What costs do owners forget when budgeting?

Making the existing building ready, professional fees and permissions, and living elsewhere while the work is done. One Mumbai contractor suggests a 10 to 15% buffer for the first, as a starting allowance.

How is the architect's fee related to construction cost?

It is a share of the construction cost, set in writing against phases of work, and paid separately from the contractor's cost. Team Design's published bands are 10 to 12% for interiors and 8 to 10% for new homes.

Residential8 October 20268 min readTeam Design

What Does It Really Cost to Renovate or Build a Home in Mumbai?

What drives the number, what a quote should include, and the costs owners forget.

AI concept of an architect's desk with a blank drawing sheet, a tape measure and a small white site model, with a Mumbai sea view in warm light beyond the window.

A budget starts with a clear scope, not a number.

The pictures in this article are AI-generated concept illustrations. None shows a completed Team Design project.

You ask three contractors what it will cost to redo your flat. One gives a low figure, one gives a figure twice as high, and one says "depends." All three may be honest. They are pricing three different jobs.

This guide explains why the numbers differ so much, what a quote should include, and the costs that most often surprise owners. Published Mumbai guidance varies a good deal in what its figures include, which is part of the problem. [1]

Get the area right first

Three areas get used interchangeably, and they are not the same.

Carpet area is the floor you can walk on, inside the walls. Renovation costs are usually quoted on this.
Built-up area includes the wall thickness and balconies. Costs for new houses are usually quoted on this.
Saleable area includes a share of common areas and is a selling term. Do not use it to price work.

Ask every person who gives you a rate which area they mean.

What moves the number

Within any Mumbai project, four things decide where it lands:

Scope. A repaint and new lighting is a different job from stripping a flat to the slab.
Condition. Old plumbing, leaks and concealed damage can turn a cosmetic job into a repair job.
Specification. Stone, fittings, joinery and appliances can double the cost of the same floor area.
Complexity. Structural changes, custom work and difficult access cost more than standard work.

AI concept of one Mumbai living room shown split down the middle: bare and unfinished on the left, finished with timber joinery and warm lighting on the right. — The same room, finished two ways.

This is why we don't publish a single rate. Two flats of the same size can differ several times over. A number only means something once someone has seen the property and agreed a specification with you. Our fee estimator gives an indicative range for the architect's fee and the construction cost it is based on; treat both as a starting point.

What the number should and should not include

Ask whether the rate covers each of these, and write the answer down:

Demolition and debris removal
Cabinetry and wardrobes
Air-conditioning
External works, for a house
Loose furniture and appliances (usually not)

A budget also sits beside things that are not construction at all: land, professional fees, statutory charges, applicable taxes and contingency.

Three costs owners forget

1. Making the existing building ready. Demolition, debris removal, concealed plumbing faults, failed waterproofing and repairs discovered once finishes come off. One Mumbai contractor suggests a 10 to 15% buffer. [1] Treat that as a starting allowance, and set the real figure after the flat has been opened up and inspected.

AI concept of a stripped bathroom in an older Mumbai flat: tiles removed from one wall, old pipework and patched brick exposed, a work light on the floor. — What is behind the finish is only known once it comes off.

2. Professional fees and permissions. Architect fees, engineers appointed separately, approval charges and taxes. Our own fees page separates construction cost, consultants you appoint directly and GST from the architect's fee, so you can see each line.

3. Living elsewhere and managing access. Temporary rent, moving, storage, protection for common areas and restricted delivery arrangements. Ask the society about deposits and working hours before you price the job. A refundable deposit is a cash-flow need, not necessarily a final expense.

Planning something like this? Talk to the studio.

How the architect's fee relates to all this

The architect's fee is a share of the construction cost, set in writing against phases of work. It is separate from the construction cost, which you pay to the contractor. Our published bands are 10 to 12% for interiors and 8 to 10% for new homes. [2]

Questions to ask before you accept any number

Which area is this rate on?
What specification does it assume?
What is excluded?
What contingency do you advise, and why?
Which costs arrive later: consultants, permissions, deposits?

Build your own budget in seven steps

Work through these in order. Each step leaves you with a number or a decision you can write down.

1. Decide the scope. List what is changing and what is staying.

2. Fix the area and say which one it is: carpet or built-up.

3. Agree a specification: the level of stone, fittings, joinery and appliances.

4. Allow for making the existing building ready, once it has been inspected.

5. Add professional fees, consultants you appoint directly, statutory charges and taxes.

6. Add the cost of living elsewhere and of access arrangements.

7. Keep a contingency, and agree with your architect or contractor how it will be used.

Get at least two quotes on the same scope and specification, so you are comparing like with like.

Try it

Our fee estimator gives an indicative architect-fee range for your project size, with the construction cost it is based on. It is an estimate, not a quotation.