How to Read an Interior Design Quotation

Every interior project in India reaches the same moment: the drawings are ready, the 3D views look right, and a PDF arrives with a total at the bottom that is several lakh rupees larger than the family expected. Most people read that number first, then scroll up looking for something to cut, and finally compare it with another firm's total that is "two lakh cheaper". Very few read the quotation the way a contractor or quantity surveyor does — line by line, unit by unit, specification by specification — and that is exactly where the money is decided.

A quotation is not a price list. It is the written promise of what will be built, in what material, to what size, with which hardware, at what rate, under which conditions. A cheaper quote is often a smaller scope, a thinner board, a cheaper hinge, an unmeasured loft, a ceiling quoted per sq ft of plain gypsum when the drawing shows coves, or a long list of exclusions on the last page. Families who sign on the total discover these differences during execution, as "extras". Families who read the quotation properly discover them before signing, when they cost nothing to fix.

This guide walks through an interior quotation the way Aaditya Interior's team reviews one before it goes to a client: the parts of the document, the units of measurement and what each actually measures, the specification lines that drive price, a worked example for a mid-range 3BHK, taxes and exclusions, payment terms, how to compare three quotes fairly, and the red flags that predict disputes. Prices are indicative October 2026 figures consistent with the cost guides elsewhere on this blog.

Why interior quotations look the way they do

The modern interior quotation grew out of two older traditions. The first is the carpenter's estimate. For decades, most Indian homes were furnished by a mistri working on site: the family or the designer bought the plywood, laminate and hardware, and the carpenter quoted labour — sometimes per day, more often per square foot of finished furniture. Because material and labour were bought separately, the client saw exactly what went in, but nobody owned the whole result, and the cost was known only at the end.

The second tradition is the civil contractor's bill of quantities, or BOQ — a schedule listing every item of work with its description, unit, quantity and rate, prepared from drawings and measured according to agreed rules. Indian civil practice measures work according to the IS 1200 series of standards, which set out how each trade is measured, and public works departments publish schedules of rates in the same format. When design-and-build interior firms and modular factories became common from the 2000s and 2010s, they borrowed the BOQ format and the per-square-foot rate from these two traditions: furniture priced per sq ft of front elevation, ceilings per sq ft of area, painting per sq ft of paintable surface, electrical work per point.

Today a quotation may come from an independent designer with a separate contractor, from a design-and-build studio, from a modular-kitchen brand, or from an online package company quoting per BHK. The format differs, but a fair quotation of any type answers the same seven questions: what, how big, how many, in what material, with what hardware and finish, at what rate, and on what terms. Anything a quotation does not state in writing should be assumed to be the cheapest option or not included at all.

Anatomy of a quotation: the parts and the columns

A complete interior quotation has a cover section, a bill of quantities divided by trade or by room, a summary, and terms. The cover section identifies the firm with its registered address and GSTIN, the client, the site address, the date, a quotation number, a validity period, and — most importantly — the drawing set and revision it is based on. A quotation that does not reference drawings has nothing to be checked against. The BOQ is the heart of the document. Each row is one item, and each item needs its own description, size, unit, quantity, rate and amount.

Units of measurement: what you are actually paying for

The single most misunderstood part of an interior quotation is the unit. A rate of ₹1,600 means nothing until it is clear whether it is per square foot of front elevation, per square foot of floor area, per running foot, or per piece. Different firms use different units for the same item, and the same unit can be measured in different ways. The table summarises the units in common Indian use and how each is usually measured.

Sq ft of elevation is the unit that causes most confusion. It measures the front face of a unit, not the material used. A wardrobe 2100 mm wide and 2100 mm high has 4.41 m², or about 47.5 sq ft, of elevation, whether it is 450 mm or 600 mm deep and whether it has four shelves or ten. That is why the rate per sq ft must be read together with depth, internal configuration and accessories: a firm quoting ₹1,400 for a 450 mm deep wardrobe with plain shelves may be dearer than one quoting ₹1,700 for a 600 mm deep wardrobe with drawers and a trouser rack included.

