Quick answer
Yes, a kitchen maker can price a full package straight off the architect's consent set, before framing. We read the ground-floor plan for the layout and run lengths, the plumbing schedule for sink and waste positions, and the elevation and window sheets for heights and clashes. That gives a solid indicative number in a day or two, with a short list of RFIs. The figure holds as indicative off drawings and is confirmed firm on a framing-stage site measure. It de-risks the feasibility and the programme early, without a site visit.
Key points
- A kitchen maker can price a full package off the consent set months before framing, off the plan, the plumbing schedule and the elevations, without a site visit.
- Architects are a referral channel most kitchen makers ignore. Loop the maker in at consent stage and the developer gets a real number and fewer surprises later.
- The number is indicative off drawings and firm on a framing-stage site measure. Both matter, and they are two different jobs, not a choice.
- A priceable set has a dimensioned plan, a plumbing schedule and elevations. A set with no heights, no waste positions or TBC finishes gets an RFI, not a guess.
- Pricing off the set early de-risks the feasibility number and the build programme, because procurement and the manufacturing slot can move while the shell is still going up.
Two people open the architect's consent set and see different things. The architect sees a building that will get through council. The developer sees a feasibility line that has to hold. The kitchen maker sees something both of them want early: enough information to put a firm number on the joinery before a single wall is framed. Most developers assume that number needs a site visit. It doesn't. A consent set carries most of what a kitchen maker needs to price the package, and the rest comes back as a handful of questions.
Two readers, and why the architect is one of them
This article is written for both. If you are the developer, you want a trade-priced kitchen number off the drawings you already have, not a showroom appointment three weeks out. If you are the architect, you are the person who sees the job first, and a kitchen maker who can price cleanly off your set makes you look good to your client and saves you the RFI traffic later. Most kitchen companies never talk to architects at all. We think that is a missed channel on both sides, so some of what follows is aimed squarely at the drawing office.
The pricing runs off the drawings first and firms up once the walls are real.
What a kitchen maker reads off a consent set
A consent set is a big document, and most of it is not our business. We are not reading the structural calcs or the energy report. Three parts carry nearly everything a kitchen package needs, and a maker who knows where to look can have the layout understood in an afternoon.
- The ground-floor plan: kitchen location, wall-to-wall run lengths, island size, door and traffic clearances, and how the kitchen sits against the living space.
- The plumbing and drainage schedule: sink and waste positions, the dishwasher connection, and whether a butler's pantry or laundry shares the wall.
- The elevations and window sheets: ceiling heights, window sill heights, and where glazing lands against a run so a splashback or overhead cabinet doesn't foul a window.
- The electrical layout, where it exists at consent stage: hob and oven circuits, rangehood position, and power for the appliances that arrive by others.
- The finishes schedule or spec notes: what the developer has nominated, or the TBCs we need to chase.
| Consent sheet | What it tells the maker | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Ground-floor plan | Run lengths, island, clearances | Sets cabinet quantities and layout |
| Plumbing schedule | Sink, waste, dishwasher points | Fixes the sink cabinet and services |
| Elevations | Ceiling and sill heights | Sizes overheads and splashbacks |
| Window sheets | Glazing against the run | Avoids a clash at the bench |
| Finishes / spec notes | Nominated finishes or TBCs | Prices the package or triggers an RFI |
The ground-floor plan does most of the work. From it we count the cabinets, measure the runs, size the island, and check the kitchen has the clearances a real person needs to open a dishwasher without blocking a doorway. On a repeated townhouse type, one plan prices the whole block, because the units are drawn identical even though they will not build identical. That last point is why the number stays indicative until framing, and we will come back to it.
What makes a set priceable, and what doesn't
Not every consent set is ready to price. The difference is not how pretty the drawings are. It is whether the three things we actually need are on the page: dimensioned runs, service positions, and heights. A beautifully rendered set with no dimensions is a picture. A plain black-and-white set with every run figured and the plumbing scheduled is a quote waiting to happen.
A thin set is not a dealbreaker; it just means assumptions get stated and questions go back.
None of the right-hand column is a dealbreaker. It just means the number comes with assumptions stated in writing, and a question or two goes back to the drawing office. A good kitchen maker prices what is there, flags what isn't, and never buries a guess inside a firm-looking total.
The RFIs a kitchen maker sends back
Every priced-off-drawings job comes back with a short list of questions. This is normal and useful, because each one closed at consent stage is a variation that never happens on site. The list is usually short.
- Appliance schedule: what oven, hob, fridge and dishwasher, so cavities are sized to real models rather than a generic 600 mm hole.
- Benchtop material: laminate, engineered stone or natural stone, because the choice moves the number more than anything else in the package.
- Sink and waste confirmation: is the drawn position final, or will the plumber move it to suit the wall?
- Finishes and hardware: door finish, edging, handle and runner grade, or a nominated range to price within.
- Who supplies what: appliances, plumbing fit-off and electrical are by others, so the boundary needs to be clear on paper.
Getting these answered on the drawings, before framing, is the cheapest place to resolve them. The same questions asked on install day are variations, callbacks and a stalled programme, which is the whole case for keeping variations and RFIs off a kitchen package by front-loading them into the pricing conversation.
Indicative off drawings, firm on a framing-stage measure
Here is the honest limit of a price off the set. A consent drawing is what the architect intended. The framed and lined room is what got built, and the two are reliably a few millimetres apart, almost always tighter than drawn. So the number we give off the drawings is indicative: correct in scope, spec and cabinet count, and close on dimensions, but not yet cut-ready. It becomes firm at the site measure, once framing is up and the walls are real.
