An apartment price on a listing is a single figure. What that figure covers is a list, one that varies from developer to developer, and sometimes from unit to unit within the same block. A first-time buyer who assumes the quoted price includes everything shown in a marketing render is the buyer most likely to be surprised at handover, not because anyone lied, but because nobody confirmed the list in writing before signing.
Why “Apartment Price” Isn’t a Single Number
Two units in the same development, at the same price point, can come with different specifications depending on when they were sold and what package the buyer negotiated. Some developers quote a base finish as standard, with kitchen upgrades, wardrobe finishes, or air conditioning offered as paid extras. Others build a higher specification into the base price and market it as such. Neither approach is wrong, but a buyer comparing two units purely on price, without checking what each figure includes, is not comparing like with like.
The same gap shows up in how pricing is structured internally. Some developers sell on a lump-sum basis, where one figure covers a fixed specification and any changes the buyer requests are priced as variations. Others price certain categories- sanitaryware, wardrobes, kitchen cabinetry- as allowances within the total, meaning the final specification is only pinned down once the buyer chooses within that allowance. Neither structure is inherently better, but a buyer who does not know which one they are dealing with cannot tell whether the number they were quoted is a ceiling, a starting point, or an estimate that assumes the cheapest option in every category.
What Counts as a Finish, and What Counts as a Fitting
The two terms get used loosely, but the distinction matters when reading a sale agreement. A finish is a fixed surface treatment applied to the structure itself: wall paint, floor tiling, ceiling treatment, and the grouting and painting that go with them. A fitting is a fixed item installed into the unit: sanitaryware, kitchen units, wardrobes, doors, ironmongery, electrical fittings, and the water heater. Furniture and appliances that are not fixed to the structure: a fridge, a cooker, a washing machine, normally sit outside both categories and outside the purchase price entirely, unless the agreement states otherwise. A buyer should know which of the three categories every item they care about falls into, because only two of them are usually assumed to be included.
Within “finishes” specifically, it helps to separate the structural layer from the visible layer. Floor screed, for example, is a structural finish that is rarely specified in detail because it is not visible; floor tiling is a visible finish that should be specified by the type, size, and quality grade. The same applies to doors: an internal flush door and a solid-core security door are both “doors” in a brochure description, but they are not interchangeable in cost or quality, and a specification that simply says “doors as required” gives a buyer no way to know which one they are getting.
The Legal Anchor: The Schedule of Specifications
Kenyan sale agreements for off-plan or newly built units are expected to carry a schedule of specifications, a document listing the exact materials, finishes, and fittings the developer commits to installing. A properly drafted agreement should set out detailed specifications of finishes, materials, and fittings to prevent discrepancies between what was promised and what is delivered, rather than leaving the buyer to rely on marketing brochures or a show unit that may not reflect the final product. Without that schedule attached as part of the contract, a buyer has comparatively little to point to if the delivered unit falls short of what was shown at the point of sale.
The schedule also needs to survive construction intact. A developer’s ability to change the design, layout, or finishes after signing should be tightly limited, since material variations that substantially affect the value, size, appearance, or functionality of the property should trigger clear buyer rights rather than being left to the developer’s discretion. A specification clause that allows unrestricted substitution is, in practice, no specification at all.
Where Price Ambiguity Creeps In
Even a detailed specification schedule can leave room for dispute if a few common gaps are not closed:
How to Read a Specification Schedule
A specification schedule is only useful if it is enough to check against the finished unit. A well-written line item names four things: the brand or manufacturer, the model or product code, the grade or finish level, and where in the unit it applies. “Porcelain floor tiles, 600×600mm, matte finish, living and dining areas” tells a buyer exactly what to expect and exactly what to compare against on inspection day. “Quality floor tiles throughout” tells them nothing enforceable. When reviewing a schedule, a buyer should treat any line item that could describe five different products equally well as a line item that needs to be pinned down before signing, not after.
The Quality Floor Behind the Specification
Whatever is specified still has to meet a regulatory minimum. Kenya’s construction sector now operates under the National Building Code 2024, which came into full legal effect on 1 March 2025, replacing building regulations that dated back to 1968. The code sets a national floor for construction quality that no specification schedule can legally fall below, which gives a buyer a baseline to check a developer’s stated specification against, rather than relying solely on the developer’s own marketing language.
Material authenticity is a separate but related concern. Counterfeit electrical fittings are among the goods regularly recovered in enforcement raids, according to the Anti-Counterfeit Authority, which is one more reason a specification naming an actual brand and model is worth more than one describing an item generically. A generic description gives a contractor room to install whatever is cheapest and available, genuine or not.
What Belongs to the Unit, and What’s Shared
Not everything a buyer sees in a development’s marketing sits inside the purchase price of a single unit. Kenyan law separates a sectional development into individually owned units and common property owned by all unit proprietors as tenants in common under the Sectional Properties Act. Gym equipment, lobby finishes, landscaping, and lift fittings typically fall under common property, maintained through the service charge, not funded through any single buyer’s purchase price. A buyer should ask, item by item, whether an amenity shown in the brochure is inside their unit, or is common property they will contribute toward maintaining after handover.
What to Confirm Before You Sign
In Summary
The price on a listing is a starting point for a conversation, not a complete answer. What turns that number into an enforceable promise is a specification schedule that names the actual materials, fittings, and finishes a buyer is paying for, attached to the sale agreement rather than implied by a brochure. Confirming that list before signing costs a buyer nothing but a conversation. Discovering the gaps after the handover costs considerably more.
