Tenant changes: how to customise a new-build apartment before handover

Tenant changes (buyer changes) are modifications a buyer asks the developer to make to a new-build apartment before handover — moving or removing partitions, adding or moving sockets, lights, water and drain points, AC or data points. Ask early and in writing: every developer sets a cut-off, and in Israel the law requires a price list and credits for cancelled items. Load-bearing walls and the safe-room (mamad) walls cannot be changed, and anything structural needs an engineer. You can mark the changes on the developer's plan in the free ArchHomeAI 2D editor and get a change list, checks, quantities and your own estimate.

If you bought an apartment off-plan, the developer's floor plan is a starting point, not a final answer. Until the trades reach each stage you can usually ask to move a partition, add sockets where your desk and TV will be, move a water point for an island kitchen or cancel items you will replace anyway. In Israel this is called tenant changes (shinuyei dayarim); in the UK and Australia buyers talk about customising a new build or off-plan options. This guide explains how the process works, what it costs according to published price data, and how to plan the change on the developer's plan with ArchHomeAI before your coordination meeting.

What tenant changes are — and what they are called elsewhere

Tenant changes are changes the buyer requests to the developer's standard layout and specification while the building is under construction. They are agreed with the developer, priced by the developer and built by the developer's contractors, so the apartment is handed over the way you want it instead of being rebuilt after you get the keys. They are different from a renovation of a finished home: nothing has to be torn out if the change is made in time.

When to ask: deadlines by construction stage

The single most important rule is timing. A UK guide from New-Builds describes the usual order: layout and structural changes before the build starts, electrics and data points before plastering ("first fix"), and only cosmetic choices near completion. Missing a stage usually removes the option. A 2026 survey of 503 UK new-build buyers found that only 11% could personalise their home exactly as they wanted before moving in, and 49% later paid for further changes themselves — a good reason to plan early.

In Israel the developer's contract sets the date by which you must notify changes to priced items. According to a summary of the Sale (Apartments) Law, that contractual deadline cannot be earlier than six months after the foundations stage ends, and after every change the developer must give you an updated specification. Since 2015 developers must also give buyers a price list of the main specification items — floor tiles, kitchen and bathroom cabinets, sanitary ware and electrical points — with the credit for each item you waive and the price for adding or moving one.

What you can change — and what you cannot

What tenant changes cost: published price data

Developers price changes from their own list, and prices differ a lot between projects, so the figures below are only orders of magnitude from public price guides — use them to sanity-check a quote, not as a quote.

Remember the other side of the bill: credits. If you cancel the developer's kitchen, tiles or sanitary ware, the credit is often far below what the same item costs in a shop — the reason Israel made developers publish credit prices in advance (Bizportal). Compare credit, extra price and your own supplier's price before you cancel anything. For kitchen budgets see how much a kitchen remodel costs.

The process with the developer, step by step

1. Before signing Ask for the sale plan with dimensions, the specification and the tenant-changes price list with credits. Check whether there is a handling or design fee and what the deadline is. Get every promise in writing.
2. Decide the big items first Kitchen layout, appliances, AC type and furniture positions drive where sockets, water, drains and AC lines must go. An interior architect and tenant-changes coordinator writing in Ynet advises closing AC, finishes and kitchen orders before the first changes meeting.
3. Draw the change on the developer's plan Mark what is removed, what is added and every service point you need, with dimensions. A clear drawing shortens the meeting and avoids misunderstandings.
4. Coordination meeting Meet the developer's architectural coordination team (the tenant-changes coordinator). They check what is technically possible, what needs an engineer and what conflicts with shafts, beams or regulations.
5. Quote, approval and signature Receive a priced change order with credits and the updated plan and specification. Check every line against your drawing before you sign; changes outside the price list need both signatures.
6. Payment and follow-up Pay the seller, keep the receipts, and check the work on site before plastering and at handover, against the signed plan.

