How to Read an Interior Design Quotation, Line by Line

You have three quotes on the table. One is far cheaper than the others. Everyone you ask says “go with your gut.” That is not advice, it is a shrug.

A quotation is a readable document if you know what to look for. Here is how to read one properly, line by line, and the questions that turn three incomparable numbers into a real comparison.

First: are they even quoting the same thing?

Before comparing totals, check the three things that make quotes incomparable:

Area basis. Carpet area, built-up and super built-up can differ by 20 to 30 per cent. A rate quoted against super built-up area looks cheaper for identical work. Ask which basis each quote uses and normalise them.

Unit basis. Joinery may be quoted per square foot of shutter area or per running foot. Counters are usually per running foot. One quote using each is not comparable without conversion.

Scope. Does it include civil work? Electrical? Plumbing? Site supervision? Furniture? The cheapest quote is very often the one that has quietly left the most out.

The lines that decide quality

Joinery — read five sub-lines

Joinery is usually the largest single item, so this is where to spend your attention:

• Carcass material and grade — BWR or BWP plywood, 18mm, named brand. “Ply” alone tells you nothing, and particle board in a wardrobe is a very different product
• Shutter material — laminate, acrylic, veneer with PU, or PU paint. Each ages differently
• Edge banding thickness — 2mm machine-applied on visible edges. Thinner banding is cheaper and less forgiving over time
• Hardware brand and series — not “imported soft-close”. A named brand and model
• Back panel thickness — 6mm grooved in, not 3mm pinned on

If a quote gives you one line reading “Wardrobe — rate per sq ft” with none of the above, you cannot compare it to anything. Ask for the breakdown.

Allowances — the most common surprise

Look for the word “allowance” or a rate attached to a material you have not chosen yet. A quote carrying a modest stone or tile allowance will rise the moment you pick something you actually like.

Allowances are not dishonest — selections genuinely are not made at quoting stage. But a quote built on low allowances will always beat a quote built on realistic ones, and the difference appears later as variations rather than as a better price.

Ask: which lines are allowances, and what would the realistic figure be for the sort of material we have been discussing?

Provisional sums

Similar problem, different word. A provisional sum is a placeholder for work not yet defined — often civil work or electrical. It will be reconciled against actual cost. Ask how it was estimated and what happens if it is exceeded.

The exclusions list — read this before the total

Every quote should carry one. If it does not, that is itself informative. Typical exclusions worth confirming:

• Design fee
• Loose furniture, curtains, soft furnishings
• Appliances
• Air conditioning
• Civil work, demolition, debris removal
• Electrical and plumbing beyond a stated number of points
• Society NOC charges and deposits
• Site supervision and project management
• GST

Take the cheapest quote and add back everything it excludes that the others include. This single exercise resolves most three-way comparisons.

Payment terms — what to look for

Tie payments to deliverables, not dates. “40 per cent on approval of working drawings” aligns everyone. “40 per cent on 1 March” does not.

Keep a meaningful final instalment. Something worth having should remain payable after snagging is complete. If 95 per cent is due before handover, there is little incentive to finish the last five per cent — which is the five per cent you look at every day.

Watch the front-loading. A large advance before any drawing exists shifts all the risk to you.

Check the variation process. Changes should require a written note with cost and time impact, agreed before the work is done. Without that process, changes get absorbed silently and resented, or billed at the end without warning.

Questions worth asking about any quote

• Which lines are allowances, and what is realistic for what we discussed?
• What is excluded?
• Which area basis is this?
• Who supervises site, how often, and is that in the price?
• What is the defect liability period, and what does it cover?
• How are variations priced and approved?
• Will I see supplier invoices, or is this a single bundled price?
• Does this include GST?

A note on the cheapest quote

Sometimes it is genuinely the best value — a leaner team, lower overheads, the same specification. More often it is one of three things: a smaller scope, lower allowances, or an assumption that variations will close the gap later.

None of those makes a firm dishonest. It does mean the number on the cover page is not the number you will pay, and the only way to know which situation you are in is to read the detail.

How we do it

We issue a drawing set and a specification schedule before anything is priced, so that when three contractors quote, they are pricing the same house with the same materials — and the difference between the numbers is genuinely the difference between the contractors.

If you have quotes in hand and want a second read, send them over. You may also want what a proper drawing set contains, the questions to ask before hiring, and realistic cost ranges for Delhi NCR.

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About Pochē Aesthetics
Pochē Aesthetics is a luxury residential architecture and interior design practice based in Greater Kailash, New Delhi, founded by architect Niyati Satsangi. We design private homes — farmhouses, villas and apartments — across Delhi NCR and India, handling architecture, interiors, materials, lighting and styling as one connected commission. More about the practice.