Most millwork budgets are set before anyone has drawings — at concept, in a pro forma, or in the twenty minutes before a budget meeting. This tool produces an order-of-magnitude range for a commercial millwork and fixture package so that number is at least anchored to real scope instead of a guess.

It is a budgeting instrument, not a quotation. It will not replace a takeoff, and it is not a bid. What it will do is tell you whether the allowance you are carrying is roughly right, roughly low, or badly wrong — while there is still time to do something about it.

What actually drives a millwork budget

Square footage is the number everyone reaches for, and it is the weakest predictor in the package. Two lobbies of identical area can differ by a factor of three. What moves the number is this, roughly in order of impact:

• Material and finish — the single largest lever. Melamine casework and rift-cut veneer casework are the same cabinet with the same hardware and a very different invoice. See the veneer visualizer for what the cut choice actually buys you.
• Complexity, not size — curves, integrated lighting, mitred returns, mixed metal and wood, and anything that has to be scribed to an existing building. Repetition is cheap; one-offs are not.
• Quality grade — AWI/AWMAC Custom versus Premium is a real cost difference with real tolerance and material implications, and it belongs on the drawing. Grades explained here.
• Install conditions — night work, occupied premises, phased handover, restricted loading, and elevator scheduling are all labour multipliers that never appear on an elevation.
• Schedule — compressed lead time is a cost, not just a risk. Lead times here.

What this estimate deliberately excludes

Taxes. Permits and inspections. General conditions and site supervision. Appliances, sinks, faucets and specialty equipment. Electrical and plumbing rough-in to the millwork. Structural backing and blocking. Stone fabrication templating beyond standard. Freight outside the Greater Toronto Area. Anything not entered as a line item above.

Excluding those is deliberate — they vary far more by project than the millwork itself does, and folding a guess for them into the range would make the range less useful, not more.

When the range is not good enough

An order-of-magnitude range is the right tool at concept and schematic design. It stops being the right tool the moment you are carrying the number in a tender, a GMP, or a client-facing budget you will be held to. At that point you need a takeoff against drawings, and that is a different conversation — one we will have with you at no cost if there are drawings to look at.

If you are pricing a real project: send elevations, a finish schedule, and a target on-site date. That is enough for a firm number. See how shop drawings work and how to specify DNS.

Frequently asked

How much does commercial millwork cost per linear foot?

In Ontario commercial work, base casework typically runs a few hundred dollars per linear foot in melamine or laminate, and materially more in wood veneer or mixed-material construction. Reception desks and feature millwork sit well above that because they are one-off fabrications rather than repeated units. Grade, complexity and install conditions move all of these figures significantly, which is why a range is more honest than a single rate.

Is this a quote?

No. It is a planning range built on placeholder unit rates with a deliberate tolerance applied. It is intended to sanity-check an allowance at concept stage. A quotation requires drawings, a finish schedule and a takeoff.

What is the difference between supply-only and supply-and-install?

Supply-only means the millwork is fabricated, finished and delivered, with installation handled by others — usually the general contractor or a separate installer. Supply-and-install means the same shop that built it also sets it, scribes it and hands it over complete. Install typically adds meaningfully to the package cost, but it consolidates responsibility for fit and finish with one party.

Should shop drawings be included in the millwork budget?

Yes. Shop drawings, engineering where required, and submittal coordination are real scope with real hours behind them. Carrying them as a percentage of the millwork value at concept stage is reasonable; leaving them out entirely is how allowances end up short.

Have drawings? Send them and we will price the actual scope →