Turnkey apartment fit-out: what it covers, what it costs, and where the scope ends
An argument about a turnkey apartment fit-out is almost never about the price per square metre. It is about what that price included. The scope boundary matters more than the figure, and it is the boundary that decides whether the job finishes on time or in extras.
What “turnkey” means and why every firm reads it differently
“Turnkey” is a sales promise, not a technical term. There is no standard or definition behind it that you could cite in a dispute. In practice it means the contractor takes on coordinating the trades and hands over a flat ready to move into, but what counts as “ready” is something each firm fills in for itself.
That is where most of the disappointment comes from. The client hears “turnkey” and pictures moving into a fully furnished flat. The contractor means a flat finished structurally, with sanitary ware fitted, but without furniture, decorative lighting or soft furnishings. Both sides are certain they are talking about the same thing, right up to handover.
What a turnkey scope usually covers
The table below orders the scope by stage, in the sequence the work actually runs. The exclusions column matters more than the works column: it holds the items clients assume are obvious and that the contract never mentions.
| Stage | Usually included | Usually NOT included |
|---|---|---|
| Shell condition | Partition walls, skim coats, substrate preparation | Layout changes needing consents and structural design |
| Services | Electrics, plumbing, ventilation, outlets per the plan | Air conditioning, heat recovery, home automation |
| Finishes | Flooring, tiling, painting, internal doors | Materials above the agreed standard, bespoke items |
| Sanitary fitting | Taps, ceramics, enclosures, fitting integrated appliances | Buying the appliances themselves, unless stated otherwise |
| Fitted units | Kitchen and wardrobes as specified in the contract | Changes to fronts and dimensions after sign-off |
| Completion | Post-work cleaning, handover of the flat | Free-standing furniture, decorative lighting, textiles, decor |
What a turnkey fit-out costs and what drives the rate
The bands below are orders of magnitude, not market data. Rates vary by city and move over time enough that the only sensible route is three quotes from local contractors. This table is meant to help the conversation, not replace it: it says what to expect at a given level, not what you should pay.
| Level | What to expect | What usually pushes the rate up |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | Budget-tier materials, simple layouts, repeatable solutions | No changes to services, rectangular rooms |
| Mid | Mid-tier materials, made to measure units, some services moved | Relocated plumbing, large format tiles, more lighting points |
| Upper | Top-tier materials, non-standard solutions, joinery detail | Natural stone, handleless units, dropped ceilings, automation |
What actually moves the rate per square metre
- Material standard, not the scope of works. The same work on different tiles can differ twofold in the estimate.
- Touching the services. Moving a water outlet costs an order of magnitude more than adding a socket.
- Floor area, in reverse. A small flat carries a higher rate per square metre, because the kitchen and bathroom are the most expensive rooms and there are just as many of them as in a large one.
- Older property versus new build. Demolition, waste removal and replacing the services are lines that simply do not exist in a new flat.
- The deadline. A job squeezed into a short window costs more, because it needs a bigger crew working in parallel.
Five clauses worth checking in the contract
- A closed scope list. Not “turnkey fit-out” but itemised works and rooms. Anything off the list is extra work.
- Material standard with a cash limit. “Tiles up to $40 per square metre” settles an argument that “good quality tiles” will never settle.
- How extra work is agreed. Who raises it, in what form you approve it, and what happens if you do not.
- A schedule with staged payments. Payment tied to a signed-off stage rather than to the calendar is the only real leverage you have.
- The handover and defects procedure. A window to report, a window to fix, and a sum retained until the fixing is done.
Scope that is not in the contract does not exist. An understanding reached over the phone is worth exactly as much as both parties' memory after four months on site.
Turnkey or coordinating it yourself
Choosing between one contract and coordinating the trades yourself comes down to whether you are buying time or control. You rarely get both, and that is the real axis of the decision, not the difference in price.
| Criterion | Turnkey | Self-coordinated |
|---|---|---|
| Your involvement | Stage sign-offs and decisions on materials | Daily contact with several trades and suppliers |
| Who carries a mistake | One party, one contract, one place to complain | Spread out, with arguments over whose work failed |
| Cost | Higher by the coordination margin | Lower on paper, if you do not count your own time |
| Risk of slippage | On the contractor, if the contract has delay penalties | On you, and every delay pushes the next trade back |
| Flexibility to change | Lower, a change of scope means an amendment | Higher, but every change is a fresh negotiation |
Where the designer fits into this
The interior design almost never falls inside a turnkey scope, and yet it is what settles most of the later arguments. A plan with electrical and plumbing positions, a material schedule and joinery drawings turn “turnkey” from a promise into a countable list. Without them the contractor prices their own idea of the standard, and you end up comparing offers that describe different flats.
