Estimating Software for Shopfitters

Retail and hospitality fit-outs price differently to most construction work because the venue sets the terms, not just the drawings — most of the physical work happens after hours in a live trading centre, on a program the centre or brand has already fixed, against a scope someone else defined before you were asked to tender.

A shopping centre or national brand rollout is rarely a blank canvas: the landlord’s tenancy design criteria and lease conditions set out finishes, service capacities and even shopfront design before a shopfitter sees the job, so the tender has to price against a defined scope rather than propose one. Add a fast-tracked opening date and it is common for the whole fit-out — from strip-out to fit-out complete — to be measured in weeks, not months.

• Most work happens after trading hours or overnight, inside a live shopping centre or hospitality strip
• The program is usually set by the landlord or brand, not negotiated by the shopfitter
• Scope is typically defined upfront by a landlord’s tenancy design criteria or a national brand’s fit-out manual
• Openings are often fast-tracked, compressing strip-out, fit-out and sign-off into a short window

Turning fit-out drawings into a bill of quantities means measuring every element in the drawing set — joinery runs, partition and ceiling areas, floor areas, glazing and shopfront items — rather than estimating by eye or scaling a PDF by hand with a ruler.

Because shopfit drawing sets mix elevations, joinery details and reflected ceiling plans in the one package, a manual takeoff is slow and easy to get wrong — a missed display unit or an under-measured ceiling area is the kind of error that only shows up once the job is under way. Measuring straight from the uploaded drawings keeps every quantity tied to what is actually drawn, and keeps it easy to re-check if the drawings are revised.

• Joinery measured by the lineal metre for runs, and by count for freestanding items
• Partitions and suspended ceilings measured by area, taken off the reflected ceiling plan and elevations
• Flooring measured by area, room by room
• Shopfront and glazing measured as individual items and openings

The table below shows how a small café fit-out breaks down into priced elements. It is a worked example only, built to show the method and the unit types involved — insert your own rates in My Trade Hub to generate an actual quote for a real job.

Notice that the preliminaries and after-hours allowance is carried as its own line rather than folded into the trade rates above it — that is deliberate, since out-of-trading-hours access and centre-management requirements are a cost of the venue, not the joinery or the ceiling grid.

Coordinating services in a shopfit estimate means carrying electrical, data, plumbing and mechanical fit-out as clearly identified allowances or measured items tied to the same drawing set as the joinery and partitions, since a café or retail tenancy usually has all four running through the one ceiling void at once.

Because these trades are frequently novated, contracted directly by the landlord, or only confirmed once equipment is selected, it is common to carry a coordination allowance early and firm it up as design develops, rather than guessing a final figure before the mechanical and electrical design is locked in.

• Electrical — power, lighting and equipment circuits, often confirmed once a kitchen or fit-out layout is locked in
• Data and communications — point-of-sale, security and network cabling
• Plumbing — kitchen, bar or amenities fit-out, often the trigger for a hydraulic services allowance
• Mechanical — air conditioning and, for hospitality tenancies, kitchen exhaust and make-up air

Tendering to a landlord or a national retail or hospitality brand means pricing against a scope and a submission format someone else has already set, rather than proposing your own — a tenancy coordination pack, a fit-out manual or a defined scope of works typically arrives before you are asked to quote.

A tender document structured to mirror that defined scope, section by section, makes it easier for a landlord’s tenancy coordinator or a national brand’s project team to check your tender against the brief and against other shopfitters bidding the same job.

• Price against the landlord’s tenancy design criteria or the brand’s fit-out manual, not a scope you propose yourself
• Submissions are often due against a fixed date tied to a centre’s or brand’s rollout program
• A make-good obligation at lease end is frequently priced, or at least flagged as a future cost
• A tender document structured to mirror the defined scope is easier for a landlord or brand to assess quickly

Getting started as a shopfitter on My Trade Hub means creating a free account first — that free account covers the contractor marketplace, so you can post jobs, receive quotes and browse tenders at no cost.

Estimating, automated takeoff and tender preparation sit on My Trade Hub’s paid Starter, Scale and Professional plans, priced in AUD with no lock-in contracts, since they draw on the platform’s takeoff and compute capacity rather than the free marketplace account. See the pricing page for current plan details.