A room finish schedule is a table that lists every room in a building with the finish of its floor, base, walls and ceiling, and usually the ceiling height. Instead of writing "porcelain tile, 600 × 600, matt, colour X" in every room, the schedule uses short codes such as PT-1 or CT-2, and a finish legend defines each code once. The codes point to the finishes specifications (Division 09), where the products, installation and quality requirements live. The US Department of Veterans Affairs master specification puts it simply: material abbreviations are used "in Room Finish Schedule to identify Finish Materials".
What a room finish schedule shows
| Column | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| Room number and name | Matches the room tags on the floor plans. Rows are usually sorted by room number. |
| Floor | Floor finish code, for example CPT-1 (carpet), LVT-2 (luxury vinyl tile), CT-1 (ceramic tile), SC (sealed concrete). |
| Base | Skirting or base code: rubber base, tile base, wood base. |
| Walls | One code for all walls, or a code per wall (north, east, south, west) when walls differ. |
| Ceiling | Ceiling finish code, for example ACT-1 (acoustic ceiling tile) or GWB (painted gypsum board). |
| Ceiling height | Height above finished floor; must match the reflected ceiling plan. |
| Remarks | Accent walls, wainscot heights, moisture-resistant board, transitions, items by others. |
The finish legend
The legend turns codes into products. A typical entry gives the code, the material, the manufacturer and product, colour, size and finish, and the specification section:
| Code | Material | Typical specification section |
|---|---|---|
| CT-1 | Ceramic or porcelain tile, size, colour, grout colour | 09 30 13 Ceramic Tiling |
| RB-1 | Rubber or vinyl base, height, profile, colour | 09 65 13 Resilient Base and Accessories |
| ACT-1 | Acoustic ceiling panel and grid | 09 51 00 Acoustical Ceilings (09 51 13 in some master specs) |
| PT-1 | Paint, colour, sheen | 09 91 23 Interior Painting |
Code prefixes differ between offices (PT can mean paint in one set and porcelain tile in another), which is why every set needs its own legend. The VA master specification asks designers to provide "a complete list of product abbreviations used on project" and warns: "Do not duplicate abbreviations for different materials." Section numbers also differ between MasterFormat editions and owners' master specifications; see our guide to MasterFormat divisions.
Finish plans: when a table is not enough
A schedule gives one answer per surface per room. Real rooms have accent walls, floor patterns, borders and transitions between materials at doorways. Those are shown on finish plans. The VA specification describes them as part of the architectural drawing set, "an adjunct to the finish schedule", used for showing wall, ceiling and floor patterns and "identifying stopping and starting points for finishes". If a room's remarks column says "see finish plan", the plan governs where each finish starts and stops.
Where it sits and who prepares it
The architect or interior designer prepares the room finish schedule. It is usually on the drawings, near the floor plans or with the interior elevations; some projects put it in the project manual instead. The VA master specification, for example, says the schedule format can be "contained in architectural package or at end of this Section", meaning its own Section 09 06 00, Schedule for Finishes. Either way, the codes must match the legend, the material board and the specification sections.
How to read a room finish schedule
- Read the legend first. Learn the prefixes before reading any rows.
- Find the room by its number on the plan, then read across: floor, base, walls, ceiling, height.
- Check the remarks for accent walls, wainscots and references to finish plans or interior elevations.
- Compare the ceiling height with the reflected ceiling plan and the sections; a different height in each is a question for the architect.
- Follow each code to its specification section for product, installation and any testing or moisture requirements.
- Look at the doorways. Where two floor finishes meet, find the transition detail or finish plan note.
Creating a finish schedule in Revit and ArchiCAD
In Revit, rooms carry Floor Finish, Base Finish, Wall Finish and Ceiling Finish parameters, and a room schedule (View tab, Create panel, Schedules, Schedule/Quantities, Rooms category) lists them. These are text fields: they fill the schedule and tags but do not change the modelled walls or floors, so the schedule can disagree with the model. A key schedule (for example a "room style" key) lets you define a set of finishes once and apply it to many rooms.
In ArchiCAD, room data lives in zones, and offices schedule finishes through zone properties, through surface or finish-element schedules, or with zone stamps set up for finishes. Check your office template, as setups vary.
Common mistakes
- A code in the schedule that is missing from the legend, or one code used for two products.
- Ceiling heights that disagree with the reflected ceiling plan or the sections.
- Rooms on the plan that are missing from the schedule, often added late in design.
- "North wall" in a room that has no clear north wall, such as an angled or curved room.
- Transitions and floor patterns not shown anywhere, leaving the installer to decide.
- Finishes in wet rooms without the moisture-resistant board or waterproofing the specification requires.
Frequently asked questions
What is a room finish schedule?
A table listing each room with its floor, base, wall and ceiling finishes and ceiling height, using codes defined in a finish legend.
What is the difference between a finish schedule and a finish plan?
The schedule gives one finish per surface per room; the finish plan shows patterns, accent walls and where each finish starts and stops.
What do codes like CPT-1 or PT-1 mean?
Abbreviations for finish materials, numbered when there is more than one of a kind. The finish legend on the same set defines each one.
Who prepares the finish schedule?
The architect or interior designer, coordinated with the Division 09 specifications.
Where is the finish schedule in a set of drawings?
Usually on the architectural or interior sheets near the floor plans; some projects place it in the project manual.
Ncored is the desktop PDF editor we built in our architecture studio for drawing sets from AutoCAD, Revit, and ArchiCAD, on Windows and Mac (Apple Silicon). Keep the plan, the finish schedule and the reflected ceiling plan open in separate windows, measure floor areas to scale (metric units) for a quick quantity check, highlight a code that is missing from the legend and leave a comment. Markups are saved as standard PDF annotations that open in Acrobat, Bluebeam, Preview and other standard PDF viewers. 14 days free. No signup, no email, nothing to enter.
Related: reflected ceiling plan, floor plan symbols, door and window schedules, Ncored for interior designers.
All product names, standards and organisations mentioned on this page are trademarks or registered names of their respective owners and are used for identification only. Ncored is an independent product by Noir architects and is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by any of them. Quotations are from the US Department of Veterans Affairs master specification Section 09 06 00 (2023) as published on WBDG. This page explains common drawing conventions; the project's drawings, specifications and design professionals govern. Individual experiences may vary.