Lead times move, and a bid written against last year’s assumption is a scheduling risk you carry, not the supplier.
Where things stand now
Standard-format domestic porcelain generally runs short. Large-format slabs and specialty finishes — book-matched natural stone, custom glazes — run materially longer, because they are produced or quarried to order. We confirm current lead times with your supplier at takeoff rather than quoting a number from memory.
What this means for your bid
Standard-format material no longer needs the aggressive scheduling buffer it did two years ago. But if a finish schedule specifies a large-format or imported slab, that lead time still belongs in the project schedule as a named risk, not folded into a generic contingency line.
Our takeoffs flag format, not just quantity
When we take off a tile scope, we note format and origin alongside the SF quantity specifically so this distinction is visible before the bid closes — not discovered when the material doesn’t show up on schedule.
Scoping a tile job with lead-time risk?
We’ll flag lead-time risk by material as part of the takeoff.