Where to find it
The room finish schedule is on the architectural or interior sheets. A finish legend sits with it, or on its own sheet. Larger jobs also have finish plans. These show where one material stops and the next one starts.
What the columns mean
- Room number and room name. They match the floor plan.
- Floor. A code such as CPT-1 for a carpet or LVT-2 for a vinyl tile.
- Base. Rubber base, tile base or wood base, with the height.
- Walls. One column for all walls, or four columns for north, east, south and west.
- Ceiling. The ceiling material and often the ceiling height.
- Remarks. Accent walls, wainscot heights, transitions and other notes.
How the codes work
The schedule shows a short code. The legend ties the code to a product: maker, style, color and size. The spec section gives the full requirement and the installation method. You need all three to price a room. The codes are set by each architect, so read the legend on every job.
How to take off from it
- Find your material codes in the legend.
- List each room where your codes appear.
- Measure the floor area or wall area of those rooms from the plans.
- Check the finish plans and interior elevations for patterns, borders and accent areas.
- Check the reflected ceiling plan for ceiling heights that set wall area.
- Read the remarks for each room on your list.
Where finish schedules go wrong
- A code in the schedule that is not in the legend.
- A legend product that differs from the product in the spec.
- A room on the plan with no row in the schedule.
- A finish shown on an interior elevation but not in the schedule.
- Wall finish above a ceiling, where the schedule does not say how high to go.
Each of these is a question for the architect. Write down the room number, the sheet and the spec section, then send it before the question deadline.
Bid documents · Updated 11 Nov 2026