How to plan tenant changes on ArchHomeAI

ArchHomeAI turns the developer's plan into a drawing you can change and measure. Everything below is free — no AI and no credits — except the optional AI reading of a plan image and the AI renders. Start from the tenant-changes flow in the 2D editor: New Project → Tenant changes from a plan creates a Renovation project and opens the plan import.

1. Import the developer's plan Upload the plan as PDF, JPG/PNG or DXF. Mark the imported plan as "existing" is ticked for you. System recognition · free reads walls, doors, windows and rooms without credits; check the lengths against the plan's dimensions. If you need more detail, see how to convert a floor plan image to CAD.
2. Mark what goes Select the walls, doors, windows and service points you want removed and set Properties → Phase (renovation) → Demolish (or type PH).
3. Draw what is new Draw new partitions, doors and windows, and place new sockets, lights, switches, water and drain points, data, AC and gas points from Add element. Everything you draw now is New.
4. Open the Tenant changes tab In the Schedules panel the Tenant changes tab lists what changes: walls removed and added (m, m²), doors, windows and every point added or cancelled by type.
5. Read the checks The tab warns when a safe-room wall, an exterior wall or a thick wall (200 mm or more, possibly load-bearing) is marked for demolition — those need an engineer — and runs the plan checks on the proposed layout.
6. Price it Enter your own unit prices (from the developer's price list or your contractors), choose the currency and add a contingency percentage to get a preliminary estimate.
7. Export the change package Print or save the change list, bill of quantities and estimate as PDF, or export CSV for Excel. Export the drawing set (PDF/DXF) once in the existing view and once in the proposed view for the coordination meeting.

What you get from one drawing

• Change list — walls removed and added split into light partitions and masonry, doors, windows, and electrical, plumbing, communication, AC and gas points added or cancelled.
• Checks — safe-room wall, exterior wall and thick-wall warnings, plus the plan checks on the proposed layout.
• Bill of quantities and estimate — work items such as demolishing or building walls, finishing new walls, doors, sockets, lighting points, water and drain points and waste removal, multiplied by your prices plus contingency.
• Work plan by stage — the work in execution order (protection, engineer's approval, demolition, building, electrics, plumbing, closing, painting, handover) with typical durations and the inspections each stage needs; all durations are editable estimates.
• Materials list — gypsum boards, studs, tracks, blocks, mortar, plaster, paint, cable, conduit, pipes and more, derived from the quantities.
• Existing ↔ Proposed comparison — the two layouts side by side with room areas and service points, so you see exactly what the change does to each room.
• Drawings — the drawing set as PDF or DXF in the existing or proposed view (see renovation floor plans for how the phases look on sheets).
• 3D and renders — a free 3D model of the proposed layout; photoreal AI renders of the result are optional and cost credits.

Checklist before the coordination meeting

• The deadline for each type of change (layout, electrics, plumbing, finishes) is written down.
• You have the developer's price list, the credit for every cancelled item and any handling fee.
• Furniture, kitchen, appliances and AC are decided, so every point has a reason and a height.
• The change is drawn on the developer's plan with dimensions, in existing and proposed views.
• No safe-room wall, exterior wall or shaft is touched; thick walls are flagged for the engineer.
• Sockets are counted per room, including fridge, oven, dishwasher, washing machine, TV, desk and bedside.
• Water and drain points are close enough to shafts for a proper drain slope.
• You know who you pay, how, and what guarantee you receive.

Mistakes to avoid

• Asking late. After plastering or tiling, a small change means breaking new work, and the developer may refuse it.
• Trusting the marketing render. The signed sale plan is binding; measure rooms on the plan, not on the brochure image.
• Cancelling items without comparing credits. A low credit can make "I will buy my own" more expensive.
• Forgetting the knock-on effects. Moving a wall moves sockets, switches, lights, AC and sometimes a door swing.
• Agreeing verbally. Every change needs a signed, priced order and an updated plan.
• Paying the contractor directly without understanding which guarantees cover the money.

Plan your tenant changes Upload the developer's plan, mark what to remove and add, and get the change list, checks and your own estimate — free. Upload the original plan