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 · Living and dining · 17 decisions
Living and dining: what to decide, and when
Every decision with a deadline for the living and dining, 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.
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.
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?
3
Rough-in
Before the plumber and electrician run pipes and cables. Everything that sits in the wall or ceiling. Most variations start here.
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?
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.
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?
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).