Quick answer
Kitchen Schedule of Rates codes give every joinery element its own line: a code, a description, a unit of measure and a rate. Cabinets price per number or per metre, benchtops per metre, sink benches and splashbacks per number. A kitchen's price is the sum of its measured lines, and the same code carries different rates in different pricing areas.
Key points
- Every element of a coded kitchen carries a code, a unit of measure and a rate. The kitchen price is the sum of the measured lines.
- The unit decides what a variation costs: per-No. lines move in whole cabinets, per-metre lines move in millimetres of run.
- Wet and dry cabinetry are separate codes because plumbing, stainless and childproof catches hang off the wet line.
- The same code reprices by area. Tāmaki, Henderson, New Lynn, Mt Roskill, Ellerslie, the CBD and the North Shore each carry their own rates.
- The codes in this piece are illustrative, the shape of it. The Schedule of Rates issued with your contract governs.
The first coded kitchen quote you open reads like a parts catalogue that has swallowed a kitchen. CJC240, one of. CJC250, 2.4 of something. CBT330, one of, dearer than it sounds like it should be. No picture, no 'Kitchen Type A', no lump sum at the bottom you can sanity-check against gut feel. Somewhere in that column of codes is the kitchen, and until you can read the lines you cannot tell whether the number is sharp or padded.
The good news is that the system is simple once someone walks you through it, and it exists for your benefit as much as the client's. Coded pricing is the native language of the volume kitchen, and once you can read it, quotes compare cleanly, variations price themselves and claims stop stalling. One warning before we start: every code in this piece is illustrative, there to show the shape. Clients issue their own schedules, and the document that arrived with your contract is the one that governs.
What do the codes on a kitchen quote mean?
Each line on a coded schedule is one measurable element of the kitchen, and each line carries four things: a code (the element's ID in the client's system), a description in words, a unit of measure (per No. or per metre, mostly), and a rate. Your quote adds a fifth, the quantity, and the line value is rate times quantity. Add the lines and you have the kitchen. Add the kitchens and you have the package.
The codes themselves cluster into families. On the schedules we price, cabinetry lines sit together (the CJC-shaped codes in the examples below), benchtops in another family (CBT), splashbacks in another (CMS), and the small hardware lines, cutlery inserts and childproof catches, in their own (CJD, CHC). You do not need to memorise any of it. You need to recognise that every physical thing in the kitchen has exactly one home on the schedule, because that is what makes the whole system audit-proof: nothing is bundled, so nothing can hide.
Walking a sample coded kitchen
Take a straight social-housing galley: a 3.6 m run with a 600 mm sink cabinet, a 600 mm gap for the stove (supplied by others), 2.4 m of dry base cabinets, 2.4 m of overheads, stainless at the wet bench, laminate on the dry run, glass behind the cooker. Coded, that kitchen becomes a list like this.
- CJC240, wet (sink) underbench cabinet, per No.: one line for the sink base, counted separately because plumbing and catches hang off it. Qty 1.
- CJC250, dry underbench cabinetry, per metre: the standard base run, measured along the front. Qty 2.4 m.
- CJC260, wall/overhead cabinetry, per metre: the uppers, measured the same way. Qty 2.4 m.
- CJC270, pantry/tall unit, per No.: none in this galley, but it is its own line when a plan carries one.
- CJC725, toe-kick, per metre: along the base cabinets only, so 3.0 m here, the appliance gap excluded.
- CBT140, laminate benchtop, per metre: the dry run only, 2.4 m, because the wet bench is a different animal.
- CBT330, stainless sink bench, per No.: one 304 pressing with the bowl in it, one rate, not a benchtop plus a sink.
- CMS480, glass splashback, per No.: the panel behind the cooker.
- CJD800 cutlery insert and CHC400 childproof catches, per No.: the small lines that make the schedule complete.
The shape of a coded kitchen quote: every element gets a code, a unit and a rate.
Notice what the coding does to the two benchtops. The laminate dry run is a commodity measured by the metre. The stainless sink bench is a manufactured item, a 304 pressing with the bowl formed in, so it prices per No. regardless of length. Price it as laminate plus a drop-in sink and you have quoted a different, cheaper, non-compliant thing. The wet cabinet under it is separated from the dry run for the same reason: plumbing penetrations and childproof catches belong to that box, so the schedule gives it its own home.
| Code | Element | Unit | What moves the line |
|---|---|---|---|
| CJC240 | Wet (sink) underbench cabinet | per No. | Count of sink bases, not length |
| CJC250 | Dry underbench cabinetry | per metre | Run length along the front |
| CJC260 | Wall/overhead cabinetry | per metre | Run length of uppers |
| CJC270 | Pantry/tall unit | per No. | Count of full-height units |
| CBT140 | Laminate benchtop | per metre | Dry-run length, returns counted |
| CBT330 | Stainless sink bench | per No. | One rate per 304 pressing |
No. versus metre: what the unit does to a variation
The unit of measure looks like an accounting detail. It is actually the thing that decides what every future change costs, because a variation prices off the same line it lands on. Per-metre lines flex smoothly: shorten the run 300 mm and the dry underbench, benchtop and toe-kick lines each give back 0.3 m at their rates, no negotiation, no emails. Per-No. lines move in whole steps: you cannot have 0.7 of a pantry, so adding one adds the full CJC270 rate, and swapping a drawer bank for a shelf cabinet is one count out, one count in.
| Variation | Lines that move | How it prices |
|---|---|---|
| Wall moves, run shrinks 300 mm | Dry underbench, benchtop, toe-kick | Automatic credit: 0.3 m at each metre rate |
| Pantry added to the three-bed type | Pantry/tall unit | One whole per-No. rate added |
| Second sink dropped from the plan | Wet cabinet, sink bench | One count off each per-No. line |
This is the quiet argument for unit rates over a lump sum on any job that might change, which on a multi-unit programme is every job. We set that comparison out properly in quoting kitchens by the metre versus a lump sum. The short version: a coded quote reprices itself when the drawings move, and a lump sum renegotiates itself, on whoever is in the weaker seat that week.
