As we discovered some of the big issues, we were encouraged to dig a bit on the smaller stuff. In the course of scouring our contract for a record of the bookshelving we had requested, we discovered that the ceiling battens were meant to be steel. We knew from seeing them before, during and after ceiling installation, that our battens were all wood. Wooden battens are cheaper and potentially more likely to suffer from nail pops. However, the discovery was made late in the build and we decided that for the extra inconvenience and time to replace them, we would let it go.
It is quite common to discover such oversights (very often at a point when remedying them will cause more trouble than its worth). You need to determine how important such issues are to you, and which ones are better offered to the builder as an indication of your good faith and reasonableness than stuck strictly to.
When choosing which issues to push through on, think about the things that will make a real difference to your life as you live in your home day to day, year to year. For us that meant insulation, pelmets and double glazing for warmth; decor, storage and layout for psychological comfort.
Placement of light switches and lights is also important and we regretted not spending more time on these in our first build. It's worth standing in a doorway and shutting your eyes then reaching for where you might want the switch to be before making a final decision on placement.
In our second build we chose light fittings that tilt and rotate so that we have a bit of flexibility in the placement of furniture and pictures.
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