QUOTES & PRICING
How to compare three kitchen renovation quotes
Most people arrive at a decision with three quotes that do not compare to each other. Different totals, different levels of detail, and no obvious way to tell which one is actually the best value.
The gap between them is usually not profit. It is scope. Here is how to find out what each one is really offering.
THE QUICK VERSION
The cheapest quote is often the one with the most missing from it
A quote is only a price if it says what is included. Before you compare totals, make each one list the same scope: cabinetry, benchtop, appliances, plumbing, electrical, tiling, rubbish removal and installation. Two quotes $20,000 apart often turn out to be quoting two different jobs.
READING A QUOTE
What separates a real quote from an optimistic one
WARNING SIGNS
- A single line and a single number, with no breakdown
- Several items marked “allowance” with no note of what they assume
- “Provisional sum” used for work that could have been measured
- No mention of who removes the old kitchen or the rubbish
- Appliances and tapware excluded without saying so plainly
- No timeframe, or a timeframe with no stages in it
WHAT GOOD LOOKS LIKE
- Line items you can price independently if you want to
- Every allowance states what it assumes and what it covers
- Fixed prices wherever the work can actually be measured
- Demolition, disposal and making good are named
- A clear list of what is excluded, not just what is included
- A stage-by-stage timeline with the no-kitchen window identified
A FAMILIAR SCENE
Three quotes on the same kitchen: $38,000, $46,000 and $61,000.
The $38,000 one excluded appliances, tapware and the splashback, and had “benchtop: allowance” with no figure attached. The $61,000 one included a full natural stone benchtop the owners had not asked for. The $46,000 one was the only one that had priced what they actually wanted.
Once all three were rewritten to the same scope, they landed within about $4,000 of each other. The cheapest had never been cheapest. It was just the least complete.
If you want a sense of what your kitchen should cost before the quotes arrive, our kitchen renovation cost guide sets out the ranges and what moves them.
And if you have the three quotes in front of you right now, send them through. We will read them and write back with what is missing from each, whether or not you use us.
