An Excel workbook with four working sheets: a blank BOQ format, the same format filled in for a 3BHK so you can see what "specified" actually looks like, a reference naming the grade and brand every line must carry, and a printable checklist of questions to ask your carpenter. Free, usable with any firm, and no phone number is required — we do not call people for downloading a spreadsheet.
One workbook rather than four files, because these are four views of one document and separate files would drift apart.
The column structure a quotation should arrive in: area, item, unit, quantity, core material and grade, edge banding, hardware make and series, finish, rate, amount, and an exclusions column. Give it to every firm you are talking to and ask them to quote on it. A quotation that arrives in your format is comparable; one that arrives in theirs is not.
The same format filled to the level of detail that counts as specified — kitchen base and wall units, tandem drawers, countertop, wardrobe with internals, TV unit, false ceiling, pooja unit, painting and electrical. It exists so you can see the difference between a line that is written down and a line that is merely mentioned.
Thirteen elements, each with what the line must name, the vague wording it replaces, and the failure that vagueness causes. This is the sheet that turns "branded soft-close fittings" into a brand, a series and a quantity.
Questions to ask on site, grouped by when to ask them: before work starts, specification in writing, sequence and site conduct, money, and after handover. Printable, with tick boxes. An answer you cannot write down is not an answer.
It is the first thing people notice, so it is worth stating plainly rather than leaving it to look like an oversight. Every rate cell in the worked sample is blank on purpose, for two reasons.
The first is that a downloaded file travels on its own. Rates written into a spreadsheet get quoted back months later with no page around them saying what they assumed, which city they were for, or when they were true. Cost bands belong where they carry their basis and their date — on the published guides, linked below.
The second reason matters more: blank is the more useful product. The sheet's job is to let you put two or three contractors' numbers side by side against one fixed specification. Pre-filled rates would anchor that comparison to ours, which is precisely what an independent comparison tool should not do. The specification columns are the opposite — those are filled in hard, because the specification is the part the whole pack argues you should lock in writing.
| Element | What the line must name | The vague version to refuse |
|---|---|---|
| Plywood, wet zones | BWP to IS 710, thickness, brand | "Waterproof plywood" |
| Plywood, dry zones | BWR to IS 303, thickness, brand | "Commercial ply", "ISI ply" |
| Hinges | Brand and series, SS 304 where it matters, quantity per shutter | "Branded soft-close hinges" |
| Laminate | Brand, shade code, thickness for shutters and internals separately | "Premium laminate" |
| Measurement basis | One basis, stated once, used on every line | Basis unstated or mixed |
| GST | Subtotal, then GST shown, then total | One number, tax status unstated |
The full sheet carries thirteen elements, including drawer systems, handles, PU coats, countertops, false ceiling framing and electrical.
Email only, and we send you the file at that address. There is a direct link beside the button that works without filling anything in — this is a form, not a wall.
The workbook is only half the job; the method is the other half. Four steps, in order, and the order matters.
Fix one measurement basis and write it at the top. Carpet, built-up or shutter area — it matters less which than that every quotation uses the same one. The same rate applied to built-up rather than carpet area turns a ₹15 lakh expectation on a 1,500 sq ft flat into ₹22 to ₹25 lakh, and nothing you compare afterwards will mean anything if this is left loose.
Put every quote on the same side of GST before comparing anything. An inclusive and an exclusive number differ by 18% and look identical in a message.
Copy each contractor's lines into the format. This is where the sheet earns its keep: anything a firm cannot fill in is not a detail they forgot, it is a decision they have left open, and open decisions get closed on site at a price you did not agree.
Add every excluded line back to the cheaper quote before you call it cheaper. Then compare payment terms, completion period and defect liability, which are not in the number at all.
The long version of that method, with a worked example of two quotations lakhs apart that turn out to be the same price, is in how to compare interior quotes line by line. If you want to understand a BOQ line rather than just fill one in, start with how to read an interior BOQ. And if you have not asked anyone for a quotation yet, the seven things to settle first will save you a round trip.
No. There is a direct download link next to the form and it works without filling anything in. The form is there so we can email you the file; it is not a wall. That one email is the only thing you get — there is no update list and no newsletter.
No. A download is not treated as an enquiry. We do not ask for a phone number, and the contact details from a download are stored separately from our enquiry list so they cannot be picked up and dialled. If you tick the box asking us to get in touch, we reply by email or WhatsApp only.
Deliberately — so the sheet can compare two or three contractors against one fixed specification without our numbers anchoring it, and because a file that travels on its own should not carry rates with no basis or date attached. Published bands live on the site instead.
Yes, and that is the intended use. Give the blank format to every firm you are talking to. Nothing in the workbook requires us.
A quotation gives you a number. A BOQ gives you the number plus the quantity, grade, hardware make and series and finish behind every line, so you can see what the number bought.
The format and the specification reference apply anywhere in India — IS 710 and IS 303 are Indian Standards and the GST line is the Indian rate for interior woodwork. Only the cost guides it links to are city-specific.