The layout, and which wastes, toilets, showers and walls move
Moving a waste or a wall drives cost and every later stage.
Ask: Is anything that drains moving? Check the fall to the sewer before you commit.
Plan · Kitchen · 33 decisions
Kitchen: what to decide, and when
Every decision with a deadline for the kitchen, in build order. Whole-house items are included.
Copies the decisions shown, with a prompt, to paste into ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini.
1
Design
Before anything is pulled out or ordered. Layout, what moves, and what has a long lead time. The cheapest stage to change your mind.
Appliance models: oven, cooktop, rangehood, fridge, dishwasher, washer, dryer
The joinery is built around their cut-outs and clearances.
Ask: Do you have the spec sheet, with cut-out sizes, for every appliance?
Everything recessed: shaving cabinets, niches, cavity sliders, TV recesses
Each one needs framing, so it has to be known before the carpenter starts.
Ask: Which items sit in the wall rather than on it?
Order dates for long-lead items: custom joinery, imported tiles and tapware, stone
Some take weeks or months to arrive, longer than the gap to the stage that needs them.
Ask: What has a lead time longer than the time until it is needed?
Which NCC and state rules apply to your work
Livable housing rules, for example, apply differently by state and not at all in some. source
Ask: Have you asked your certifier or builder which rules apply to this job?
2
Framing
Before the carpenter frames or re-frames walls. Anything recessed or wall-hung. The carpenter frames to the actual product.
Which vanities, toilets and cabinets are wall-hung
Wall-hung items need a frame or heavy blocking behind them.
Ask: What is hanging off the wall, and what does its install sheet ask for behind it?
Door sizes and cavity sliders
Openings are framed now. Where livable housing rules apply, doors need an 820 mm clear opening. source
Ask: Which doors are sliders, and do the openings meet any rule that applies to you?
Window sill heights against benches, splashbacks, tapware and mirrors
A sill that clips the splashback or the tap is a framing fix, not a tiling one.
Ask: Does every sill clear the bench, splashback and taps under it?
Rangehood type, height and duct route
The duct runs through the ceiling or wall before linings. Over gas, the hood must be at least 650 mm above the cooktop. source
Ask: Where does the duct go, and is the hood at least 650 mm above a gas cooktop?
3
Rough-in
Before the plumber and electrician run pipes and cables. Everything that sits in the wall or ceiling. Most variations start here.
Tapware type and brand for every wall mixer and spout
In-wall mixer bodies are brand-specific. The trim must match the body already in the wall.
Ask: Is the trim you want the same brand as the body going in now?
Hot water system type and location
It sets pipe runs and power or gas. Water at basins, baths and showers is limited to 50 degrees C. source
Ask: Where does the hot water unit go, and how far is the longest run?
Every power point, switch and light, including power inside joinery
Cables go in before the walls close. Power points are usually about 300 mm high and switches about 1000 to 1200 mm, by convention, not code. source
Ask: Have you walked each room with the furniture: bedsides, desk, TV, benches, robe, appliances?
Power, gas and water for each appliance: cooktop, oven, dishwasher, fridge water, microwave
Each sits at a position the appliance's spec sheet sets.
Ask: Is every appliance's point placed to its spec sheet, not a guess?
Data, TV, air conditioning heads and drains, and smoke alarms
All run in the walls and ceiling. Smoke alarm rules differ by state.
Ask: Have you checked your state's smoke alarm rules, and where the AC drain runs?
4
Set-out and screed
Before the floor is screeded and the room is set out. Tile size, bedding depth and falls. Every height in the room is measured from the finished floor this sets.
Tile size and layout, at least in general
It sets the joint lines, the cuts and where the waste sits. You can pick the exact colour later.
Ask: Do you know the tile size, so the floor and the waste can be set out? Choose it here
Thresholds and floor transitions between rooms
Tile next to timber or carpet needs matching heights and a trim.
Ask: Do the finished floor levels line up at every doorway?
