Why two flats the same size cost different amounts
Ask what a Hong Kong renovation (裝修費用) costs and the honest answer is a question back: which flat, and how much of it are you changing? Two units of identical floor area can land far apart on price, and the gap is not mystery or margin, it is seven specific things. Understanding them lets you read any quote clearly, put your money where it matters, and avoid the surprises that turn a fixed budget into a moving one.
The seven cost drivers
- Floor area, the obvious one, but the weakest predictor on its own.
- Age and condition of the flat, a newly handed-over unit needs light fitting-out; an older flat needs fresh plumbing and rewiring, which is a major swing.
- Layout changes, removing walls or moving a kitchen or bathroom pulls in demolition, wet trades and often approvals.
- Joinery volume, usually the largest share of a Hong Kong budget, because flats are tight and storage is almost always made-to-measure.
- Material grade, flooring, worktops and hardware each come in tiers; the same cabinet in two board grades is two different prices.
- Electrical and plumbing, a full rewire and re-pipe is one of the biggest levers.
- Level of finish, detailing is site hours; crisp shadow gaps and flush joinery cost more than standard trims.
It helps to think of the budget in blocks: base works (demolition, wet trades, electrical, plumbing) → carpentry → kitchen and bathrooms → paint and flooring → loose furniture and appliances. Decide early which blocks matter most to you and concentrate the money there.
Package vs tailored pricing
A package quote is a fixed rate times floor area, simple, and fine for a straightforward refresh of a standard flat. A tailored quote is priced line by line from a site measure and drawings. The rule of thumb: if you are changing the layout, adding a lot of joinery, or working on an older flat, a tailored quote protects you, because a package’s “not included” clauses are exactly where the mid-job add-ons hide.
The hidden costs people miss
Three costs routinely fall out of an early sum and reappear later:
- Submission and professional fees, an Authorised Person for structural work, or reinstating unauthorised building works (還原).
- Building-management charges, refundable deposits plus protection works for lifts, corridors and common areas.
- Mid-job variations, the classic being aged pipework discovered once a false ceiling comes down, or an uneven floor that needs levelling before tiling.
A good quote surfaces these up front and defines what counts as a variation, rather than leaving them as a surprise.
Where to spend, and how to hold the line
Spend on what you touch every day, worktops, flooring, cabinet hinges and runners, and the storage design itself, and relax on purely decorative pieces you can change later. Hold a contingency of roughly 10–15% on a full renovation (less on a small refresh) so a surprise does not derail the plan. And walk into quotes knowing your ceiling: the single best defence against scope creep is a number you have already decided not to cross.
When you compare quotes, the right question is not who is cheapest but what does each include and exclude, a low quote may use a lower material grade, omit a trade, or assume a looser finish standard.
How Primeworks handles this
We price against your actual flat and drawings, not a blanket per-square-foot rate, and we itemise by trade so you can see exactly what is and isn’t included. Payment is staged against on-site progress, never a large sum up front, so what you have paid always matches the work done. Our design phase carries a small, fully creditable deposit that comes straight off the contract if you proceed, which keeps the pricing honest on both sides.