Okuzeka
Interior Design vocabulary · Clients & Projects

Lead time

Meaning in interior design, with examples

/ˈliːd taɪm/nounCommon term

In interior design, lead time means: The time between placing an order and receiving the item, which can be days for stock products and many weeks for bespoke or imported pieces.

In Turkish: tedarik süresi, termin süresi, teslim süresi

How it is used

One of the most important words in project planning and client emails. Designers check lead times before finalising a specification, because a sofa with a 12-week lead time can delay the whole handover.

Example sentences

  1. The lead time on the Italian tiles is ten weeks, so we need to order them now.

  2. Lead times have gone up, so please approve the fabrics this week.

Common collocations

  • long lead time
  • lead time of eight weeks
  • check lead times
  • long-lead items
  • specificationA detailed written description of the products, materials, finishes and quantities to be used in a project, so that they can be priced, ordered and installed correctly.
  • FF&EShort for furniture, fixtures and equipment: the movable items and fittings in a project that are not part of the building structure, such as furniture, lamps, curtains and artwork.
  • bespokeDesigned and made specially for one client or one space rather than bought ready-made from a catalogue.
  • sign offTo give formal, final approval to a design, drawing, sample or cost so that the next stage of work or ordering can go ahead.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Clients & Projects

Practise with graded reading

Reading at the right level is the fastest way to make new words stick. Pick free English books by level: