What Your House Plans Don't Show (And Why It Matters Before Selections)

Most people assume that once the builder asks for selections, the plans have every detail sorted. The rooms are drawn and the price is in, so it feels like the hard bit is done.

It usually isn't. And that's not because anyone has done a bad job. Building plans are drawn to get a house approved and built. They're not drawn to show you how your benchtop meets your window, or where your towel rail goes.

So before a selections appointment, we draw the kitchen and bathrooms up in 3D. That's where the gaps show up. Here's what we check in your house plans before selections, and why it's so much easier to sort out now than on site.

Plans and selections do different jobs

A set of building plans tells your builder where the walls go and how big each opening is. It tells the certifier the house meets the code. What it usually doesn't tell anyone is how the finished room comes together at eye level.

That's the bit selections depend on. It's hard to choose a splashback properly if nobody has checked where it stops. And picking a vanity gets tricky when no one knows whether the mirror above it clears the window.

Where windows meet cabinetry

This is a common one. A window gets drawn at a standard height, and the kitchen gets drawn separately. On paper, both look fine. In 3D, the window sill sits below the benchtop and splashback, so the benchtop runs straight into the glass.

Picked up before the frame goes up, it's a conversation with your builder about raising the window or adjusting the cabinetry. Once the frame is built, it turns into a variation, and sometimes a compromise you live with for years.

The same thing can happen with overhead cupboards under a bulkhead, or a laundry window that lands right where the tall cupboard was meant to go.

The little bathroom details nobody draws

Bathrooms are full of small things that rarely make it onto building plans. The towel rail and toilet roll holder are the classics. Shower niches often get a rough position at best.

If nobody decides these before the bathroom is waterproofed and tiled, someone on site decides for you. That's how a heated towel rail ends up behind the door, or a roll holder lands somewhere you can't reach from the toilet.

We draw these in on our elevations, with heights, before selections. Your tiler and electrician then work from something you've already agreed to.

Clearances the code cares about

Some details aren't just a matter of taste. The National Construction Code sets minimums that a good-looking plan can quietly miss.

The toilet door is the one most people have never heard of. If your toilet is in its own enclosed room and there's less than 1.2 metres between the pan and the doorway, the door has to open outwards or slide, or come off from outside on lift-off hinges. The reason is a sobering one. If someone collapses, an inward door can jam against them and stop anyone getting in.

Ceiling heights matter too, especially in renovations where a new bulkhead goes in. Habitable rooms other than kitchens need at least 2.4 metres. Kitchens, bathrooms, laundries and corridors need at least 2.1 metres.

New houses in Queensland also need to meet the Livable Housing Design Standard, which covers things like slightly wider internal doors and a step-free shower. Your building designer and certifier look after compliance. Selections still need to respect it, and a shower hob is the obvious example of a choice that would work against it.

Just to be clear, we don't certify anything. Your certifier signs off. We check our drawings against these minimums so nothing gets picked up late.

Why I look at plans this way

My path into design wasn't the usual one. I did a civil engineering degree first, then worked in builder administration. That's where I learned how much a missing detail costs once it reaches site.

So when I open a set of plans, I'm not only asking how a room will look. I'm asking how it'll get built and what the plans haven't said yet. Checking in 3D before selections is simply how we work, on Townsville new builds and renovations alike.

When to sort it out

The best time is before your selections appointment and before the frame goes up. At that point, almost everything is still a drawing change. After that, the same fix costs more and takes longer.

If your builder has asked for selections and you haven't seen your kitchen or bathroom in 3D yet, that's the moment to ask what your plans aren't showing you.

If you're building or renovating in Townsville or North Queensland and your selections are coming up, get in touch here. You can also see how our Design Documentation Package puts these details on paper before your builder prices the job.