Why the same code reprices by area
One more thing moves a rate: geography. The same CJC250 metre carries a different number in Tāmaki than in Henderson, New Lynn, Mt Roskill, Ellerslie, the CBD or on the North Shore, because labour, travel time, parking and site access genuinely differ across Auckland. A coded schedule handles that honestly by issuing rates per pricing area instead of pretending one number fits a whole region.
For anyone pricing work under such a schedule, the discipline is to confirm which area each site sits in before quoting, and to resist averaging. An averaged rate looks tidy and loses money in the dear areas for the length of the contract. Pricing kitchens to the Kāinga Ora Schedule of Rates goes deeper on how area pricing flows through claims on a social-housing package.
Reading a coded quote against your head contract
Once you can read the lines, use them. Lay the supplier's quote beside the schedule in your head contract and check three things: the codes match, the units match, and every physical element in the drawings has a line. A quote that prices splashback per metre against a contract that pays per No. has a gap in it, and the gap is yours. A quote with no toe-kick line has not forgotten the toe kick; it has bundled it somewhere you cannot see, which is how the hidden-cost games start. Our guide to reading a kitchen quote and spotting the hidden costs covers those games in general; on coded work, the defence is simply insisting the quote speaks the contract's language.
Do that and the downstream documents fall into line. The order carries the same codes as the quote, the progress claim carries the same codes as the order, and the invoice reconciles in minutes instead of a standoff. That end-to-end thread is its own discipline, and a kitchen quote that matches the invoice walks through it document by document.
The next coded quote that lands on your desk
Read it line by line against the drawings, once, slowly. Check every line has a code, a unit and a quantity. Check the units against the issued schedule, especially benchtop and splashback. Check the wet cabinet and the stainless bench are their own per-No. lines. Check the small lines exist. Twenty minutes of that at quote stage saves a month of claim queries later, and it tells you quickly which suppliers can actually work this way.
We price coded kitchen work out of our East Tāmaki workshop every week, quotes itemised against the client's own codes, units and pricing areas, supply-only or supply and install. Send the schedule and the kitchen types with your quote request and an itemised price comes back within 24 hours with a reference number. And if a supplier tells you the coding is too hard and offers one number per kitchen instead, that is worth knowing before you sign, not after.
Frequently asked questions
What is a schedule of rates in a kitchen contract?
A schedule of rates is a priced list of every measurable element in the work: each joinery item carries a code, a description, a unit of measure and a rate. A kitchen is valued by measuring the quantities actually in it and multiplying by the rates, rather than negotiating a lump sum. It keeps pricing consistent across many units and gives variations a ready-made price.
What do kitchen schedule of rates codes like CJC250 mean?
They are the client's IDs for joinery elements: in the illustrative shapes used here, CJC-family codes cover cabinetry (wet underbench, dry underbench, overheads, tall units), CBT codes cover benchtops and sink benches, CMS splashbacks, and CJD/CHC the small lines like cutlery inserts and childproof catches. Exact codes differ by client and contract, so always read them from the schedule issued with yours.
What does per No. mean on a kitchen quote?
Per No. means the line is priced per item counted, regardless of size within its class: one sink cabinet, one pantry, one stainless sink bench, one splashback panel. Per-No. lines move in whole steps, so a variation adds or removes a full rate at a time. Items price per No. when the thing is a manufactured unit rather than a run you can measure with a tape.
What does per metre cover on a cabinetry line?
A per-metre cabinetry line prices the run length along the front of the cabinets, carcasses, fronts and hardware included, measured in metres. Dry underbench runs, overhead runs, benchtops and toe-kick commonly price this way. The strength of metre lines is that changes price automatically: shorten the run 300 mm and the line credits 0.3 m at the same rate.
Why is the sink cabinet priced separately from the other base cabinets?
Because it is a different product. The wet underbench cabinet carries the plumbing penetrations, sits under the stainless sink bench, and usually takes the childproof catches, so schedules give it its own per-No. line while the dry run prices per metre. Separating it keeps the dry-run rate clean and gives sink-related variations one obvious place to land.
Do schedule of rates prices change by suburb?
Yes. Schedules issue rates by pricing area, so the same code carries different numbers in Tāmaki, Henderson, New Lynn, Mt Roskill, Ellerslie, the CBD and on the North Shore. Labour, travel and access differ across Auckland and the rates reflect it. Confirm which pricing area each site sits in before you quote or compare numbers, and never average across areas.
Can I ask for coded pricing on a private job that has no issued schedule?
You can, and on multi-unit work you should. Ask the supplier to itemise the quote per element with a unit and quantity on every line, cabinetry, benchtops, sink bench, splashback and the small items separately. You get the same benefits a coded contract gives: quotes that compare cleanly, variations that price off existing rates, and an invoice you can check line by line.