Two buyers can sign contracts for the same display home, from the same builder, and end up with different kitchens. One gets the upgraded stone benchtop they saw walking through the display. The other gets the standard laminate — because "benchtop" was never pinned down to a brand, model and finish anywhere in the paperwork, and nobody checked before it was too late to argue.
This isn't a story about a dishonest builder. It's what happens by default when inclusions are written as categories rather than specifics, and nobody on the buyer's side is comparing the finished house, room by room, to what was actually agreed. Your building surveyor or certifier isn't doing that check — their job is compliance with the National Construction Code and the approved plans, not whether you got the tapware you chose. Your builder's own supervisor is working from their own trade schedule, not your contract. The only person with both documents — what you signed, and what's in front of you — is you.
Here's how to build a checklist that actually holds up, using a real page from ours as the example.
Why "included" doesn't mean what it sounds like
Builder brochures list inclusions as categories: "stone benchtops," "quality tapware," "soft-close cabinetry." Every one of those phrases can be satisfied by the cheapest product that technically qualifies. Stone benchtops come in a wide range of grades and edge profiles. "Quality tapware" describes almost anything. None of that is dishonest on its own — it's just too vague to check against, which is exactly the point: a category isn't a specification.
Some items you'll see quoted as provisional sums or PC (prime cost) items rather than a fixed inclusion — meaning the contract carries an estimated allowance for that item, not an agreed brand and model. That's a pre-contract negotiation question worth locking down before you sign, wherever you can. For this checklist, the short version is: if an item is still a provisional sum, there's nothing yet to check it against — get it converted to a fixed, named spec first.
How to build a checklist that actually holds up
For every inclusion or selection, record four things:
- The exact agreed spec — brand, model number and colour or finish. Not "stone benchtop." "40mm Caesarstone Piatra Grey, straight edge."
- Where you found it — which document, and which page. A tender schedule, a signed selections form, a confirmation email from your consultant. If it's not written down somewhere you can point to, it isn't agreed yet, no matter what you were told in a showroom.
- Whether it matches — and use three options, not two: yes, no, or partial. Partial is where the real disputes hide. The right tap model in the wrong finish is a partial match, and it's exactly the kind of thing that gets waved away as "close enough" if you don't have a system that forces you to notice it.
- A note, and a photo reference number if you're checking it on site. "Close enough" arguments get resolved by a dated photo a lot faster than by memory.
That's the whole method. It sounds almost too simple to need a 207-item audit built around it — until you try to hold that structure in your head across every room in the house, alongside a building contract, a tender schedule and however many confirmation emails you've collected by now.
A real page from the audit: the kitchen
This is an actual page from the New Build Owner's Kit's Inclusions & Selections Audit — unedited, not a mock-up.
The kitchen section runs across two pages. Page one alone covers:
- Sink brand and model, and sink finish
- Tap model, and tap finish
- Benchtop material, colour, thickness and edge profile
- Island length and overhang
- Cabinet door profile and finish
- Handle style
- Soft-close drawers and soft-close hinges
- Pantry shelving and pantry drawers
- Bin drawer
Eighteen line items, and that's before appliances, splashback, lighting or power point placement, which is what fills the second page. Every line has the same four columns described above: agreed spec, document reference, match status, and a note or photo number.
Applying the same method to the rest of the house
The kitchen is the room buyers check most carefully, because it's usually where the biggest upgrade spend sits. The same structure applies everywhere else, and the rooms people forget to check closely are usually the ones with the least glamorous inclusions — which is exactly where a builder substituting the cheaper option is least likely to be noticed without a list:
- Bathrooms and ensuite — tapware, shower screen, vanity, toilet suite, tiles (and where the tiling stops on the wall), mirror or shaving cabinet.
- Laundry — tapware, trough, cabinetry, and whether a dryer provision was included.
- Flooring and skirting — the actual flooring product per room (not just "flooring allowance"), skirting board height and profile, door and architrave style.
