Before the build: give each unfinished choice a decision date

Ask what needs to happen before the delivery

Start with the builder's programme and ask the team to work backwards for each unresolved selection. When is it needed on site? When would the order need to be placed? What must the designer, supplier or installer confirm before that order can be made?

BRANZ's Level guidance identifies availability and long delivery lead-in times as considerations when choosing materials. That does not give you a reliable delivery date for your own order. Ask the supplier to confirm current availability for the exact product, quantity and finish, and ask when that information should be checked again.

• Allow time to obtain and understand a sample.
• Include any drawings or measurements needed before ordering.
• Agree who will tell you if the required decision date changes.

Replace a vague choice with a complete question

Consider a hypothetical bathroom where the owners want a wall-mounted basin tap but have only chosen its colour. I would ask the designer and plumber what information they need about the proposed tap, basin and vanity together. The useful decision might be an agreed arrangement with identified products, rather than a photograph of a finish.

Ask what you need to see to make that choice confidently. It could be a sample, a marked drawing or a comparison of two suitable options. If the question is still too broad to answer, give someone the task of preparing it. Writing 'client to decide' beside an unexplained item does not make it ready for a decision.

• What precisely am I choosing?
• What information is missing?
• Who will prepare that information, and when can we discuss it?

Separate liking it from releasing it

I would use plain descriptions of progress: being explored, preferred, checked and ready for an agreed instruction. You might prefer the tap before the team has checked its fit or confirmed its price. Make that distinction explicit when you send your answer.

Ask who is authorised to place the order and what confirmation they need. If a selection differs from the consented information, ask the designer to check the consent implications before anyone treats it as a simple swap. MBIE warns that changes to consented plans, including specified materials, can affect costs, timing and final sign-off.

Prepare the next few decisions together

For a practical exercise, choose three outstanding selections and take them to a meeting. For each, write the answer needed, the missing information, who will supply it and the date by which you need to decide. Ask the team to check those dates against the work that follows. Arrange your showroom visits or household discussions around that sequence.

Leave space for questions that cannot be settled yet. If a measurement depends on work being completed, ask what can be prepared now and when the final check will happen.

Hayley's published renovation feedback mentions clear responses to builders' site queries. Questions will still arise during a build; preparing decisions means giving those questions a sensible route to an answer. If you have a start date approaching and a list of unresolved choices, bring both to a conversation. I would be happy to help you work out what needs attention first.