That is not a hedge, it is two different jobs. The plan price gets the kitchen into the feasibility and lets procurement commit while the build is still in framing. The site measure confirms the same kitchen fits the actual shell and captures the exact numbers the workshop cuts to. We set out where each one sits in site measure vs plan measure for kitchens, and the short version is that you want both, in that order.
How pricing off the set early de-risks feasibility and programme
On feasibility, a trade-priced kitchen number off the drawings is real, not a per-square-metre guess. It goes into the model with the assumptions stated, so the kitchen line stops being a placeholder that blows out at tender. If the number doesn't work, you find out while the design can still change, when moving a wall or dropping an island is a redline instead of a variation. That early certainty is the point of budgeting kitchens on a multi-unit development properly, rather than carrying a soft allowance you patch later.
On programme, pricing early opens the manufacturing slot early. Once the spec is frozen off the set, procurement can commit, materials can be ordered, and the workshop can hold a slot that tracks your build instead of scrambling for one after framing. When the framing-stage measure lands, the kitchen is already scoped and booked, so the measure confirms rather than kicks off. That is the difference between a kitchen that follows your trades down the building and one that becomes the thing everyone waits on.
A real job: seven townhouses off a Shape Architects consent set
A recent job shows how it runs. A developer came to us with a Shape Architects consent set for seven townhouses, three plan types across the block, before a single wall was framed. We priced the whole package off the set: the ground-floor plans gave us the runs and the islands, the plumbing schedule gave us the sink and waste positions, and the elevations gave us the heights against the windows. The indicative number went back inside a couple of days, with a short RFI list covering the appliance package and the benchtop choice.
The developer took that number into their feasibility and it held. Once the blocks reached framing, we measured each unit, not one of each type, because three plan types drawn identical do not build identical. A couple of runs came in a few millimetres short, as they always do, and that got absorbed in fillers at the workshop, not discovered on install day. The firm number barely moved from the indicative, because the scope and spec were locked at consent stage and only the millimetres were ever open. Appliances, plumbing fit-off and electrical were by others, coordinated to the same measure.
The consent set gets you a number you can build a feasibility on. The framing-stage measure gets you a kitchen that fits. Skip either and you are guessing at one end or the other.
For the architect: why loop the maker in early
If you are the architect on the job, there is a direct reason to bring a kitchen maker in at consent stage rather than leaving it to the builder later. You get a set of dimensions and service positions checked by someone who builds kitchens for a living, before the drawings go to council: a sink centred where a cabinet can actually take it, a window sill that clears an overhead, an island with real clearances. It saves you the RFI back-and-forth during construction, and it makes your client's number land earlier and truer. We are happy to mark up a set and send it back, no obligation on your client, because a clean set is easier for everyone downstream.
Frequently asked questions
Can you really price a kitchen off the architect's consent drawings?
Yes. The ground-floor plan gives us run lengths, island size and clearances, the plumbing schedule gives us sink and waste positions, and the elevations give us ceiling and sill heights. From those three we can price a full package in a day or two, with a short list of RFIs covering appliances, benchtop and finishes. No site visit is needed at that stage.
Is a price off the drawings a firm quote or an estimate?
It is indicative: correct in scope, spec and cabinet count, and close on dimensions, but not yet cut-ready. It holds as a budgeting and commitment number for your feasibility. It becomes firm at the framing-stage site measure, once the walls are real and we capture the exact dimensions the workshop cuts to. The two are sequential, not a choice between them.
Why can't you just cut to the consent dimensions and skip the site measure?
Because a consent drawing is what was intended, and the framed, lined room is what got built. The two are reliably a few millimetres apart, almost always tighter than drawn. Cut to plan and you inherit every one of those deviations, which on multi-unit work means remade cabinets and benchtops. The indicative number holds; the cutting waits for the measure.
What RFIs will a kitchen maker send back on a consent set?
Usually a short list: the appliance schedule so cavities are sized to real models, the benchtop material because it moves the number most, confirmation that the drawn sink and waste positions are final, the finishes and hardware grade, and a clear boundary on who supplies appliances, plumbing fit-off and electrical, which are by others. Each one closed early is a variation avoided later.
I'm the architect, not the developer. Why would I involve a kitchen maker?
Because you see the job first, and a maker who prices cleanly off your set checks your dimensions and service positions before the drawings go to council: sink where a cabinet can take it, sills that clear overheads, islands with real clearances. It cuts the construction-stage RFI traffic and makes your client's kitchen number land earlier and truer. We will mark up a set with no obligation.
How does pricing early de-risk the programme?
Once the spec is frozen off the consent set, procurement can commit and the workshop can hold a manufacturing slot that tracks your build instead of scrambling for one after framing. When the framing-stage measure lands, the kitchen is already scoped and booked, so the measure confirms rather than starts the job. The kitchen follows your trades down the building instead of holding everyone up.
If you have a development coming up, the fastest way to a real kitchen number is to send the consent set through as a PDF. We will price the whole run at trade rates, send back the RFIs and assumptions, and tell you exactly where the framing-stage measure should slot into your programme. You can see how we work with developers on our head kitchen contractor for developers page, and how the drawings firm up in kitchen shop drawings before you sign. One consent set, one indicative number, one measure, and a kitchen that fits the block.