Quick answer
On a multi-unit Auckland development you can buy the kitchen, wardrobes, vanities, laundry, every benchtop and the interior doors from one joinery maker on a single locked spec, or split them across three or four suppliers and own the gaps yourself. One supplier means decors, handles and hinges match kitchen to wardrobe to vanity, you measure once, one crew installs, one warranty covers the lot, and each unit carries one coded price line that reconciles to the invoice. Splitting suits a one-off high-end unit or a buyer's nominated product; for repeatable units it adds measures, invoices, installers and finger-pointing.
Key points
- Split joinery across a kitchen firm, a wardrobe firm and a bathroom supplier and you inherit the interfaces: mismatched whites and handles, several measures, several installers, split warranties.
- One joinery supplier, whole development means one design, one locked spec, one measure, one delivery sequence, one install crew, one warranty and one point of contact.
- The line items you can consolidate: kitchens, scullery or butler's pantry, laundry, bathroom and ensuite vanities, built-in wardrobes, benchtops in every room, and interior and wardrobe doors.
- It prices as batched matched componentry and one sequenced install across the block, with spares held to spec for make-good and one quote that reconciles to the invoice.
- Appliances, wet-service connections, tiling, flooring, GIB, paint and consent stay with the usual trades, so they plug straight into cabinetry cut to the same drawings.
Every interface you do not buy, you manage.
The real cost of splitting joinery across suppliers
A townhouse block, a walk-up or a group-home cluster carries far more joinery than the kitchen. Every unit has a kitchen, at least one vanity, a laundry cupboard, built-in wardrobes, benchtops in more than one room, and a run of interior doors. The default is to buy the kitchen from a kitchen company, the wardrobes from a wardrobe specialist, and the vanities from the bathroom supplier. Three orders, three lead times, three crews. It looks like competitive sourcing. It usually is not.
The first thing that shows on site is finish. A white melamine door from one maker is not the same white as another's: the decor names differ, the texture differs, and the two sit within a metre of each other in an open-plan unit. Handles rarely match in profile across three suppliers, and hinges and runners come from different brands, so the feel and the spare parts differ cupboard to cupboard. None of it fails an inspection. All of it reads as cheap to a buyer in the room.
The harder cost is the interface. When the vanity arrives too wide for the reveal the tiler set out, or the wardrobe cavity is out of square, or the benchtop is templated before the cabinets land, someone owns that gap. With one supplier it is theirs. Split across three, each measures to its own drawing and each points at the other two. The project manager becomes the referee, and the make-good comes out of the programme.
- Multiple site measures, each needing its own access day and its own drawings to work from.
- Multiple installers to programme and sequence, each blaming the others when a date slips.
- Split warranties, so a failed drawer or a lifting benchtop starts with working out whose it is.
- More purchase orders, invoices and variations to check and reconcile per unit.
- Decors, handles and hardware never specified against each other, so nothing quite matches.
What one joinery supplier, whole development means at MTN
It means the whole joinery package is designed once and locked once. We manufacture in East Tamaki, so the kitchen, wardrobes, vanities, laundry and benchtops come off the same line, in the same decors, with the same hardware. One specification governs the lot: door decor and texture, the handle, the hinge and runner brand, the benchtop material and edge, the door style. Match is the default, not something coordinated after the fact across three companies.
- One design and one locked spec, so decors, handles and hardware match kitchen to wardrobe to vanity.
- One site measure per unit, taken off one set of drawings.
- One delivery sequence, so componentry lands in install order, not in three separate deliveries.
- One install crew, our own, fitting every joinery element in the unit.
- One warranty covering all the joinery and its installation.
- One point of contact from quote to make-good, and one coded price line per unit type.
Six line items, one spec, one invoice.
The line items you can consolidate
For a developer, the consolidatable scope is everything cut, edged and hung: the kitchen and any scullery or butler's pantry; the laundry; the bathroom and ensuite vanities; the built-in wardrobes; the benchtops in every room that has one; and the interior and wardrobe doors. Most developers already buy each of these, just from different suppliers. For the detail on each, see what built-in wardrobes cost in Auckland, custom vanity sizes and cost and fitting cabinetry into a small Auckland laundry.
| Split across suppliers | One joinery supplier |
|---|---|
| Kitchen, wardrobes and vanities each from a different firm | Kitchen, wardrobes, vanities, laundry, benchtops and doors from one maker |
| A decor and handle chosen separately by each supplier | One decor, handle, hinge and runner brand across every element |
| A site measure per supplier, per unit | One site measure per unit, off one set of drawings |
| Three or four crews to book and sequence | One crew, sequenced through the block |
| A warranty per supplier, the interface unclaimed | One warranty on all the joinery and its install |
| Several purchase orders, invoices and variation trails | One coded price line per unit, quote reconciling to invoice |
| Spares sourced separately, if at all | Spares held to the same spec for make-good |
How it prices and programmes
Consolidation is what makes the per-unit number tight. When every unit runs two or three locked configurations, the matched componentry is batched through the workshop rather than cut one job at a time. The kitchen carcasses, wardrobe shelving, vanity cabinets and benchtops for a stage are made together, to one spec, which is faster and cheaper than the same volume split across three order books. The discipline that holds a spec across a block is set out in keeping the kitchen spec consistent across units.