The same discipline applies to every unit. A modular kitchen quoted per running foot should state whether that foot includes base units only, base and wall units, or base, wall and tall units, and whether the countertop, sink, hob cut-out and accessories sit inside or outside the rate. A false ceiling quoted at ₹70 per sq ft is a plain gypsum ceiling; a ceiling with coves, drops and profile slots belongs in the ₹80–180 band, and the cove itself may be measured separately in running feet. An electrical "point" should define the wire size and length allowance, conduit type, switch and socket range — a point of 6 m of wire in an existing conduit is a very different job from a new point chased into a wall.

Specifications: the lines that decide the price

Two quotations for the same wardrobe can differ by forty per cent and both be fair, because they describe different wardrobes. The specification line is where that difference lives. For built-in furniture, the minimum a specification should state is the carcass board and its grade (for example BWR or BWP plywood conforming to IS 303 or IS 710, or HDHMR), its thickness (18 mm for carcasses is standard, with 6–9 mm or 12 mm backs), the shutter board and finish (laminate thickness, acrylic, PU paint or veneer with polish), the edge banding (thickness and material), the inner surface finish, the hinges and drawer channels by type and brand, and the handles.

Material grade claims should be checkable. Plywood carries an IS mark and a licence number on genuine branded sheets; laminate packs carry a shade code and thickness; hardware arrives in the brand's packaging. A good contract states that the client or designer may inspect material on delivery and reject anything that does not match the specification. This single clause does more to keep a quotation honest than any amount of bargaining over the rate.

A worked example: mid-range 3BHK quotation

The table below shows a mid-range quotation for a 3BHK of about 1,250 sq ft carpet area, using midpoints of the bands from this blog's 3BHK cost guide. It is illustrative, not a price for any particular project, but it shows how the sections of a real quotation add up and where the money goes. Note that the site work and contingency line is real money: minor civil changes, plumbing tweaks, debris removal, protection and a buffer for what is found when walls are opened.

Read in this way, the quotation tells a story. If the furniture share is much lower than about half, check whether beds, the study or the crockery unit have been left out. If the site work line is missing entirely, expect it to return as extras. If the electrical line is very small, the lighting design may not have been priced at all. And if GST is not mentioned, ask whether every rate includes it or excludes it — on a ₹19 lakh project the difference is over three lakh rupees.

Exclusions, provisional sums, contingency and GST

The gap between the quoted total and the final bill almost always comes from four places. The first is exclusions: items that are not part of the quotation at all. Loose furniture, appliances, ACs, curtains, decor, light fixtures chosen later, society deposits and debris charges are commonly excluded, and that is fine as long as they are listed and the family budgets for them. The second is provisional sums — allowances for work that cannot be measured until site conditions are known, such as civil repairs behind old tiles or electrical upgrades after a load check. A provisional sum should state what it covers and the rates at which the actual work will be billed.

The third is contingency. Elsewhere on this blog, a contingency of about five to eight per cent agreed in advance is recommended for larger homes, and the 3BHK cost guide builds a 10–15 per cent buffer into its site-work line for renovation work. A quotation without any contingency is not cheaper; it simply moves the uncertainty to the client. The fourth is GST. Interior contracts and most materials commonly attract GST at 18 per cent; the quotation should show it as a separate line with the firm's GSTIN, and the tax invoice should match it. Rates should be marked clearly as inclusive or exclusive of GST.

Payment terms, timeline, variations and warranty

The terms page decides how the relationship works when something goes wrong, so it deserves as much attention as the prices. A balanced execution payment schedule starts with a booking advance of about 10–20 per cent, ties later payments to visible progress — material delivered, carcasses installed, shutters and finishes complete — and keeps a retention of about 5–10 per cent until the snag list is closed. The design fee, where it is separate, is usually paid in stages tied to concept, detailed drawings and supervision. A schedule that asks for most of the money before work is visible on site shifts all of the risk to the client.

