01
Carpet area or built-up?
Built-up can be 20–30% larger for the same work. Every per-square-foot comparison is meaningless until this is settled.
Money · Explained
How to read an interior design quotation
Where quotes hide money, which lines to insist on, and the six questions that make two quotations genuinely comparable.
The short answer
A quote you cannot audit is a quote you cannot compare.
A usable interior quotation prices work by measure, running feet of shutter, square feet of loft, count of electrical points, not by room as a lump sum. It names the material and the brand for every line, states GST separately, lists what is excluded, and ties payments to stages rather than to dates. If a quotation gives you "Kitchen, ₹3,20,000" and nothing else, it is not hiding anything clever; it simply cannot be checked, which means the number can move later without anyone being able to say it did.
The checklist
Six questions, in the order to ask them.
02
Is GST inside or outside the number?
A ₹10 lakh exclusive quote is ₹11.8 lakh. Side by side with an inclusive quote it looks 15% cheaper and is not.
03
Which board, which grade, where?
"Plywood" is not a specification. BWR or BWP, IS 303 or IS 710, and which one is at the sink base, see the plywood guide.
04
Which hardware, by name?
Hinges and channels are 15–20% of a kitchen. "Soft-close hardware" spans a four-fold price range. A brand and a series, or it is not priced.
05
Is civil and electrical in or out?
Rerouting plumbing and adding points can be ₹1–2 lakh with nothing to do with finish. This is the most common silent exclusion.
06
What happens if it runs late?
A date with no remedy behind it is a hope. Ours carries ₹1,000 a day; whatever the answer, get it in the contract.
Line by line
What a proper line item looks like.
| Weak | Auditable |
|---|---|
| Kitchen, ₹3,20,000 | Base units 14 rft @ ₹X/rft. BWR carcass IS 303, HDHMR shutters, Hettich soft-close |
| Wardrobes, ₹2,40,000 | Wardrobe 8 rft x 7 ft @ ₹X/sft. BWR carcass, laminate shutters, loft 8 rft @ ₹Y/sft |
| Electrical work, ₹85,000 | 42 points @ ₹X/point, 3 new circuits, DB upgrade, itemised by type |
| False ceiling, ₹1,10,000 | 320 sft gypsum @ ₹X/sft, 18 recessed fittings supplied by client |
| Painting, lump sum | 1,850 sft @ ₹X/sft, putty, primer, two coats, brand and sheen named |
The right-hand column is not longer for the sake of it. Every one of those lines can be measured on site after installation, which means the quote is a document you can hold someone to rather than a proposal.
The exclusions
Read this section first, not last.
The exclusions list is the most informative part of any quotation and it is usually the smallest text on the last page. Read it before the prices. Appliances, loose furniture, curtains, structural work, statutory approvals and society charges are commonly excluded and reasonably so, what matters is that they are named, so you can budget for them rather than discover them.
A quotation with no exclusions section at all is the one to worry about. Everything has exclusions; a document that does not state them has simply moved the conversation to later, when you have less leverage.
Questions
Asked and answered.
Two carefully compared beats five skimmed. Normalise them first, same area basis, same GST treatment, same inclusions, and very often the ranking changes once you do.
Not automatically. It is a problem when it is cheapest because something is missing rather than because someone is more efficient. Normalising the exclusions tells you which it is.
Staged against progress, commonly 50% at order confirmation, 40% before dispatch or installation, 10% after handover. The final tranche is the part that matters. It is your only leverage on snags.
You can, and you should treat what you get as a budget range rather than a price. Anything firm before a site measurement will be revised, particularly on civil and electrical.
Keep reading
Related.
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