Project brief, drafted
Scope in and out, finish tier per area, and the decisions your dates force — written against your plan rather than a template.
Free resource · Interior fit-out readiness
The seven things to settle before you ask anyone for a quote.
Most interior quotations are unusable not because the contractor was careless but because the brief was incomplete — so each firm filled the gaps differently and the numbers stopped being comparable. This is the checklist we work through at the start of every project. It is on this page in full, free, no form required. Fill the form only if you want it worked against your own floor plan.
The BOQ readiness checklist.
Seven items. Settle them and any competent contractor can give you a stable, comparable number; leave them open and no contractor can.
- 01
Budget range defined
A range you are willing to commit, not a ceiling you are hoping to beat. The specification follows the budget — the same 3BHK is legitimately buildable at ₹12 lakh and at ₹24 lakh, differing in plywood grade, hardware series and shutter finish. Withholding the range produces a quotation aimed at the wrong tier, which then has to be redone.
- 02
Floor plan or measurements available
A builder's floor plan, or room-by-room measurements with ceiling heights. Confirm whether the areas are carpet or built-up before comparing any per-sq-ft rate — the same rate on built-up rather than carpet area turns a ₹15 lakh expectation on a 1,500 sq ft flat into ₹22 to ₹25 lakh.
- 03
Scope finalised
Which rooms are in and which are out, and explicitly whether painting, false ceiling, electrical changes, plumbing work, appliance cut-outs and loose furniture sit inside or outside the number. These are the items that most often belong to nobody's quotation and surface later as variations.
- 04
Finish level selected
Pick a tier per area rather than one for the whole home. Laminate where surfaces are not seen, veneer or PU where they are — natural veneer and PU lacquer add ₹350 to ₹750 per sq ft of finished surface, so applying a single tier everywhere is how budgets get spent in rooms nobody looks at.
- 05
Target start and completion dates identified
A target start, and the date you actually need to move in — including any possession deadline, festival or lease expiry that will not move. Long-lead items are ordered against this date, so naming it late compresses the wrong end of the programme.
- 06
Decision-maker confirmed
Name who signs off the BOQ and who signs off variations. Divided or absent approval is the most common cause of schedule slip on an otherwise well-run project, because work stops at exactly the points where a choice is needed.
- 07
Site access and approval constraints listed
For a flat: the association's NOC requirement, permitted working hours, service lift booking and damage deposit. For a commercial unit: the landlord's fit-out conditions, discharge points, and permitted working windows. These sit on the critical path before any material does.
What the worked pack adds.
The checklist above is the whole framework. The pack is that framework applied to your project instead of a blank page.
Where the checklist tells you what to settle, the worked pack comes back with a project brief drafted against your floor plan — rooms in and out of scope, the finish tier proposed per area and why, the long-lead items your dates imply, and an explicit exclusions list you can hold any other contractor's quotation against. It also names the association or landlord approvals your specific building is likely to require, because that is the item owners most often discover late. We deliberately do not bundle another cost calculator into it: two already exist on this site and are linked above, and a third artefact restating the same ranges would only add a place for them to disagree.
An exclusions list
What sits outside the number, stated plainly, so a competing lump-sum quotation can be compared line by line.
Approvals for your building
The association or landlord conditions your specific community or unit is likely to impose, identified before they hold a start date.
Request the worked pack.
Name and phone are all that is required. Everything else sharpens what comes back — and the checklist above stays free to read either way.
Questions about the pack.
Do I have to fill the form to read the checklist?
No. The full seven-point checklist is on this page and free to read, print or copy. The form is for the worked version — a project brief template and budget worksheet returned against your own floor plan — and for anyone who wants a scope review rather than a blank template.
Why does a contractor need my budget range before quoting?
Because the specification follows the budget, not the other way round. The same 3BHK can be built at ₹12 lakh or ₹24 lakh, and both are legitimate — they differ in plywood grade, hardware series and shutter finish. A withheld budget produces a quotation aimed at the wrong tier, which then has to be redone.
What is a BOQ and why does it matter more than a quotation?
A Bill of Quantities lists every item with its quantity, material grade, hardware and rate, so two contractors can be compared line by line. A lump-sum quotation cannot be compared — the cheaper of two lump sums is often simply the one that named fewer items, with the balance arriving later as a variation.
How long does it take to get an itemised BOQ from AlcorOne?
It depends on how much of this checklist is already settled. With a floor plan, a scope list and a finish tier in hand, a scope review comes back quickly; where the scope is still open, the first step is a conversation to close it, because a BOQ priced against an undefined scope would have to be reissued.
Is the pack specific to Hyderabad?
The checklist applies anywhere. The cost ranges it points to are Hyderabad figures, and the association and landlord constraints described reflect Hyderabad gated communities and malls. AlcorOne also works in Chennai, Bengaluru, Visakhapatnam and Rajamahendravaram.