6
Linings
Before the walls and ceilings are sheeted. Blocking behind every fixing, and the plasterboard finish level.
Blocking behind every fixing: towel and grab rails, cabinets, shelves, TV, heavy mirrors, curtain tracks
Once the sheet is on, adding it means cutting the wall. Where livable housing rules apply, grab-rail walls need 12 mm ply or 25 mm noggings. source
Ask: Has every fixing point got blocking, photographed before sheeting?
Plasterboard finish level
Level 4 is standard. Gloss paint, dark colours and raking light need Level 5, which is set when the board is stopped, not painted. source
Ask: Are any walls going gloss, dark, or in raking light?
7
Tiling
Before the tiler sets out. Tile heights, grout, trims and slip ratings. The tiler sets out from these on day one.
Tile heights: band, full height or skirting, wall by wall
The tiler sets out from these. Keep one skirting height on every wall; a height that changes is the first thing people notice.
Ask: For each wall: floor to where?
Grout colour and type: cement, epoxy or urethane
Pale floor grout tends to go grey; epoxy needs no sealing and suits showers but costs more.
Ask: Have you seen the grout beside the real tile, in the room's own light? Choose it here
Edge trims and their finish, or mitred edges
Trims show on every external corner and should match the tapware finish.
Ask: Which edges get a trim, and in what finish?
Splashback: tile, glass or stone, and its height
It meets the benchtop, the cupboards and the rangehood, so the junctions need deciding.
Ask: Where does the splashback stop at each end and at the top? Choose it here
8
Joinery order
Before cabinets and benchtops are ordered. Measure what was built, not what was drawn, then lock boards, benchtops and appliances.
Measure what was built before ordering
Drawings can be well out. Laser-measure the finished walls, then order.
Ask: Have the cabinet sizes been checked against a site measure after linings?
Benchtop material, thickness, edge and overhangs
The edge profile can move the price more than the colour does.
Ask: Which edge, which thickness, and where are the overhangs? Choose it here
Board colours and finishes, and handles or push-to-open
Boards are ordered with the cabinets.
Ask: Have you seen the board sample next to the benchtop and the floor? Choose it here
Sink, tap and cooktop on site for the benchtop template
Stone is templated around the real sink, tap and cooktop. Without them, expect a return visit.
Ask: Are the sink, tap and cooktop on site when the templater comes?
Bench height and wall oven height
Benches usually sit 900 to 950 mm, and the top of a wall oven no higher than about 1700 mm, by convention. source
Ask: Have you checked the bench height against the tallest and shortest cook?
9
Painting
Before the painter quotes and starts. Colours, sheen, prep and coats, per surface.
Colours for each room and surface: walls, ceilings, trims, doors
The painter quotes per surface.
Ask: Have you put real samples on your own walls, in the room's light? Choose it here
Sheen for each surface
Ceilings are usually flat, walls low sheen, and wet areas, trims and doors semi-gloss or gloss.
Ask: Is the sheen written next to every colour in the painter's scope?
Prep and number of coats in the painter's scope
Quotes differ most on prep and coats. Master Painters recommend three coats on new work. source
Ask: Does every quote state the prep and the coats, so you can compare them?
10
Fit-off (can wait)
At the end. The choices you can safely leave late: positions are already fixed.
Light fittings
Positions were fixed at rough-in, so the fitting itself can be chosen late.
Ask: Do the fittings suit the points already in the ceiling?
Handles, towel rails, hooks and accessories
The blocking is already in, so these can wait.
Ask: Do the finishes match the tapware?
Window furnishings and loose furniture
Nothing else depends on them.
Ask: Did the power points land where the furniture went?
Prompts, not rules. Most choices can wait; these can't, because a later trade builds to them. Code items cite their source; states adopt parts of the NCC differently, so check yours. Your builder, trades, certifier and each product's install sheet decide. Download the list (JSON, CC BY 4.0).