What is the difference between a finish schedule and a specification?

The schedule says which finish goes where, by code. The specification says what that code is — manufacturer, product, colour, size, installation requirements. The schedule is for coordination; the spec is what you order from.

Does a finish schedule include furniture?

No. Furniture is FF&E and lives on its own schedule or specification set. The finish schedule covers the surfaces of the building — anything a trade applies rather than a truck delivers.

DefinitionUpdated July 31, 20262 min read

Finish schedule: every surface in every room, in one table

A finish schedule tables every room against its floor, base, wall, ceiling and trim finishes, keyed to specifications. What it contains, how it is keyed, and how it relates to the drawings.

By Idan Mann, founder of NYA

The short answer

A finish schedule is a table listing every room in a project against the finish specified for each surface — floor, base, walls, ceiling, trim and doors — using codes that key to the specifications. It exists so a contractor can see everything that applies to one space without reading the whole drawing set.

Drawings show where things are; schedules show what they are. A finish schedule is the table a painter, a tiler and a millworker each read a different column of, and the reason a project can be priced without three phone calls per room.

A finish schedule's columns

Column	Contains	Example code
Room / number	Space name and its plan number	102 — Primary Bath
Floor	Material and finish code	PT-2 porcelain tile
Base	Base material and height	TB-1 tile base, 100mm
Walls (N/E/S/W)	Per-elevation finish where they differ	PT-1 north, P-3 elsewhere
Ceiling	Finish and height	P-4, 2,700mm AFF
Trim / doors	Millwork and door finishes	P-5 / DR-2
Remarks	Everything the codes cannot carry	Waterproof to 1.8m at shower

Codes key to the specification — the schedule carries the code, the spec carries the manufacturer, product and colour.

Ceiling finishes belong to the schedule, but ceiling layout — fixtures, vents, coffers, switching — belongs on a reflected ceiling plan. The two documents describe the same surface and are read by different trades.

Keeping it honest

One source for the codes. A finish code that means two products in two documents is worse than no code at all.
Revision dates on the schedule itself, because it changes more often than the drawings do.
Discontinuations tracked back through it: when a tile goes out of production, the schedule tells you every room it lands in before you write the change order.

The free finish schedule template gives every room four wall columns, because feature walls are the rule rather than the exception.

Common questions

What is the difference between a finish schedule and a specification?: The schedule says which finish goes where, by code. The specification says what that code is — manufacturer, product, colour, size, installation requirements. The schedule is for coordination; the spec is what you order from.
Does a finish schedule include furniture?: No. Furniture is FF&E and lives on its own schedule or specification set. The finish schedule covers the surfaces of the building — anything a trade applies rather than a truck delivers.