Mark these items on the document in front of you
- Plans attached
- Allowances realistic
- Price-change clauses capped
- Long-stop date known
- Inspection rights preserved
- Warranty process saved
Turn selections into specifications
List model, elevation, lot, plans, structural options, finishes, allowances and deadlines. Define the effect of missed selection dates.
Attach the actual specification. Record model, plan revision, lot, orientation, materials, finish levels, included work and exclusions. Marketing images and model homes should not substitute for the signed construction description.
Limit price uncertainty
Read escalation, allowance overage, change-order, tax and utility provisions. Model the maximum cash required rather than only the base price.
Stress allowances and escalation. Identify every allowance, the assumed quantity or quality, markup and reconciliation method. Read how material substitutions and price increases are approved when the original product is unavailable.
Define timing remedies
Distinguish target and guaranteed dates, permitted delays and long-stop termination rights. Plan rate-lock and temporary housing exposure.
Define completion evidence. Separate substantial completion, occupancy approval, buyer inspection, punch-list work and warranty start. Tie payments and closing readiness to documents and inspection rights rather than one builder-controlled date.
Preserve independent checks
Confirm access for progress, code and third-party inspections, punch-list timing, warranty claims and delivery of permits or occupancy evidence.
Convert an unfinished home into measurable obligations
A new-construction agreement governs a product that may not yet exist. Specifications, allowances, substitutions, timing and inspection rights therefore carry much of the decision value.
The pages and terms that control the decision
Plans attached
Which materials may be substituted?
Allowances realistic
What can increase the price?
Price-change clauses capped
What happens after a long delay?
Items the document should answer clearly
- Which materials may be substituted?
- What can increase the price?
- What happens after a long delay?
- Can my inspector visit before closing?
Create a marked signing copy
Work from the complete version you may sign. Mark each controlling page, attachment and unresolved blank so the final reconciliation can detect substitutions or late changes.
For this decision, the first working threshold is concrete: Plans attached; Allowances realistic; Price-change clauses capped.
Read those checks beside the sections on Turn selections into specifications, Limit price uncertainty, Define timing remedies. Completing one item does not cure a mismatch elsewhere, so leave the decision open until the record is internally consistent.
Assign every unresolved row an owner and a date for receiving the missing document so it cannot disappear in the rush to sign.
| Document check | Location or version to mark | Question for the final copy |
|---|---|---|
| Plans attached | Mark the page and version, obtain every referenced attachment and preserve the complete final package. | Which materials may be substituted? |
| Allowances realistic | Mark the controlling page or source, its version date, the responsible party and any exception that changes the result. | What can increase the price? |
| Price-change clauses capped | Copy the dollar amount or rate, its source page, what it includes and the condition that can change it. | What happens after a long delay? |
| Long-stop date known | Record the exact date, lead time, delivery rule and proof that notice was sent or received. | Can my inspector visit before closing? |
| Inspection rights preserved | Keep the dated inspection, photographs, written findings and any repair estimate or promised remedy. | Which materials may be substituted? |
| Warranty process saved | Put the promised result, standard, responsible party, completion date and remedy in the signed writing. | What can increase the price? |
Repeat the check on the signing version. Save the completed document and every incorporated attachment together, with no blank relying on a verbal explanation.