How to Price a Kitchen Fit-Out
A kitchen hides half a dozen trades and a fortnight of sequencing inside one quote. Price it stage by stage and the number becomes defensible instead of a gamble.
A kitchen fit-out is one of the most profitable domestic jobs a builder can take on — and one of the easiest to lose money on. It bundles joinery, plumbing, electrics, plastering, tiling and flooring into a tight sequence, and any one of them slipping drags the whole job.
This guide breaks a kitchen into the stages and trades that actually drive the cost, so you can build a quote that covers your labour, your sub-trades and your margin, and holds up when the customer changes the worktop halfway through.
Key takeaways
- Price the stages and trades separately — strip-out, first fix, units, worktops, appliances, tiling and snagging.
- Sequencing is the hidden cost: a delayed worktop template or appliance holds up everything after it.
- Cost sub-trades (plumber, electrician, plasterer, tiler) at their rate to you, as their own lines.
- Use a PC sum for units, worktops and appliances so a customer upgrade is charged, not absorbed.
- Electrical and gas work must be certified — build that certification into the price.
Break the kitchen into stages
A kitchen fit-out runs as a sequence: strip out the old kitchen, first-fix the plumbing and electrics for the new layout, plaster and prepare, fit the units, template and fit the worktops, connect appliances, then tile, floor and snag. Pricing each stage separately lets you estimate labour honestly and see where a particular kitchen is heavier than the last.
The sequence is also where time is lost. Worktops are usually templated only once the units are fitted and then take days to fabricate, so the job pauses mid-flow. Price and programme around that gap rather than pretending the job runs straight through.
Cost the trades honestly
A kitchen pulls in a plumber for the sink, appliances and any gas, an electrician for sockets, lighting and the hob, a plasterer, and often a tiler. Price each of them as a separate line at the rate they charge you — never bury a sub-trade inside your own hours, or you will be paying their invoice out of your margin.
Your own labour covers the strip-out, unit fitting, worktops and general building. Multiply your realistic days per stage by your day rate, and add the trades on top. Keeping them visible on the quote also makes a later change — a moved socket, an extra spotlight — easy to price as a variation.
Build it from saved line items
TradePlanr lets you build a kitchen quote from saved lines for strip-out, first fix, unit fitting, worktops and tiling, so every quote starts from your real rates and converts straight to an invoice when the job is done.
Units, worktops and appliances
The big variable is what the customer buys. Units, worktops and appliances swing the total enormously, so handle them with prime cost (PC) sums: allow a stated budget for supply, and charge the difference if they upgrade to the stone worktop or the range cooker. That keeps your quote honest whatever they choose.
Worktops especially deserve care — a solid surface or stone top is templated, fabricated and fitted by a specialist, on their own lead time and at their own cost. Treat it as a supplied-and-fitted line with its own timescale, not something you knock up on site.
Certification, contingency and staged payment
Electrical work in a kitchen is notifiable under Part P, and any gas work must be done and certified by a Gas Safe engineer. Cost that certification in as part of delivering a compliant job — it is not optional and it is not free.
Add a contingency for what the old kitchen hides — dodgy plaster, no isolation, a floor that is nowhere near level — and stage the payments across the fortnight so your cash flow does not sag while the money is tied up in someone else's kitchen.
Stage the invoices, protect cash flow
On a two-week kitchen, invoice a deposit for materials, a stage payment mid-job and the balance on completion — with card payment links — so money comes in as the work progresses.
Frequently asked questions
How long does a kitchen fit-out take?
Most domestic kitchens run one to two weeks depending on size and the trades involved, with a pause while worktops are templated and fabricated. Programme and price around that gap rather than assuming a straight run.
Should I supply the kitchen units or the customer?
Either works if you use a PC (prime cost) sum: allow a stated supply budget on the quote and charge the difference if they upgrade. That protects your price whatever units, worktops and appliances they pick.
Do I need certificates for a kitchen?
Yes. Electrical work is notifiable under Part P and must be certified, and any gas work must be done and certified by a Gas Safe engineer. Build that certification into the price.
From guidance to action
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