is a schedule of finishes?

A schedule of finishes, or finish schedule, is a table keyed to the plans, the way a door schedule or a window schedule is. Rows are items or rooms. Columns are the facts you need about each one.

There are two versions. A basic room finish schedule, often found on the plan set, lists the floor, base, walls and ceiling of each room in general terms, such as hardwood or painted drywall. An interior design finish schedule goes down to product level: manufacturer, model, color code and size. A buyer placing orders needs the second one. An estimator pricing early may only have the first.

What are the different types of house finishes?

The word covers any surface or visible component that completes the construction. A workable grouping:

• Floors: wood, tile, carpet, stone and the transitions between them.
• Walls and ceilings: paint, wallpaper, plaster or limewash, tile, wood paneling.
• Trim and millwork: base, casing, crown, paneling, built-ins, stair parts.
• Cabinetry and countertops: door style, finish, hardware, stone or quartz, edge profiles.
• Tile: floors, showers and backsplashes, with grout and trim pieces.
• Hardware and plumbing trim: pulls, hinges, door hardware, faucets, shower trim and accessories.
• Fixtures and equipment: plumbing fixtures, lighting and appliances. Some teams keep these on separate schedules.

Pick one structure and keep it. The schedule is easier to use when every finish is in one place and each item appears once.

What goes in a finish schedule?

The template has 14 columns. Each is there because someone in the field or in purchasing would otherwise have to ask.

Lead time and order-by date are the two columns most schedules skip. We left lead times blank because they vary by supplier and change over time. Get the number from the supplier, write down the date they gave it, and work out the order-by date from there: the date the item must be on site, minus the confirmed lead time, minus a buffer you choose.

How do you fill out a finish schedule?

1. Start from the plans. List every room by the name on the floor plan, so the schedule and the drawings use the same vocabulary.
2. Add one row per finish per room. A kitchen gets many rows and a closet gets a few. Write the item before the product, so gaps show.
3. Use specific names. 'White paint' is not a finish. A manufacturer, a color name and a code is.
4. Fill in what you know and mark the rest Open. A row with no product and a status of Open tells the builder what is undecided.
5. Take quantities from a takeoff, not a guess, and note waste separately.
6. Add supplier, confirmed lead time and order-by date for anything that has to be ordered ahead.
7. Give the schedule one owner and date every revision. Issue changes as a new version so the field is never working from an old one.

What does a filled-in finish schedule look like?

The template ships with rows from the finish palette of the Forest Lawn house in Brentwood, Tennessee. These are some of them.

Plenty of cells in the file are blank, on purpose. A schedule in progress has open items, and the Status and Notes columns exist to say what is still open. A blank cell is better than a guess.

What are the most common finish schedule mistakes?

Most schedule failures are ordinary ones, and ordinary mistakes are the ones that reach the job site.

• Describing instead of naming. "White tile" cannot be ordered. A manufacturer, a product name and a color code can.
• Calling one finish three things. If brass is "satin brass" on the plumbing order, "brushed brass" on the hardware order and "aged brass" on the lighting order, the house ends up with three golds. Pick one name and use it everywhere.
• Leaving out what sits behind the finish: substrates, trim pieces, transitions, grout and setting materials. Tile without its trim pieces is an incomplete order.
• Skipping the plan reference, so nobody can trace a row back to a drawing.
• Running two versions with two owners, so the field and the office price and order from different lists.

When should a finish schedule be done?

It starts early and fills in as decisions are made. The first version is a pricing tool: categories and allowances by room. The second adds products and becomes a purchasing tool, and it has to exist before the trades that depend on it. After ordering, the third version is a record of what was installed, which a builder will want for warranty and service calls. Our guide to when to make selections in a new build goes through the timing by construction phase. The short version: the finish schedule is where decide-by dates live, so start it before framing, not after.

Who writes the finish schedule?

On builder-run projects it is often the builder's office or a purchasing lead, working from the builder's standards or the buyer's choices. On others an interior designer writes it. What matters is one owner and one current version.

A designer who specifies finishes needs to know the builder's suppliers, allowances and schedule. A builder who specifies needs to know the design intent. Native writes finish schedules and selection packages alongside the plans, so the schedule and the drawings share room names and agree on openings.

If you want this done for your own product, see how our interior design service documents finishes, fixtures and purchasing information for builders. The template above is free to use either way. For how the schedule sits alongside the drawings, read the sheet-by-sheet guide to residential plan sets.