The single document that has prevented more disputes than any other in residential construction is the schedule of finishes. A four-page annexure to your JBCC contract that lists, by room and by element, exactly what you're getting.
Most homeowners skip it. Most builders quietly prefer it that way. Then six months in, when "tiles" turns out to mean R 90/m² ceramics instead of R 320/m² porcelain, the conversation becomes a fight.
What goes in a finishes schedule
For every room, specify:
Floors
- Material (porcelain, ceramic, engineered timber, vinyl, screed)
- Brand / range / SKU
- Size / pattern
- Grout colour
- Skirting type and height
Walls
- Paint brand, range, colour code (e.g. Plascon Premium PVA, sandalwood beige #BE8F65)
- Number of coats
- Sheen (matt / sheen / gloss)
- Cornice profile and material
- Wall tiling area, brand, range
Ceilings
- Material (rhinolite plaster, gypsum, T&G timber)
- Paint spec
- Cornice / shadow line
Joinery
- Door style, material, finish
- Skirting profile and height
- Built-in wardrobes — sketch + spec
- Kitchen — full schedule on its own page
Plumbing fixtures
- Bath, basin, WC — brand and model
- Mixers and taps — brand and model
- Showerhead, rail, body jets
- Drainage / waste covers
Electrical
- Switches and socket plates — brand, finish
- Light fittings — brand, model, dimmable Y/N
- DB and isolators — brand, position
Special
- Curtain rails (or pelmets and pole reinforcement)
- Aircon points and trunking
- TV brackets and cable routing
What a builder's "allowances" really mean
Most quotes ship with PC (Prime Cost) or PS (Provisional Sum) allowances:
"Sanitaryware: R 18 000 allowance"
That R 18 000 buys one bath, two basins, two WCs, two mixers and one shower — at the lowest acceptable spec. If you choose anything you'd actually want, expect to pay double.
The fix: replace allowances with specific spec'd items in the schedule. If you genuinely don't know which tap you want, write "Hansgrohe Logis Single Lever Mixer or equivalent" and let the builder source.
The five-line trick
For any line item that matters, write five things:
- What it is — material, brand, range
- Where it is — room, wall, position
- How much — area, quantity, length
- What it costs you — net cost to you
- What approval looks like — sample boards initialled before installation
That fifth point is the one that wins disputes. A line saying "tile sample to be approved in writing before laying" turns a verbal "yeah that's fine" into a paper trail.
Sample boards
Before any finish is installed, demand a physical sample board:
- Tiles — at least two tiles, with grout
- Paint — A3 painted swatch in actual light
- Stone — full slab inspected at the yard
- Joinery — door sample with hardware fitted
- Floors — 1 m² installation
Initial and date both copies. Builder keeps one, you keep one. If the install doesn't match the sample, you have grounds to reject.
Skin in the game
The schedule of finishes is two days' work for your architect — and prevents two months of disputes. If your architect resists writing one, you have the wrong architect.
If you're working without an architect (a small renovation, say), copy the framework above into a Word document and send it to the builder for sign-off. The builder will quietly raise his quote a few thousand rand for "the extra admin". Let him. You'll save 20× that on the back end.