A kitchen quote rarely arrives as one number. It is a bundle of separate prices for the carcasses, the doors, the worktop, the appliances and the labour to fit them, and each supplier bundles those prices differently. Comparing two quotes by their bottom line alone tells you which is cheaper on the day.
What a kitchen quote is pricing
Behind every total sits a set of choices: the board and thickness of the carcass (the structural box a door hangs on), the worktop material, the appliance package, and the trades needed to fit it all. When a figure has moved on from one quote to the next, it is usually because one of those has changed.
The guide to reading a kitchen quote sets out the line items a supply-and-fit or fit-only quote should show, in the order a buyer usually meets them. This page is about what happens once you have a quote in hand and want to know what it does and does not cover.
Why two quotes for the same kitchen can look nothing alike
Ask three suppliers for a price on the same layout and you can get three different totals, and not because one is being generous. Some quotes include delivery, waste removal and making good after the fitters leave; others leave those as separate charges added later. Some price the appliances as supplied and connected; others price the units only and expect a separate electrician and plumber for first fix (the wiring and pipework done before units go in) and second fix (connecting appliances and fittings once they are).
None of that makes one quote wrong. It means the two totals are not pricing the same scope of work, so the number on the page is only useful once you know what sits behind it.
Lines that commonly go missing
- Delivery and off-loading to the room
- Removal of the old kitchen and disposal of packaging
- Electrical and plumbing first fix and second fix
- Appliance connection and testing, as distinct from the appliance price itself
- Worktop templating (the fabricator's visit to measure the exact opening before cutting stone) and its installation
- Making good: plastering, decorating or flooring patched up around the new units
- VAT, and whether the quoted figure already includes it
Use the kitchen quote checker to tick off which of these your own quote shows. It returns the ones missing and a set of questions to put to the supplier about each. It works from what you tell it, so a line ticked as covered when it is not, or a supplier's wording read the wrong way, will carry through into the result. Treat what it gives you as a list of things to ask about.
Common mistakes when comparing quotes
Comparing only the total
A lower total with fitting, waste removal and making good left out is not a lower price once those are added back in. Line up what each quote actually includes before ranking them by cost.
Assuming "supply and fit" means the same scope everywhere
The phrase describes who is doing the fitting. One supplier's supply-and-fit price might cover electrics and plumbing; another's might stop at hanging the units and doors, with services quoted separately.
Not checking product codes against what was shown in the showroom
A quote listing a unit by product code lets you look it up on the maker's own page and check it matches what you were shown.
Treating the guarantee as a single figure
A guarantee is rarely one number across the whole kitchen. Cabinets, doors, hinges and runners, and the worktop are often covered for different periods, and workmanship on the fit is usually separate again. The guarantee coverage grid sets these out component by component so you can see where a supplier's stated term applies and where it does not.
Leaving VAT and payment terms unread
Whether a figure is quoted including or excluding VAT changes the comparison at a glance. So does the deposit asked for and whether it sits with a protection scheme, which is one of the checks on the supplier checklist.
Getting quotes that actually compare
A quote checker only works as well as the quotes it is checking. Sending each supplier a different brief, or leaving out measurements one asked for and another didn't, produces quotes that were never going to line up regardless of how carefully they are read afterwards. The guide to getting kitchen quotes covers what to send each supplier so the figures that come back are answering the same question.
Where a quote is silent on something, that silence is itself worth asking about. A missing line for waste removal might mean it is included in the headline price, or it might mean nobody has costed it yet. The only way to know is to ask the supplier directly and get the answer in writing before signing.
Where to go next
Tick your quote against the kitchen quote checker to see which lines it is missing and the questions worth asking about each. Read reading a kitchen quote for a line-by-line walk through a full quote before you request one. If a dispute arises after work has started, Citizens Advice and Trading Standards are the bodies to contact for guidance on a specific case, since the checks here are for comparing quotes.