If you're choosing an off the plan apartment for its flooring, kitchen surfaces or appliances, identify the features you need the contract to protect before you sign.

The short answer: A listed finish may still be subject to a substitution clause elsewhere in the contract. Read the schedule alongside that clause to check when replacements are allowed, what limits apply and whether notice or your consent is required. Have important inclusions and any requested exceptions reviewed before signing your Victorian purchase contract. Consumer Affairs Victoria

Read the schedule and special conditions together

A finishes schedule describes the proposed finishes and items included in your purchase. A substitution clause is a contract term allowing a specified item or material to be replaced, subject to its wording and applicable law. 'Special conditions' are terms tailored to the sale, and they may contain that permission.

Start with the complete contract offered for signing. Locate the schedule that applies to your apartment, its date or version, and any documents recording selections or upgrades. Check whether those documents form part of the agreement.

Finding your chosen oven or flooring on a list doesn't settle whether it can be changed. If two documents appear to promise different things, have the inconsistency explained or resolved before signing.

Check when a substitute is allowed and who decides

Read the actual permission to substitute, including its limits. Work through these four checks with the clause in front of you:

• What triggers a substitution? Does the wording refer to an unavailable product, a necessary change or a broader power to choose replacements? Ask what must happen before the developer can rely on the permission.
• What standard must the substitute meet? Look for the comparison the contract actually uses. If it refers to equivalent quality, ask what that means for the feature you care about.
• Who assesses the replacement? Check whether the clause gives that role to the developer, another named decision maker or an agreed process. Note wording that leaves the assessment to one party's opinion.
• Is notice enough, or is your consent required? Being told about a proposed change and being asked to agree are different. Check what the contract requires, including any stated response period.

These are practical questions for your documents, not requirements found in every Victorian contract. Product unavailability alone doesn't establish that any proposed substitute is permitted. YourHome

Explain the feature you need to preserve

Describe the function, dimensions, material, finish or performance that matters to you. A brand or product name may not explain the particular feature you want preserved.

Suppose the kitchen schedule specifies a two bowl sink and having two separate bowls matters to how you use the kitchen. A single bowl model could cost the same yet change that function. This hypothetical doesn't establish a breach or decide whether the items meet the contract's comparison standard.

Give your conveyancer a short list of essential features alongside the relevant schedule entries. If you would only accept a replacement with a particular specification, explain that before the signing version is finalised.

Put agreed changes in the signing documents

In a private sale, you can propose changes to inclusions and contract conditions, but the seller may reject them. Any agreed clarification should appear in the documents you're about to sign. Consumer Affairs Victoria

Ask whether an important inclusion can be protected expressly, whether the substitution standard needs clarification, or whether your consent should be required for a specified change. Discuss which wording would need to be added, changed or removed to reflect the agreement.

Review the revised contract and attachments together. An updated schedule may still be subject to an unchanged substitution permission. Keep the final signed contract and schedules, signed upgrade agreements and correspondence about agreed changes, with their dates or version details.

What if the substitution power seems too broad?

Rules about unfair contract terms may apply to standard form consumer contracts for interests in land. A standard form contract is one largely prepared by one party, with little or no opportunity for the other party to negotiate.

Only a court can decide whether a particular term is unfair. The contract as a whole and any applicable exclusions matter, so broad wording isn't automatically valid or invalid. Consumer Affairs Victoria

Raise any concern about the developer's control over substitutions during the review. Concern about fairness doesn't mean you can safely ignore the clause; its effect needs to be understood before you commit.

About the Pearson Chambers Conveyancing team

Pearson Chambers Conveyancing assists with residential purchases, sales and title transfers in Melbourne and across Victoria. Our contract review work includes checking special conditions and explaining how they affect the purchase you are considering.

Sources we consulted

• Consumer Affairs Victoria: risks and contracts when buying off the plan
• YourHome: legal checks when buying an apartment off the plan
• Consumer Affairs Victoria: negotiating private sale terms and inclusions
• Consumer Affairs Victoria: understanding unfair contract terms

Have your off the plan contract checked before signing

Send Pearson Chambers Conveyancing the complete contract, Section 32 vendor statement, finishes schedule and any proposed upgrades for a complimentary contract and Section 32 review. Tell us which inclusions matter to you so we can review them alongside the substitution terms.

Call 03 9969 2405 or email contact@pearsonchambers.com.au.

General information only, current as at the date of publication. Victorian conveyancing rules and legislation change frequently. Please contact the Pearson Chambers Conveyancing team for advice on your specific contract.

