How much does a commercial fit-out cost in Melbourne?
Melbourne commercial fit-outs are priced at $360–$3,600 per m², with Cat A base-building work at the bottom and premium Cat B offices at the top. The category explains most of the gap, and the condition of the existing tenancy and the building's access rules account for much of the rest.
The market covers CBD and Docklands office floors, creative studios in converted Collingwood, Cremorne and Richmond warehouses, laneway and Chapel Street hospitality, and medical and allied health suites across the suburbs. Tenancies in older buildings often come with an earlier fit-out still in place, while new towers and suburban shells start closer to clean.
Standard Cat B office work usually lands near $1,800 per m², and stripping an old fit-out back to base building adds $27–$135 per m². All prices include GST.
Commercial Fitout Prices in Melbourne 2026: Cost Table and Price List
| Service | Low | Typical | High |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fit-out feasibility / concept design | $2,700per report | $7,200 | $18,000 |
| Cat A fit-out (base building) | $360/m² | $470 | $625 |
| Cat B fit-out (tenant, standard) | $1,350/m² | $1,800 | $2,250 |
| Cat B fit-out (full / premium) | $2,250/m² | $2,700 | $3,600 |
| Retail shopfitting | $900/m² | $1,800 | $2,475 |
| Hospitality fit-out (cafe / restaurant) | $2,525/m² | $3,325 | $4,050 |
| Office partitioning (plasterboard) | $108/m² | $159 | $203 |
| Glazed office partitioning | $450/m | $720 | $1,260 |
| Suspended ceiling (supply + install) | $45/m² | $90 | $135 |
| Office joinery package (kitchenette + reception counter + storage) | $9,000per job | $18,000 | $27,000 |
| Services upgrade to existing base build (mechanical adjustment, power, data) | $180/m² | $270 | $405 |
| End-of-lease make-good | $70/m² | $135 | $315 |
| Workstation furniture module (desk, screen + storage, supply & install) | $1,080per workstation | $2,250 | $4,590 |
| Office strip-out to base building (incl. disposal) | $27/m² | $54 | $135 |
| Medical / healthcare suite fit-out (GP, specialist rooms, dental) | $1,625/m² | $2,375 | $3,150 |
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Prices include GST. Melbourne metro, November 2026.
Commercial Fitout Costs by Sector in Melbourne
Laneway and Fitzroy hospitality
Espresso bars off Flinders Lane, wine bars on Gertrude Street and dining rooms through Fitzroy are priced on the hospitality row at $2,525–$4,050 per m². Kitchen exhaust, grease traps and cool rooms take a big share of that spend, and narrow frontages in older buildings slow every delivery.
Medical suites near Parkville and Box Hill
Specialist rooms close to the Parkville hospital precinct and GP clinics in Box Hill are priced on the medical and healthcare suite row at $1,625–$3,150 per m². Plumbing to every consult room, extra power and sealed, wipeable surfaces explain where a suite lands.
Warehouse studios in Cremorne and Richmond
Converted brick and timber floors in Cremorne, Richmond and Collingwood usually take a standard tenant fit-out at $1,350–$2,250 per m², with services left exposed, a few glazed meeting rooms and polished concrete in place of carpet. Uneven old floors often need levelling before anything is built.
Chapel Street and shopping centre retail
Boutiques along Chapel Street and tenancies inside Melbourne's large suburban malls are shopfitted at $900–$2,475 per m². Mall work is mostly done overnight so neighbours keep trading, and the landlord's design manual fixes shopfront glazing, signage height and lighting, which adds labour hours.
What Melbourne Commercial Fitout Jobs Actually Cost
Collins Street floor for a professional firm
A 650 m² floor in a Collins Street building fitted out with open desks, six meeting rooms, a boardroom and a staff kitchen. Priced at the standard cat B rate of $1,350–$2,250 per m², with the existing air handling rebalanced rather than replaced.
Brunswick Street shopfront turned cafe
Converting a 110 m² Brunswick Street shop into a 40-seat cafe with a full kitchen, at $2,525–$4,050 per m². The canopy and flue, grease trap, new switchboard and three-phase power absorb a large share before any seating or counter joinery goes in.
Docklands office handed back at lease end
Returning a 900 m² Docklands office to the landlord: partitions and cabling removed, carpet tiles replaced and ceilings patched to the condition the lease describes. Make-good runs $70–$315 per m², depending on how far the old fit-out changed the shell.
South Yarra dental practice
A 160 m² dental practice with four surgeries, a sterilising room and a waiting area, priced on the medical and healthcare suite row at $1,625–$3,150 per m². Chair plumbing, suction lines and a lead-lined imaging room are the big cost items.
Concept design before signing a lease
Before committing to a Melbourne tenancy, a concept layout and cost plan tests whether the floor plate suits the headcount and what the services will need. Expect $2,700–$18,000 per report, scaling with floor size and the number of layout options drawn.
