Approve the exact material in writing
The proposal should name the exact field tile, the grout, and the edge profile before material is ordered: the product name, the size, the finish, and the color, tied to a sample you have seen. A verbal resemblance is not the material line. Ordering from a resemblance is how the cartons and the proposal describe two different finishes.
Identity fields that have to match
Write the maker's name for the tile, the nominal size, the surface finish, and the color or lot you approved. Do the same for grout: family and color. Do the same for the edge: the profile shape, not only the word trim. If any field is blank, the order is not approved. A photo of a magazine page is a wish until those fields are filled from a product that can be bought.
The sample is the reference
Keep the approved sample and say in the proposal that deliveries will be checked against it. Shade, texture, and sheen are the usual mismatches. The check happens when cartons arrive, before they are mixed across the floor. Without a retained sample, the argument is about memory.
A substitution is a new approval
If the named product is unavailable, the replacement needs the same identity fields and a new written approval. Swapping a rectified tile for a pressed tile, or a matte glaze for a polished face, changes lippage, joint width, and how the edge is finished. The original approval does not cover that swap.
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