Do not ask for “the tiles” when you need a buildable decision

Build a decision schedule from the programme

For every material product or customer input, identify:

• installation date;
• delivery period;
• manufacture period;
• survey or design period;
• technical review;
• price confirmation;
• customer review;
• the last date the ordinary programme can absorb the decision.

Share the reason with the date.

Weak:

Windows needed urgently.

Useful:

Final window specification and colour are needed by 14 February. The supplier requires survey, drawing approval and nine weeks for manufacture before the planned installation on 10 May.

Separate the decision stages

Use distinct language:

• Preference: direction only.
• Requested option: needs investigation.
• Selected: exact customer choice recorded.
• Technically confirmed: responsible person has checked stated requirements.
• Commercially confirmed: price, related work and terms are visible.
• Accepted: authorised customer has accepted the stated consequence.
• Ready to order: procurement is authorised.
• Ordered: supplier commitment has been made.

This avoids the two common arguments: “I thought you had ordered it” and “I did not tell you to spend that.”

Show project cost, not catalogue price

If a customer chooses a £900 bath instead of a £650 allowance item, the project effect might not be £250.

It could also include:

• different waste or tap fittings;
• floor reinforcement;
• two-person handling;
• changed delivery charge;
• restocking the first product;
• different tiling or boxing;
• your agreed overhead or margin method.

Explain each component. Do not roll it into a mysterious “upgrade charge”.

Do not transfer technical responsibility by stealth

“Customer's choice” is not a defence for an incompatibility you were responsible for checking.

State who confirms:

• site dimensions;
• performance requirements;
• substrate and fixing method;
• services and connections;
• compliance constraints;
• manufacturer's installation conditions;
• coordination with the design.

If the customer insists on an option you cannot responsibly install, explain why and do not create the impression that a disclaimer makes unsuitable work acceptable.

Manage customer-supplied items explicitly

Record the exact item, quantity, delivery date, inspection route, storage, warranty, return responsibility and consequence of late or damaged supply.

Do not write only:

Bathroom supplied by client.

That leaves responsibility for dimensions, completeness, carriage damage, missing fittings and replacement lead time unresolved.

Raise lateness while it can still be mitigated

A useful late-decision notice says:

The tile selection was due on 5 March after the three compliant options were issued on 20 February. We do not yet have a confirmed product. The tiling start is 2 April and the current supplier lead time is three weeks. Please choose by 8 March or ask a question. After that, we will need to recheck availability and the programme.

It does not say:

Any delay is your fault.

If the choice arrives late, record the actual effect and the mitigation considered. Do not automatically add the same number of days to completion.

Preserve changed decisions

Never replace the first choice with the latest one as though the first never existed. Keep:

• previous selection;
• acceptance date;
• reliance or order status;
• change request;
• credits and costs;
• revised programme effect;
• new acceptance.

That history protects a reasonable customer from double charging and protects you from “I never chose that”.