The production payment in the schedule above is the one point where money runs ahead of visible work: factory-made furniture needs material bought and cut before anything reaches site. That is normal and fair, provided the client can see the material order or visit the factory, and provided the schedule pulls back into balance at installation. Variations — any change after signing — should be priced in writing before they are carried out, using the quotation's own rates where possible. The quotation should also state the timeline with its dependencies (the client's approval of finishes, the society's work hours, appliance delivery), and the warranty: what is covered, for how long, and what voids it. Hardware warranties are given by brands; workmanship warranty is given by the firm, and the two should be listed separately.

Comparing three quotations fairly

Comparing quotations is a normalising exercise. Before anyone looks at totals, the three documents must be brought to the same scope and the same specification. Make a single sheet with one row per item from the drawings and one column per firm. Fill in each firm's size, unit, specification and amount. Wherever one firm has left something out, add a realistic figure for it; wherever one has quoted a lower grade, note the difference. Only then compare totals. The example below shows how a quote that looks cheapest becomes the most expensive once it is normalised.

After normalising, Firm C is the lowest and Firm B — the cheapest on paper — is the highest, because its quotation left out items the family will still need and specified a board grade that the others did not. This is the most common pattern in interior pricing. It does not mean the cheapest quotation is dishonest; it means the cheapest quotation is often a different product. The normalised sheet also makes negotiation fair: the family can ask Firm A why its wardrobe rate is higher than Firm C's for the same specification, instead of asking everyone for "best price".

Red flags that predict extras and disputes

Where interior quotations are going

Quotations are slowly becoming data rather than documents. Design software can now produce a bill of quantities directly from the 3D model, so that moving a wall or changing a shutter finish updates the quantities and the price together. Factories that cut panels on CNC machines can quote from their own cutting lists, which makes board consumption measurable rather than estimated. Project-tracking apps let clients see each line's status — ordered, delivered, installed — and tie payments to those milestones. And GST e-invoicing for larger businesses has made tax invoices more structured and easier to check. None of this replaces careful reading. A model-generated BOQ is only as good as the specification behind it, and a client still needs to know what a sq ft of elevation measures.

Rules for reading any interior quotation

• Check the drawing reference first — the quotation must name the drawing set and revision it prices.
• Read the unit before the rate: sq ft of elevation, running foot, sq ft of area, per point, nos or lump sum.
• Recalculate three or four rows yourself — size to quantity, quantity × rate to amount.
• Insist on board, thickness, finish, edge band and hardware brand on every furniture line.
• List the exclusions on one page and budget for them separately.
• Make sure provisional sums state what they cover and the rates for actual work.
• Confirm whether rates include GST, and that the GSTIN is on the quotation.
• Tie payments to visible progress, keep a 5–10 per cent retention, and price every variation in writing before it is done.
• Normalise competing quotes to the same scope and specification before comparing totals.

Frequently asked questions

What is a BOQ in interior design?

A BOQ, or bill of quantities, is the itemised schedule at the heart of a quotation. It lists every item of work with its description, specification, size, unit of measurement, quantity, rate and amount. It lets the client check what is included, compare quotations line by line, and price any changes fairly.

What does per sq ft mean in an interior quotation?

For furniture it usually means square feet of front elevation — width × height of the unit's face — not floor area and not material used. For ceilings and flooring it means area, and for painting it means paintable surface. Always check which one the quotation uses and what depth, internal fittings and finish the rate covers.

Is GST charged on interior design work?

Yes. Interior contracts and design services commonly attract GST, typically at 18 per cent. The quotation should show GST as a separate line with the firm's GSTIN, and rates should be clearly marked as inclusive or exclusive of tax. Confirm the current rate and the firm's registration before signing.

How much advance should I pay an interior designer?

For execution, a booking advance of about 10–20 per cent is common and balanced, followed by payments linked to material delivery, installation and finishing, with 5–10 per cent held until snags are closed. Design fees, where separate, are usually paid in stages. Be cautious of schedules that ask for most of the money before work is visible on site.

Why is one interior quotation so much cheaper than another?

Usually because it describes less work or lower specifications: a lower board grade, unnamed hardware, missing lofts or beds, or site work left "at actuals". Normalise the quotations to the same scope and specification before comparing totals; the cheapest on paper is often not the cheapest in the end.