For the same reason the material and product schedule is worth keeping in one place both sides can see. A client portal shows the same budget position to the designer and the client, so “is this still within the figure” stops being an email and a wait for a reply.
If you run projects professionally, the same principle applies to your side of the table. An estimate kept in one tool recalculates itself on every change of scope, and a moodboard lets you show the client what the chosen material standard actually looks like, before it reaches the builder's contract.
How to compare two turnkey quotes
Two quotes that differ by a tenth or so are usually not describing the same job. Before you compare the figures, reduce both to a common list of line items: the same number of electrical points, the same tile standard, the same extent of fitted units. Only then does the price gap start to mean anything.
Once the contract is signed, the same discipline pays off during the build. Splitting lines into to order, ordered and delivered shows at any moment what is actually blocking the next stage. It is usually one or two late orders rather than the whole crew.
Summary
A turnkey fit-out suits someone buying time and a single point of responsibility rather than the lowest rate. The conditions are a closed scope list, a material standard described with a figure, and payments tied to sign-offs. Everything else, the price per square metre included, follows from those three. If you run projects like this professionally, start with our overview of software for interior designers, and for access to Listoria join the waitlist before the beta opens.
Frequently asked questions
What does a turnkey apartment fit-out cover?
Most often internal doors, flooring, bathroom tiling, painting and fitting the taps and sanitary ware, meaning a flat brought to a state you can move into as far as the building work goes. The key point is that turnkey is not a legally defined standard anywhere: the term was shaped by contractors' marketing, so the scope genuinely differs between offers. Read the itemised list of works in the contract rather than the name of the service.
Does a turnkey fit-out include furniture and appliances?
Usually not. The standard scope ends at fitted units and sanitary fitting, while free-standing furniture, appliances, decorative lighting and textiles stay with the client. Some firms do offer full furnishing, but then it is a separately priced line rather than a default part of the service. Check the contract, not the description on the contractor's website.
Is the interior design included in the turnkey price?
Usually not, although some firms provide a simplified technical drawing or a plan of outlet positions. That is not the same as an interior design with material selection and joinery drawings. If a coherent result matters to you, commission the design separately and ideally before collecting quotes, because it is what makes them comparable in the first place.
How long does a turnkey apartment fit-out take?
The order of magnitude you tend to see is three to four months from taking over the flat in shell condition. The work on site itself often closes in around four weeks, and the rest of the time goes on preparation, decisions about materials and lead times on deliveries. That is why made to measure units and long lead-time materials are worth ordering at the very start rather than along the way.
Is a turnkey fit-out worth it?
Usually yes in three situations: a flat bought to rent out, an owner who does not know construction, and an owner with no time for daily coordination of several trades. You pay a coordination margin, but you buy one deadline, one contract and one place to complain. If you have the time, the experience and trades you trust, coordinating it yourself normally comes out cheaper.
Is a turnkey fit-out cheaper when bought from the developer?
Sometimes, and it is worth doing the arithmetic instead of assuming. In some markets a fit-out ordered together with the flat falls under a reduced VAT rate rather than the standard one charged on materials bought in shops and on building firms' invoices, and the workmanship warranty sits in one place. The trade-off is usually a narrow material catalogue and little room for changes, so compare offers by scope rather than by the headline rate.
What should you look for in a turnkey contract?
Since no regulation defines the scope, what settles it is the list of line items in the contract, not the word turnkey. Check the closed list of works and rooms, a material standard described with a cash limit, an extra-work procedure requiring your approval before the work is done, and payments tied to signed-off stages. Add a sum retained until the defects from handover are fixed.
See also
An estimate that adds itself up
Join the waitlist and get free access just before the beta opens.
No commitment. We will email you when access opens.