On site it programmes as one sequenced install across the block, booked around your access rather than three suppliers' calendars. Because the spec is locked and we hold it, we keep spares in the same decors and hardware, so a knocked door or damaged benchtop is a like-for-like make-good months later, not a colour-match hunt. The commercial end is one quote with a coded price line per unit type, and that line is what appears on the invoice. Nothing to reconcile across suppliers, because there is one supplier.
On a split job we spend half the site time working out whose measurement was wrong. When it is all ours there is no argument to have, and the make-good in year two is the same door off the same line.
What is still by others
One joinery supplier does not mean one trade for the whole fit-out. The joinery package is cabinetry and benchtops, supplied and installed. It plugs into work that stays with the usual trades, and it is drawn so those trades plug straight in.
- Appliances, unless you ask us to supply and fit them, are by others; we cut and template to your models.
- Wet-service connections stay with the plumber: sink, tap, waste and appliance plumbing after cabinetry is in.
- Tiling, including splashbacks and bathroom walls, is by the tiler and set out to the cabinetry.
- Flooring is by the flooring contractor, laid to suit the install sequence.
- GIB and stopping, painting and decorating stay with those trades.
- Building consent, producer statements and council sign-off stay with the developer and main contractor.
Because every element is cut to the same drawings, the interfaces the other trades meet are consistent unit to unit: the same plumbing set-out under every vanity, the same benchtop cut-out for every hob, the same reveal on every wardrobe. That is easier for the plumber, tiler and electrician than three suppliers' tolerances stacked in one room.
When to bundle, and when to split
Bundling all the joinery to one maker pays off when the units repeat, when matched finishes matter to the buyer or operator, when you want one warranty and one programme, and when you want a per-unit cost you can hold. That covers most townhouse blocks, terraced housing, walk-up apartments, group homes and retirement units. The staged version of the decision is in choosing a kitchen supplier for a staged development, and the small-developer view in kitchens for a three to ten townhouse project.
Splitting is legitimate in a few cases. A single high-end or heritage unit may want a specialist for a one-off kitchen while the rest of the block runs a standard spec. A buyer in an off-the-plans sale may nominate their own supplier as a condition. A specific imported product or a stone a client insists on may sit outside a local maker's range. Outside those, splitting usually buys more interfaces than savings.
- Bundle when units repeat and matched finishes across kitchen, wardrobe and vanity matter to the buyer.
- Bundle when you want one warranty, one crew and a per-unit price you can hold to the invoice.
- Split for a one-off high-end or heritage unit needing a specialist while the rest runs standard.
- Split when a buyer nominates a supplier, or a product sits outside a local maker's range.
Common questions
Frequently asked questions
Can one joinery supplier really do wardrobes, vanities and benchtops as well as the kitchen?
Yes. Wardrobes, vanities, laundry cabinetry and benchtops are the same cut, edged and hung panel work as a kitchen, made on the same East Tamaki line from the same decors and hardware. It is one trade producing every element, not a kitchen company subcontracting the rest out.
Will the finishes actually match from the kitchen to the wardrobe to the vanity?
They match because they are specified once and made from the same decor and hardware, not coordinated after the fact between suppliers. The same white door, handle and hinge run through every room, so a buyer comparing two elements in one unit sees one specification, not three near-misses.
How does using one supplier change what a developer pays per unit?
Consolidating the joinery lets matched componentry be batched through the workshop rather than cut across three order books, which lowers the per-unit cost on repeated units. You also carry one price line per unit type, one measure and one install, so the overhead of running three suppliers comes out.
What is not included in a one joinery supplier package?
Appliances unless you ask us to supply them, wet-service connections by the plumber, tiling, flooring, GIB, paint, and any building consent or council sign-off stay with the usual trades. The joinery is cabinetry and benchtops supplied and installed, drawn so those trades plug straight in.
Who is responsible if something does not fit on site?
With one supplier the fit is the supplier's, because one measure and one set of drawings govern every element in the unit. That removes the finger-pointing that happens when a kitchen, a wardrobe and a vanity are each measured to a different drawing and no one owns the gap.
How are spares and make-good handled two years after handover?
Because the specification is locked and held, spares are kept in the same decors and hardware, so a damaged door or benchtop is a like-for-like replacement, not a colour-match hunt. Our property maintenance arm handles that make-good against the original spec long after the block is finished.
Where to start
If you have unit plans or a schedule of finishes, send them through with the number of units and the mix of types. We will mark up the full joinery scope, kitchens, sculleries, laundries, vanities, wardrobes, benchtops and doors, on one locked spec, and price it as a coded line per unit type that reads the same on the invoice.
Twenty-three years out of East Tamaki, with our own install crews and a property maintenance arm that holds the spec for make-good. One design, one measure, one delivery sequence, one install, one warranty and one point of contact, across every unit in the development.