Elje / Guides
Approved? Start here
Your plans were approved this week. The next 90 days decide what your fit-out costs, because the items that take longest to make have to be ordered before your builder needs them. Here is what to lock in, and when.
A fit-out is decided between approval and lock-up. Elje prices it landed in the first week, before a supplier is chosen.
Why the letter came now
Approval is the cheapest moment to change your mind and the last moment to price your fit-out calmly. Once the slab is down, every week you wait on joinery, windows or stone is a week your builder may wait on you.
Elje prices a fit-out made in China landed in Australia: factory price, freight, insurance, duty, port and biosecurity charges, brokerage, inspection and cartage, to your door. Then we introduce you to Verified factories who quote your drawings. You buy direct. We never hold your money.
The first step is free: send the approved set and get a landed estimate per line in 3 business days.
The 90 days, week by week
| When | What to do | Why then |
|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | Send the approved plans, any joinery drawings, the wet-area layouts and your selections so far. Tell us your postcode, BAL rating and wind classification if you know them. | A landed estimate per line in 3 business days shows what is worth importing and what is not. |
| Weeks 1 to 2 | Order samples ($149, credited to the Project Plan): door fronts, a stone offcut, a tile and a tap from the shortlisted factories. | You sign off a real sample, not a photo. The sample becomes the standard the inspection measures against. |
| Weeks 2 to 4 | Take the $990 Project Plan: firm quotes from at least three Verified factories per line, a landed price per line, the timeline and the partners booked. | Joinery and windows are the long poles. Their shop drawings start here. |
| Weeks 3 to 6 | Approve the shop drawings for kitchen, laundry, robes and vanities. Lock the window schedule against the approved elevations. | Factories build only to signed drawings. Custom joinery is 12 to 16 weeks door to door from sign-off. |
| Weeks 4 to 8 | Place the orders and pay the deposits, usually 30 percent. With Elje Assured (2 percent of the order, minimum $600) the balance waits with a licensed escrow partner until inspection passes. | Production slots fill before Chinese New Year. Factories close from mid January to late February 2027. |
| Weeks 6 to 10 | Order tiles, tapware, sanitary ware, lighting and hardware so they consolidate with the joinery. | Stock items take days to weeks to make, so they can go later, but they should ride in the same container. |
| Weeks 8 to 12 | Pre-shipment inspection against your drawings and the signed samples. Balance released only when it passes. Crating to ISPM 15, insurance on the full value, vessel booked. | Your builder's framing and rough-in dates are now fixed. The container should land before the stage that needs it. |
What your builder needs, and when
Most selections can wait. Some cannot, because a trade builds to them. These are the ones that bite when the product comes from a factory 7,000 km away.
| Item | Your builder needs it at | Typical lead time from order |
|---|---|---|
| Windows and external doors | Framing and lock-up | 35 to 45 working days to make, plus shipping |
| Kitchen, laundry, robe and vanity joinery | Joinery install, after linings | 12 to 16 weeks door to door from drawing sign-off |
| Stone benchtops | With the joinery, templated on site or cut to shop drawings | Rides with the joinery |
| In-wall mixer bodies and cistern frames | Rough-in, before the walls close | Days to a few weeks if stocked |
| Tiles (size and layout at least) | Set-out and screed | Stock ranges 6 to 10 weeks door to door |
| Internal doors and cavity sliders | Framing for sizes, fit-off for doors | Rides with the joinery |
| Light fittings, accessories, handles | Fit-off (can wait) | Stock, weeks |
What it costs if you leave it
- Airfreight to save a late order costs several times sea freight, and wipes out the saving on heavy items.
- A builder waiting on joinery or windows is a variation, and a delay to handover.
- Chinese New Year 2027 falls on 6 February. Factories close from mid January to late February, so anything not in production by early January waits until March.
- Sea cargo shipped from 1 September 2026 to 30 April 2027 falls in the biosecurity stink bug season. China is an emerging risk country this season, which means more random inspections at the border. Allow for it.
- Ordering one category at a time means several small shipments, each with its own port, broker and cartage charges. One container is cheaper than four pallets.
What to send us
- The approved plan set (PDF is fine)
- Joinery drawings or a kitchen layout, if you have them
- Wet-area layouts: bathrooms, ensuites, laundry
- The window and door schedule, and the elevations
- Your selections so far, even screenshots
- Your builder's program or start date
- Postcode, BAL rating and wind classification (on your approval or engineering, if known)
How Elje is paid
The landed estimate is free. The Project Plan is $990. Elje Assured is 2 percent of the order (minimum $600) and is on by default. The factories you choose pay Elje 5 percent. Elje never holds client money: with Assured, a licensed escrow partner holds the balance.
Questions
Why did I get a letter?
Development and building approvals are public records. We write to owners the week an approval is published. The letter tells you how to opt out of hearing from us again.
Do I have to import anything?
No. The landed estimate tells you which lines are worth it. Some never are: fire-rated doors, anything structural without Australian certification, and some windows in high wind or bushfire zones. We say so on the estimate.
Will my builder install it?
Most will, if the product arrives labelled to the drawings with its compliance evidence. Show your builder the estimate early. Elje can name installers who have fitted these jobs before.
Is 90 days enough?
For most houses, yes, if joinery and windows are ordered in the first eight weeks. If your builder starts sooner, tell us and we plan backwards from the frame date.
- Elje decision calendar (57 decisions, 10 stages, with order dates for imported items)
- DAFF, BMSB seasonal measures 2026-27 industry presentation
- Elje job file: a five-bedroom Brisbane house and granny flat we fitted out, factory quotes and proforma invoices, March to May 2026 (held by Elje)