- Electrical and data — power point count and location per room, light fitting types, downlight count, and NBN/data provisioning if you paid for it.
- Exterior — garage door type, letterbox, driveway finish, external cladding or brick selection, guttering and downpipe colour.
- Comfort and structural extras — insulation rating, ceiling height if you upgraded it, window and glazing spec.
Same four columns, every time: spec, source document, match, note.
Using it to compare builder quotes before you sign
If you're still comparing tenders, don't compare builders' inclusion lists to each other — they're written to make each builder's own offer look generous, and they bundle things differently, so a side-by-side comparison of two brochures is comparing apples to a fruit salad.
Build your own list first: what you actually want, room by room, in the same four-column structure. Then check each builder's tender against your list, not against their competitor's. The builder who looks cheaper on the cover page sometimes turns out to be quoting a lower-grade benchtop, fewer power points, or a smaller hot water system — differences that only show up once you're checking a specific quote against a specific want-list, not comparing two glossy PDFs.
Using it again once the house is built
The same checklist works twice: once as a comparison tool before you sign, and again as a verification tool once the relevant fixtures go in — typically from the fixing stage through to your pre-PCI walk. Most selections aren't visible until fixing, so there's no need to rush this; plenty is still checkable even if you're picking the kit up partway through your build.
This second pass is where the "partial" category earns its keep. The tap that's the right model but the wrong finish, the benchtop that's the right stone but a different edge profile, the handle style that's close but not what you signed — these survive a glance and fail a check against your actual documentation.
What to do when something doesn't match
Write down the specific mismatch, the spec it should be, the document it was agreed in, and a photo reference. Then raise it in writing — an email to your site supervisor or builder, not a verbal mention on site that leaves no record. Ask for a written response.
If it isn't resolved at that stage, whether it's a straightforward correction, a variation you need to formally agree to, or something that needs to go further, is a question for your building contract and, if it doesn't move, your state's building regulator or a solicitor — not something a checklist can answer for you. What the checklist gives you is the thing every one of those next steps actually needs: a specific, dated, written record of what was agreed and what you found.
Where this checklist stops, and where a professional starts
An inclusions audit tells you whether what's in front of you matches what you signed. It says nothing about whether the tiling was installed correctly, whether the frame is sound, or whether the building meets the National Construction Code — that's the job of your building surveyor or certifier (a statutory compliance check) and, if you engage one, an independent building inspector (a workmanship and defects check). Our FAQ page covers how those roles and this kind of checklist fit together in more detail.
Common questions
Is an inclusions audit the same as a building inspection?
No. An inspection assesses workmanship, structural soundness and defects — that needs a licensed building inspector or, for statutory compliance, your building surveyor or certifier. An inclusions audit only checks whether the finishes and fittings in front of you match what you agreed to pay for. They answer different questions and work well done together, not instead of each other.
What if an item is a "provisional sum," not a fixed inclusion?
There's nothing yet to check it against. Provisional sums and PC items are allowances, not agreed specifications — get them converted to a named brand, model and finish as early as possible, ideally before you sign.
Do I need to do this once, or twice?
Both, if you can. Once while you're comparing quotes or reviewing your contract, so you know exactly what you're agreeing to — and again once the relevant items are actually installed, so you know what you got matches what you agreed to.
The full kit
The inclusions audit is one part of the New Build Owner's Kit — a A$47 organisation kit for Australians building a new home with a licensed builder. Alongside the 207-item inclusions audit, it includes a 62-point contract review, six stage-by-stage site visit checklists, a defect log, 14 ready-to-send builder email scripts, an Excel workbook that tracks variations and progress claims, and notes for all eight Australian states and territories.
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View the New Build Owner's Kit →
The New Build Owner's Kit provides general information and organisational tools only. It does not replace advice or services provided by a licensed building inspector, building surveyor, certifier, lawyer or other appropriately qualified professional.