Core and shell, semi-finished or fully finished — what is the difference?

What the three labels describe

The label on a listing says how much of the inside the developer carries out before handover. The same unit, in the same compound, can be sold at any of the three, and the difference is the work you pay the developer to do rather than your own contractor.

Core and shell

A unit at core and shell arrives with its structure, its walls and its service connections, and nothing done inside: no floor covering, no paint, no fitted kitchen, no bathroom fittings. You take the unit from there, and what you spend on finishing is your own decision and your own contract.

Semi-finished

Semi-finished stands in the middle: the developer carries part of the internal work — the plaster, the electrical and plumbing runs and the doors — and leaves the rest to you. The painting, the kitchen and the bathroom fitments are the part you carry, and their exact scope is written in the finishing schedule attached to the contract.

Fully finished

A fully finished unit arrives painted and floored, with its kitchen fitted and its bathrooms in place. Nothing is left to build: you furnish it and move in. A listing described as ready to move is a fully finished unit that is also already built.

How the level changes the price

The more the developer finishes, the more you are buying, and the higher the asking price of the unit. A core-and-shell unit is cheaper on the page and hands you a finishing bill; a fully finished one is dearer on the page and hands you an empty one. Compare the two by adding the cost of what is still left to do, then compare the totals.

What should be written into the contract

The finishing schedule: the materials, the works included and excluded, and the level the unit is sold at. The label alone does not settle it, because what one developer calls semi-finished differs from what another means by it, and the schedule is what binds both sides.

How do I compare two units at different levels?

Price each unit as it is sold, add the value of the work still left to you, and put the two sums side by side. The core-and-shell unit is the cheaper listing and the dearer purchase; the finished one is the other way round. The sum is the figure that compares.