Stop 3 of 8 · Weekly
Finish and material schedule
The concept plus the catalogue PDFs turned into a schedule that runs by room and surface, with a lead time column and a clear line between what Claude read and what the supplier confirms.
The document the job is actually built from
The concept gets approved and then the finish schedule becomes the project. It is what the contractor orders from, what the client signs off colours on, and what the plan checker reads to see that the corridor flooring is the slip resistant one. Nadine has produced this in Excel for twenty years and the format is not up for discussion. What is up for discussion is the three hours she spends reading catalogue PDFs to fill it.
Claude reads the catalogues. It does not choose the material, and it does not confirm anything. It moves what is printed in a PDF into the right cell and tells you which cells it could not fill.
The columns and where each one comes from
| Column | Where it comes from | Who confirms it |
|---|---|---|
| Room number, room name, surface | The space plan and the drawing set | Nadine |
| Material tag, manufacturer, product | The concept and the catalogue | Nadine |
| Finish, colour, size | The catalogue page | The supplier, in writing |
| Performance and standard | The catalogue and the test report | The supplier, in writing |
| Lead time | The catalogue, dated | The supplier, in writing |
The right hand column is the whole point of the stop. Three of the five things Claude fills in are things a supplier has to write back before anyone orders. Build the schedule with an unconfirmed marker in those cells and a supplier confirmation email that clears them.
Here is the approved concept narrative and the space plan checklist, plus the catalogue PDFs for the products named in them. [attach the catalogues] Build the finish and material schedule as an Excel file, one row per room and surface, using my Project column order. Fill manufacturer, product, finish, colour, size, performance data and standard only from the attached catalogues, and put the catalogue name and page in a source column on every row. Add a lead time column with the lead time exactly as printed and the date on the catalogue. Any cell you cannot fill from a catalogue is TBC plus one word saying what is missing. No prices anywhere.
From the schedule, write one short email per supplier listing only their own rows. Ask them to confirm in writing the finish and colour code, the size, the current lead time in weeks from purchase order, the minimum order quantity, and whether the product is current or being discontinued. Ask for a reply by [date]. No mention of the client, the project address or any pricing. Outlook drafts, one per supplier.
Read the schedule and give me the long lead list: every row with a lead time over eight weeks, sorted longest first, with the room it lands in and the trade that installs it. Then tell me which of those rows has no confirmed lead time yet, because those are the ones that will move the construction schedule.