Why interior projects run late — and the four clauses that stop it
Most interior projects run late for one reason: a decision that was needed in week two was made in week six. Material delivery and labour are rarely the real cause. Waiting is.
The good news is that delay is largely a paperwork problem, which means paperwork can fix it.
What actually causes the delay
Decisions with no deadline
Laminate shades, fixture finishes, tile layout, the exact height of a display unit. Each takes a client a few minutes to approve and holds up a week of fabrication while it waits. A schedule that lists every decision and the date it is needed removes most of the slippage on its own.
No sequence on site
Carpentry before electrical means walls get opened again. Painting before dust-generating work means painting twice. On a badly run site trades arrive in whatever order they are free, and the rework is invisible in the bill — it comes out of your timeline instead.
One person doing three jobs
Where the designer is also the contractor and also the site supervisor, the site is unsupervised whenever they are selling to someone else. Ask who is on site daily, by name.
Ordering late to protect cash flow
Long-lead items — imported hardware, specific tiles, made-to-order glass — ordered in week five instead of week one. This is a cash-flow decision that becomes your delay.
The four clauses worth insisting on
- A handover date in the contract, not in conversation, along with what happens if it is missed.
- A decision schedule: every approval you owe, and the date it is needed by. This protects the contractor as much as you.
- One named project manager, with a phone number, who is accountable for the sequence.
- Written variations only. Any scope change is priced and signed before it is built. This is the clause that keeps both the date and the budget honest.
Questions we get asked
How long should an office or store fit-out take?
For an office floor or a single store with factory-made joinery, six to ten weeks on site is realistic once drawings are frozen. Heavy on-site carpentry, structural or MEP changes, or a long approval chain push it further.
Can a penalty clause be enforced?
A reasonable, mutual clause — a small per-week figure capped at a percentage of the contract, with named exclusions for client-side delays and force majeure — is enforceable and, more usefully, changes behaviour. A punitive one usually just gets refused at signing.
What is the fastest way to protect the date?
Freeze the drawings and the material selection before work starts. Nothing saves more time.