What cheap interior work really costs you (the full bill, not the quote)
A cheap interior quote is not a cheaper price. It is an incomplete price. The work that was left out of the quote still has to be done, and you still have to pay for it — only later, at whatever the rate is then, with your office or store already half built.
We are asked to take over unfinished jobs fairly regularly. The pattern almost never changes, so it is worth writing down.
Where the rest of the money shows up
1. The quote had no quantities
A one-line quote — “office fit-out: ₹18 lakh” — cannot be held to anything. There is no square-foot figure, no board specification, no hardware brand. When the contractor says the partition run is longer than he assumed, there is nothing to check him against. An itemised bill of quantities prices every partition, workstation, fixture and light point separately, so the total is arithmetic rather than opinion.
2. Cheaper board, sooner replaced
Commercial ply and MDF cost noticeably less than boiling-water-proof ply. In dry storage you may never notice. Under a pantry sink, behind a café counter, or in a washroom vanity, the difference shows up in eighteen months as swollen, delaminated edges. Replacing a counter later costs more than specifying the right board at the start, because now you are paying for demolition — and downtime — too.
3. Hardware your staff will operate 40,000 times
Hinges, drawer channels and locks are where savings are quietly taken, because nobody inspects them at handover. In a busy office, store or hotel, a drawer channel is opened and closed dozens of times a day for years. The unbranded one is a third of the price and fails in a way that cannot be repaired — the whole drawer has to come out. Ask for hardware by brand and series, in writing.
4. Site work nobody quoted for
Electrical and data points moved, plumbing shifted for a pantry, false-ceiling cut-outs for HVAC, wall levelling, fire-safety changes. These are not extras; they are part of the job. Left out of the quote, they arrive as separate cash demands mid-project, and they are the most common reason a budget goes 30 to 40 per cent over.
5. Three months of rent, or three months of lost business
The cost that never appears on any quote. A fit-out that runs three months late is three more months of rent on the old premises, a store that opens after the season, or a hotel taking bookings it cannot honour. Put your own number on that before you compare quotes.
How to read two quotes properly
Put them side by side and check that both answer the same eight questions. If one cannot, it is not cheaper — it is vaguer.
- Board type and brand for each unit, wet areas listed separately
- Hardware brand and series, not “premium fittings”
- Quantities in running feet or square feet, per item
- Laminate or finish codes you have physically seen
- Electrical and plumbing work: included or excluded, stated plainly
- What happens to the price if the scope changes, and who signs that off
- A handover date, and what follows if it is missed
- Warranty: how long, on what, and who honours it
The quote that looks higher is often the only one that is complete. Compare the scope before the number.
Questions we get asked
Is a higher interior quote always better work?
No. A high price with no itemisation is exactly as risky as a low one. What matters is whether the quote is specific enough to hold someone to. Ask for the bill of quantities either way.
How much more does honest specification cost?
For a typical office or store fit-out, the gap between the lowest quote in the market and a properly specified one is usually 15 to 25 per cent. Where cheap work overruns, it commonly lands 30 to 40 per cent above its own quote — and finishes later.
What is the single biggest warning sign?
A refusal to put quantities on paper. Everything else follows from that.