<metadescription>Before signing an off the plan contract in Victoria, check the finishes schedule, substitution limits and whether changes need your consent.</metadescription>

Off the Plan Finishes: Check the Substitution Clause

If you're choosing an off the plan apartment for its flooring, kitchen surfaces or appliances, identify the features you need the contract to protect before you sign.

The short answer: A listed finish may still be subject to a substitution clause elsewhere in the contract. Read the schedule alongside that clause to check when replacements are allowed, what limits apply and whether notice or your consent is required. Have important inclusions and any requested exceptions reviewed before signing your Victorian purchase contract.

Read the schedule and special conditions together

A finishes schedule describes the proposed finishes and items included in your purchase. A substitution clause is a contract term allowing a specified item or material to be replaced, subject to its wording and applicable law. 'Special conditions' are terms tailored to the sale, and they may contain that permission.

Start with the complete contract offered for signing. Locate the schedule that applies to your apartment, its date or version, and any documents recording selections or upgrades. Check whether those documents form part of the agreement.

Finding your chosen oven or flooring on a list doesn't settle whether it can be changed. If two documents appear to promise different things, have the inconsistency explained or resolved before signing.

Check when a substitute is allowed and who decides

Read the actual permission to substitute, including its limits. Work through these four checks with the clause in front of you:

• What triggers a substitution? Does the wording refer to an unavailable product, a necessary change or a broader power to choose replacements? Ask what must happen before the developer can rely on the permission.
• What standard must the substitute meet? Look for the comparison the contract actually uses. If it refers to equivalent quality, ask what that means for the feature you care about.
• Who assesses the replacement? Check whether the clause gives that role to the developer, another named decision maker or an agreed process. Note wording that leaves the assessment to one party's opinion.
• Is notice enough, or is your consent required? Being told about a proposed change and being asked to agree are different. Check what the contract requires, including any stated response period.

These are practical questions for your documents, not requirements found in every Victorian contract. Product unavailability alone doesn't establish that any proposed substitute is permitted.

Explain the feature you need to preserve

Describe the function, dimensions, material, finish or performance that matters to you. A brand or product name may not explain the particular feature you want preserved.

Suppose the kitchen schedule specifies a two bowl sink and having two separate bowls matters to how you use the kitchen. A single bowl model could cost the same yet change that function. This hypothetical doesn't establish a breach or decide whether the items meet the contract's comparison standard.

Give your conveyancer a short list of essential features alongside the relevant schedule entries. If you would only accept a replacement with a particular specification, explain that before the signing version is finalised.

Put agreed changes in the signing documents

In a private sale, you can propose changes to inclusions and contract conditions, but the seller may reject them. Any agreed clarification should appear in the documents you're about to sign.

Ask whether an important inclusion can be protected expressly, whether the substitution standard needs clarification, or whether your consent should be required for a specified change. Discuss which wording would need to be added, changed or removed to reflect the agreement.

Review the revised contract and attachments together. An updated schedule may still be subject to an unchanged substitution permission. Keep the final signed contract and schedules, signed upgrade agreements and correspondence about agreed changes, with their dates or version details.

What if the substitution power seems too broad?

Rules about unfair contract terms may apply to standard form consumer contracts for interests in land. A standard form contract is one largely prepared by one party, with little or no opportunity for the other party to negotiate.

Only a court can decide whether a particular term is unfair. The contract as a whole and any applicable exclusions matter, so broad wording isn't automatically valid or invalid.

Raise any concern about the developer's control over substitutions during the review. Concern about fairness doesn't mean you can safely ignore the clause; its effect needs to be understood before you commit.

About the Pearson Chambers Conveyancing team

Pearson Chambers Conveyancing assists with residential purchases, sales and title transfers in Melbourne and across Victoria. Our contract review work includes checking special conditions and explaining how they affect the purchase you are considering.

Sources we consulted

• Consumer Affairs Victoria: risks and contracts when buying off the plan
• YourHome: legal checks when buying an apartment off the plan
• Consumer Affairs Victoria: negotiating private sale terms and inclusions
• Consumer Affairs Victoria: understanding unfair contract terms

Have your off the plan contract checked before signing

Send Pearson Chambers Conveyancing the complete contract, Section 32 vendor statement, finishes schedule and any proposed upgrades for a complimentary contract and Section 32 review. Tell us which inclusions matter to you so we can review them alongside the substitution terms.

Email contact@pearsonchambers.com.au.

General information only, current as at the date of publication. Victorian conveyancing rules and legislation change frequently. Please contact the Pearson Chambers Conveyancing team for advice on your specific contract.