Review a finish schedule room by room: confirm each room appears once with the plan number and name, that every finish code is defined and points to a specified product, and that the floor, base, wall and ceiling entries match the finish plan, elevations, ceiling plan and details. Then check rated rooms and exit routes for the required finish class and list every blank entry as an open decision.
Collect every source that describes a finish
Open the room finish schedule with the finish legend, the floor finish plans, the reflected ceiling plans, the interior elevations, the enlarged toilet, kitchen and lobby plans, the floor build-up, base and transition details, and the finish specification sections. Add the fire strategy or life safety plan when any room is rated or lies on an exit route. Record which of these you received; a schedule that refers to a finish plan you do not have is a finding in its own right.
Check which issue each source belongs to. Interior packages are often reissued separately from the base building set, so the schedule can be newer than the elevations it summarizes. Ask which combination governs instead of assuming the latest file replaces every earlier one. The drawing register template gives you a place to record that baseline.
Twelve questions for each room
Start with one room and work across its row. For repeated room types, confirm that the floor, wall, ceiling and wet-area conditions really are the same before you check them as a group.
| Review area | Open these sources together | Question to resolve |
|---|---|---|
| Room coverage | Room finish schedule, floor plans, room names and numbers | Does every finished room appear in the schedule once, with the same number and name the plans use? |
| Finish codes | Schedule codes, finish legend, specification sections | Is every code used in the schedule defined in the legend, and every legend code used somewhere? |
| Floor finish and build-up | Schedule floor column, floor finish plan, floor build-up details | Does the scheduled floor finish match the finish plan and the build-up detail for that room? |
| Transitions | Floor finish plan, door schedule threshold, transition details | Where two floor finishes meet at a door or opening, is the transition located and detailed? |
| Base | Schedule base column, base details, interior elevations | Do the base type and height agree between the schedule, the base details and the elevations? |
| Wall finishes by surface | Schedule wall columns, interior elevations, enlarged plans | Where walls in one room differ, does the schedule say which surface gets which finish? |
| Ceiling finish and height | Schedule ceiling column, reflected ceiling plan, sections | Do the ceiling type and height match the reflected ceiling plan and the sections? |
| Wet and special areas | Schedule, enlarged toilet and kitchen plans, tile elevations | Do tile extents, wet-area finishes and hygienic surfaces match the enlarged plans and elevations? |
| Fire and reaction-to-fire class | Finish schedule, fire strategy or life safety plan, finish specification | Does each finish on an exit route or in a rated room carry the class the strategy and specification state? |
| Specification agreement | Finish codes, product sections, color schedule | Does each code point to a product the specification sections describe, with one name for one finish? |
| Blanks and allowances | Schedule entries marked TBD, by others, or blank | Are blank or deferred entries listed as open decisions or allowances rather than left for bidders to guess? |
| Revision effects | Revised schedule, finish plans, elevations, specification | When a finish changed, were the plans, elevations, details and specification revised in the same issue? |
The CSV adds columns for the room, the source references, the reviewer, the status, the decision and the closure evidence. It contains no product values. Mark a row not applicable only after you record why.
Match finish codes to the specification
The most common finish schedule problem is a code that means two things. The schedule says one tile, the elevation notes another, and the specification describes a third. The UFGS 09 06 00 Schedules for Finishes guide specification (Active, August 2022, read on WBDG on 2026-11-10) asks its editors to coordinate finish terminology and finish color codes between the specifications and the drawings, including floor and wall patterns, finish plans and the Room Finish Schedule, and not to duplicate information that is already specified elsewhere. It also states that where the drawings and that section differ on color, the section governs, and it drops its own placement schedule when the drawings carry a Room Finish Schedule.
Your project may use a different precedence rule, so read the general conditions and the specification's own order of precedence before you decide which source is right. Then list both values with their sources and ask the designer which one is intended. In the custom home pricing set review, an elevation noted ceramic shower tile while the finish schedule listed polished stone for the same shower, and most stone and tile entries had no product or color, so bidders could not price the same finish the same way.
Trace floors, bases and ceilings to their details
A floor finish entry depends on a build-up. Check that the scheduled finish matches the floor finish plan and the build-up detail for that room, and that each door or opening between two finishes has a transition. In one roof and foundation coordination review, the floor build-up labels reversed the tile and laminate assemblies the finish schedule showed, so neither assembly could be assigned with confidence.
Bases need the same treatment: the base type in the schedule, the base detail and the interior elevations should describe one product and one height. For ceilings, compare the scheduled type and height with the reflected ceiling plan and the building sections, since a ceiling height in the schedule that the ceiling plan does not show is a coordination question for the ceiling, mechanical and lighting trades.
Check finish classes in rated rooms and exit routes
Some finishes carry a fire performance class as well as a color. Where the fire strategy or life safety plan sets a class for an exit route or a rated room, the schedule, the finish specification and any lining or ceiling type should state the same class. The class itself comes from the code or regulation the authority having jurisdiction adopts; this checklist only helps you find where the documents disagree.
Two published reviews show the pattern. In the hospital support buildings review, the finish schedule listed a lower fire-class paint for generator room walls than the project's own notes required. In the retail store fit-out review, the general notes, the timber lining sheets and specification, and the ceiling types gave conflicting reaction-to-fire classes for the timber linings and the escape vestibule.
Close blanks and record decisions
A blank, a "TBD" or a "by others" entry is not wrong in itself, but it needs an owner. List each one as an open decision or a stated allowance so bidders carry the same assumption. Contractor color boards and finish samples are the usual place where these decisions are confirmed; the UFGS 09 06 00 guide specification asks for color boards before the individual finish submittals are approved.
When a finish changes, check every place that describes it: the schedule row, the finish plan, the elevations, the details and the specification section. "Schedule updated" alone does not show that the rest of the set followed. The door schedule review checklist covers the threshold and opening side of the same rooms, and the painting specification guide covers paint systems against the schedule.
Where Groundbook fits
Groundbook compares the finish schedule with the plans, elevations, ceiling plans, details and specification sections you upload and returns potential conflicts with links to each source, such as a finish code the specification does not describe or a ceiling height the ceiling plan does not show. It does not choose finishes, colors or fire classes. Each finding is a question for the architect or interior designer to confirm. See the drawing and specification review for the workflow.