Guide
Commercial kitchen fit-out cost: where the money actually goes
Updated
Every operator arrives with an equipment list. Almost nobody arrives with a duct route, a load calculation and a drainage survey, and that is where fit-out budgets go wrong.
The building costs more than the kit
It is natural to think of a commercial kitchen as a set of appliances. Commercially, it is a services installation with appliances attached. The extract system, the gas and electrical supply, the drainage and grease management, and the finishes that make the room cleanable are what a fit-out firm spends most of its money and nearly all of its risk on. Two units on the same high street, being fitted to the same menu, can differ enormously purely on what the buildings will allow.
The order of surprise
| Item | Why it surprises people | When to find out |
|---|---|---|
| Extract duct route and discharge | The canopy is cheap; the route to a permitted discharge point is not | Before signing the lease |
| Odour and noise attenuation | Often a planning or landlord condition, and specified late | At planning or licence to alter stage |
| Electrical supply upgrade | Involves the network operator's price and lead time, not the contractor's | At survey, from a load calculation |
| Gas supply and interlock | Commercial catering gas work is a separate competence, and meter upgrades take time | At survey |
| Grease management | Takes space, needs service access, and brings an ongoing contract | At drainage survey |
| Floor build-up and drainage falls | Breaking and reinstating floors is disruptive and rarely in an early estimate | At drainage survey |
| Fire stopping and dampers | Only becomes visible once the duct route crosses compartments | At design stage |
| Delay itself | Rent, staff and marketing run while consents do | As soon as you have a programme |
Why we do not publish a rate
You can find headline figures for restaurant fit-outs per square metre or per cover. They are not much use, because the same menu in two units can differ by a very large margin depending on the extract route, the incoming services and the previous use. Rather than publish a number that will be wrong for most readers, we describe what drives the price and let fit-out firms survey and quote the actual unit.
Before you sign the lease
- Establish the extract route and discharge point, in principle, with the landlord. If there is no viable route, no amount of budget fixes it.
- Check the incoming electrical supply against a load calculation for the kitchen you actually want.
- Check the gas supply and meter capacity if you intend to cook on gas.
- Get the drainage surveyed and establish where grease management will physically go.
- Check the planning position for the use, the hours, and any odour or noise conditions.
- Price a fit-out on the actual unit before committing, not on the last unit you looked at.
How to get comparable quotes
- Give every firm the same equipment schedule and the same menu. Kitchen design follows the menu.
- Ask for the price split by package: extraction, mechanical and electrical, drainage, refrigeration, fabric and finishes, equipment.
- Ask what is excluded, specifically supply upgrades, consents, fire stopping and floor reinstatement.
- Ask for the programme with consent lead times shown, not just installation weeks.
- Ask about aftercare: commissioning records, operating and maintenance manuals, warranties and who services the extract and the grease equipment.
The cheapest fit-out quote is usually the one that assumes the building will cooperate. Ask each firm to state, in writing, what it has assumed about the extract route, the incoming services and the drainage, then compare those assumptions before you compare the numbers.