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What Affects Commercial Fitout Costs in Melbourne
Melbourne fit-outs range from CBD and Docklands office floors to laneway bars, Collingwood and Richmond warehouse studios, Chapel Street retail and suburban medical centres. A deep market of builders and shopfitters keeps pricing competitive, but building age, owners corporation and landlord requirements, and the design ambition of the space move costs widely.
Office fit-out level
A tenant-standard office fit-out typically runs $1,350–$2,250 per m², while premium fit-outs with feature stairs, bespoke joinery and upgraded services can reach $2,250–$3,600 per m².
Laneway and CBD logistics
Narrow laneways, limited loading zones and booked goods lifts make material delivery slow and expensive. Noisy work in occupied towers often has to run at night, at higher labour rates.
Warehouse and older buildings
Brick warehouses and Victorian shopfronts need insulation, acoustic control and new services, and owners often want exposed brick or timber kept intact, which limits standard ceiling and partition systems.
Hospitality
Many Melbourne fit-outs are cafes, bars and restaurants with kitchens, exhaust and custom bars. Hospitality fit-out typically runs $2,525–$4,050 per m², with laneway sites adding access costs.
Seasonal comfort
Cold winters and hot summers both need covering, so heating, cooling and insulation upgrades often feature in older tenancies and can be a large share of services spend.
Workstations and furniture
Office projects can spend heavily on furniture. Workstation modules typically run $1,080–$4,590 per workstation, and reusing sound furniture is one of the easiest savings to make.
How to Control Commercial Fitout Costs in Melbourne
Commercial fit-out cost by floor area in Melbourne
Melbourne's office floors range from CBD and Docklands towers to the older blocks of St Kilda Road and the eastern business parks. A 1,200 m² St Kilda Road floor at $1,350–$2,250 per m² comes to $1,620,000–$2,700,000. On a floor that size the kitchen, comms room and reception are shared across far more area than in a 200 m² Richmond suite, so the larger job usually lands lower per m².
Laneway deliveries and booked goods lifts slow every trade in the CBD, older brick buildings limit standard ceiling systems, and a Melbourne tenancy has to be heated through winter and cooled through summer. A recent floor whose ceilings and ductwork stay can be reworked with a services upgrade at $180–$405 per m², while an older tenancy cleared back first adds $27–$135 per m².
Our Methodology
These are independent, GST-inclusive estimates from commercial contractors, suppliers and rate guides, and no contractor can influence them, so always get several written quotes. Read our full methodology →
Commercial fit-out cost per sqm in Melbourne by category, and what a fit-out quote includes
Commercial fit-out cost in Melbourne is quoted per square metre by category. A Cat A fit-out, the base building services and finishes, costs $360–$625/m². A standard tenant Cat B fit-out runs $1,350–$2,250/m² and a full or premium Cat B $2,250–$3,600/m². Retail shopfitting sits at $900–$2,475/m² and a hospitality fit-out for a cafe or restaurant at $2,525–$4,050/m², the dearest category because of the kitchen and services.
Inside those rates the partitions and ceilings are priced per metre: plasterboard office partitioning $108–$203 per metre, glazed office partitioning $450–$1,260 per metre, and a suspended ceiling $45–$135/m² supplied and installed.
A Melbourne fit-out quote should state the category it is pricing, the floor area the rate is applied to, and which of the partition, ceiling and services lines are inside the rate. A per-sqm figure with no category attached cannot be compared with another quote.
What a Compliant Commercial Fitout Quote Includes — Cost in Melbourne
Melbourne fit-out quotes are often requested early, before drawings exist, so the first useful quote states the floor area it measured, the category it priced and the building conditions it assumed, whether a CBD tower, a Docklands floor or a Fitzroy shopfront.
- Floor area in m² and category, with standard Cat B work at $1,350–$2,250 per m² and premium elements priced as separate lines.
- Tower conditions for a Melbourne CBD or Docklands site: induction hours, goods-lift and dock bookings, protection of lobbies and after-hours rates for noisy work.
- Heritage overlay allowances for a Fitzroy, Collingwood or Carlton shopfront, covering glazing, signage and facade fixings, with the design-approval step shown in the timeline.
- Plasterboard and glazed partitions measured separately, by m² of wall and by the metre run, with door and glazing counts.
- Strip-out and disposal as its own line, around $54 per m², before the new build begins.
- GST stated, lump sum or schedule of rates, and a conversion method if the quote moves from per m² budgeting to a fixed contract.
- Landlord sign-off on drawings, practical completion, and the handover pack of certificates, as-builts and keys with a defects period.
Frequently Asked Questions — Commercial Fitout Cost in Melbourne
Five deep-dives on Melbourne commercial fit-out cost
