The 9 Most Common Hardware Mistakes
The Most Common Hardware Headaches on Luxury Residential Projects (And How to Avoid Them)
Luxury architectural hardware is often one of the final elements to be considered on a project, yet it is one of the first things the homeowner will touch every day.
When specified and coordinated correctly, it should integrate seamlessly with the architecture, joinery, and wider design. When it isn’t, it can quickly become a source of delays, additional costs, and unnecessary frustration.
Over many years of supplying hardware to world class high-end residential projects, we’ve seen the same issues come up time and time again. The good news is that almost all of them are preventable, with the right information and coordination.
1. Specifying Hardware Too Late
Many hardware issues begin long before any products are ordered. By the time hardware is considered, decisions around door construction, frame details, and budgets have often already been made. At this stage, options become limited and hardware compromises become inevitable.
Hardware should be considered as part of the architectural and joinery design process, not simply selected once the doors have been designed.
2. Incomplete Project Information
One of the biggest causes of delays and mistakes is incomplete project information.
To produce an accurate schedule of all hardware required, a hardware consultant should ideally receive:
General Arrangement (GA) drawings
A complete door schedule
Door numbers clearly shown on the GA drawings
Door numbers that correspond exactly with the door schedule
The door schedule should also include critical information such as:
Door thickness
Door height and width
Door material
Acoustic rating
Plain meeting stile or rebated pair
Opening direction
Frame details
Without this information, assumptions must be made, increasing the risk of specification errors later in the project.
3. No Ownership of the Hardware Schedule
A hardware schedule is more than a simple list of products. It’s the document that coordinates every hardware component on every door in the project.
Producing a comprehensive schedule takes time and technical expertise. It requires every opening to be reviewed individually to ensure all components work together correctly.
The best results are usually achieved when the hardware supplier or manufacturer is appointed and confirmed early. This allows them to invest the necessary time into producing an accurate, coordinated schedule.
Many projects also benefit from treating hardware scheduling as a professional service, rather than an unpaid exercise. Charging separately for this work allows the level of detail and coordination that luxury residential projects demand.
4. Mixing Multiple Hardware Suppliers
Using several hardware suppliers or manufacturers can appear to reduce costs, but it often creates more problems than it solves.
Common issues include:
Variations in finish colour across products
Product compatibility issues
Different manufacturing tolerances between product ranges
Unclear responsibility when products don’t perform as expected
A single coordinated package usually delivers greater consistency, easier communication, and clearer accountability.
5. Choosing Hardware on Appearance Alone
Luxury hardware must do far more than merely look beautiful.
Questions worth asking include:
How does it feel in everyday use?
Is the engineering as good as the design?
Can components be serviced or maintained?
How will the finish wear?
The best architectural hardware combines aesthetics, engineering, and long-term performance.
6. Underestimating Technical Compatibility
Every hardware component affects another. Locks, latch cases, hinges, handles, spindles, roses and door construction all need to work together as one complete system.
Changing a single component can create knock-on issues throughout the package if compatibility hasn’t been considered from the outset. This is where experienced hardware scheduling becomes invaluable.
7. Ordering at the Wrong Time
Ordering too early can lock a project into decisions that may still change. Ordering too late can lead to:
Extended lead times
Programme delays
Increased freight costs
Limited finish availability
Last minute substitutions
Early planning with realistic procurement milestones helps avoid unnecessary pressure later in the programme.
8. Separating Decorative and Functional Hardware Packages
One of the most common mistakes is treating decorative and functional hardware as separate packages. Decorative handles and knobs are only one part of a complete door set and must work alongside:
Lock and latch cases
Hinges
Flush bolts
Spindles
When these products are specified independently by different parties, important details can easily be overlooked.
Coordinating the complete door package through a single specialist significantly reduces the risk of incompatibility and costly site issues.
9. Value Engineering Too Late
Cost-saving exercises are often left until the final stages of a project. Unfortunately, this is frequently when carefully coordinated hardware packages are broken apart in an attempt to reduce costs.
Late value engineering often creates additional coordination work, introduces compatibility risks, and can ultimately increase installation costs. A better approach is to establish a realistic hardware budget early in the design process and develop the specification around that budget from the outset.
Final Coordination Checklist
Before finalising your hardware package, ask the following:
Are the latest GA drawings available?
Does every door have a unique reference number?
Is there a complete and accurate door schedule?
Does the schedule contain all critical door information?
Has one specialist coordinated the complete hardware package?
Has product compatibility been checked throughout?
Have finish samples been reviewed and approved?
Are manufacturing lead times understood?
Has every door been reviewed individually before ordering?
The earlier these questions are answered, the smoother the procurement process becomes. On high end residential projects, successful hardware specification is rarely about choosing individual products. It’s about coordinating an entire system that performs beautifully for decades.
If you’d like to find out more about how our team can support the creation of the perfect hardware package, contact us at uk.handshake@josephgiles.com, or call +44(0) 20 8680 2602.
