Drywall pricing lives and dies on one document: the wall type schedule. Stud size, gauge, spacing, height, layer count, rating, finish level — it's all there, and a careful read of it gets you most of the way to a real number. The part that doesn't live there is the boundary work: what's included because it's shown on a wall type versus mentioned once in someone else's section, and which finish disputes are actually decided by a clause you'll find under lighting, not drywall.
This is a working list of where those boundaries sit, built from what shows up across real Canadian ICI tenders — not a generic scope template, a list of the specific questions worth answering before the number leaves the office.
What's reliably yours
- Steel stud framing and furring — interior non-structural framing per the wall type schedule: stud size, gauge, spacing, heights, deflection heads, king studs and rough openings.
- Gypsum board supply and installation — board type, thickness and layer count per assembly: standard, Type X fire-rated, moisture/mould-resistant, abuse-resistant, shaftliner.
- Taping and finishing to the specified level — GA-214-style finish levels called out per room or surface. Level 4 versus Level 5 is a real price difference, and the finish schedule — not the wall type schedule — is what decides it.
- Fire-rated and acoustic assemblies — rated partitions and shaftwall systems with their full tested-assembly requirements, plus the acoustic insulation, sealant and resilient channel the assembly calls for.
Where the fight actually happens
Level 5 and the lighting clause nobody expects
A skim-coat finish requirement tied to gloss paint, wall-wash lighting, or a "critical light" condition is routinely stated in the painting section or buried in lighting general notes — not in Division 09 21 where you'd naturally look for it. Missing this clause means bidding Level 4 against a wall that will visibly telegraph every joint under raking light once the fixtures go in. It's the single most common finish-level dispute on a tender, and it's also the one hiding in the section you weren't planning to read.
Firestopping: yours, or a specialty sub's
Firestopping at penetrations through rated drywall assemblies sometimes ships inside the drywall package and sometimes goes to a dedicated specialty sub. Section 07 84 00 has the actual requirements; what it usually doesn't have is a clear statement of who installs it on this tender. Confirm the assignment before pricing rather than defaulting to either answer.
Backing and blocking — the classic unpriced item
Plywood or steel backing for casework, handrails, grab bars and TV mounts is drywall scope when it's shown on the wall types. The trap is when it's only mentioned in someone else's section — millwork calling for backing "by others," say — with no matching line in the wall type schedule. That's real material and labour with no obvious home, and it's exactly the kind of requirement that gets discovered at rough-in instead of at bid.
Access panels: who supplies, who installs
Access panels are usually supplied by the mechanical or electrical trade that needs the access and installed by drywall. The split itself is standard practice; the dispute is confirming supply is genuinely on the other trade and not silently assumed by both sides to be the other's problem.
The other half: what isn't yours, even when it looks close
- Structural framing and engineering — load-bearing framing and its engineering are a different trade's scope entirely; drywall's framing is non-structural interior partitions.
- Painting and decorating — your finishing obligation ends at the specified level; paint is the next trade. The exception is exactly the Level 5/lighting dispute above, which is why it gets its own section rather than a footnote.
- Substrate and water-damage correction — correcting someone else's substrate, or pre-existing damage discovered mid-job, is extra work unless the tender documents explicitly say otherwise.
Four things that hide outside the wall type schedule
- Deflection and slab-movement details. Deflection track, slip connections and head-of-wall fire joints are usually specified once, in a typical detail — and that one detail carries labour and accessory cost across every wall it applies to.
- Ceiling heights and bulkhead complexity. The reflected ceiling plan carries scope the floor plans never show — bulkheads, soffits, ceiling transitions — and it's a separate drawing set from the one most estimators read first.
- Temporary heat and humidity for finishing. Taping and finishing need conditioned air. Whether the site provides temporary heat, and who pays for it, is a Division 01 clause with real winter-schedule cost attached — and it's easy to assume it's someone else's problem until the schedule confirms it.
- In-wall insulation. Batt or acoustic insulation shown in the wall type schedule is drywall scope; thermal insulation in exterior assemblies may or may not be, and the tender needs to say which.
Who you're actually sharing the wall with
| Trade | What to reconcile before you price |
|---|---|
| Mechanical & electrical | Walls close only after in-wall rough-in inspection — confirm the sequence, and who cuts and patches for services installed late. |
| Painting | Finish-level acceptance is the classic boundary dispute: a surface flaw found under primer lands back on the finisher. Confirm the acceptance criteria and the lighting condition it's judged under. |
| Doors & glazing | Who sets hollow metal frames in stud walls, plus opening sizes and glazing pocket framing. |
| Firestopping specialty | Where firestopping is a separate sub, confirm penetration sealing at rated drywall assemblies has an assigned owner per detail — not a general assumption. |
The pass that catches most of this
Read the wall type schedule the way it deserves — completely, since revisions to it hide in addenda and general notes as often as anywhere else. Then read the painting and lighting sections specifically for finish-level and critical-light language before assuming Level 4 is safe. The wall type schedule is the bid; the boundary items above are what turn a correct wall-type read into a bid that doesn't get disputed six months into the job.