What a practice fitout costs
Indicative ranges per square metre for all four sectors, what sits inside them, what deliberately does not, and the five things that move a budget more than finishes ever will.
These are planning figures. They exist so you can rule a tenancy in or out in a couple of minutes instead of three meetings. They are exclusive of GST and clinical equipment, and they assume a warm shell.
Indicative ranges by sector
Dental
Surgeries with services to each chair position, sterilisation room, joinery and finishes. Chairs, imaging and plant are bought separately.
General practice
Consulting rooms, treatment room, utility, reception and waiting with standard commercial finishes and joinery.
Small animal veterinary
Consult, prep and treatment, theatre, limited kennelling, with drainage and washdown-rated finishes where animals are held.
Optometry
Consulting and pre-test, contact lens area, dispensary, frame display joinery and shopfront, with retail-grade lighting through the front.
What the rate includes
- Partitioning, doors and hardware
- Ceilings, lighting and power
- Hydraulic services to basins and clinical points
- Mechanical ventilation to the fitted-out areas
- Joinery: reception, benches and storage
- Floor, wall and ceiling finishes
- Data and communications cabling
- Builder’s preliminaries and site management
What it doesn’t
- Clinical equipment: chairs, imaging, autoclaves, plant
- GST
- Radiation shielding design and premises licensing
- Base building upgrades required by the landlord
- Cold shell works: air conditioning, ceilings, fire services
- Council and certifier fees, and consultant reports
- Loose furniture, IT hardware and signage
- Rent and outgoings during construction
Sector by sector, in more depth: the medical centre cost guide and the dental cost guide. Or put your own numbers in the estimator. When you have quotes to compare, read how to choose a fitout company.
Every published rate, in one table
All figures are per square metre of gross lettable area, on a warm shell, excluding GST and clinical equipment. Planning figures for ruling a tenancy in or out, not quotes.
| Sector | Low | High | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dental, base build | $1,200 | $1,800 | Excludes chairs, imaging and plant |
| Medical, general practice | $1,400 | $2,200 | Consulting, treatment, utility, front of house |
| Veterinary, small animal | $1,500 | $2,300 | Includes kennel drainage and washdown finishes |
| Dental, specialist or orthodontic | $1,600 | $2,400 | Open bays, heavier front of house |
| Optometry | $1,600 | $2,600 | Retail front of house plus clinical rooms |
| Medical, specialist rooms | $1,800 | $2,800 | Equipment-driven room sizes and services |
| Veterinary hospital or referral | $2,000 | $3,200 | Multiple theatres, isolation, extended kennelling |
| Laboratory, PC2 analytical | $2,200 | $3,800 | Containment, fume management, dedicated exhaust |
| Day procedure | $2,400 | $3,600 | Usually Class 9a construction and engineered ventilation |
| Licensed day hospital | $3,000 | $4,800 | Sterilising department to AS/NZS 4187 |
| Cold shell allowance | +$350 | +$550 | Added to any row above where the shell is cold |
If you quote these figures, attribute them to Practice Fitouts and state that they are indicative planning ranges excluding GST and clinical equipment.
Five things that move the number
In the order they actually matter, which is almost the reverse of the order they get discussed.
1. Shell condition. Warm shell or cold shell is the largest single swing in a fitout budget, and it is decided in the lease rather than the design. A cold shell means you are buying air conditioning, ceilings, lighting and fire services before you have chosen a finish. Get the definition in writing at heads of agreement.
2. Services load. How many wet points, how much ventilation, how much power, and whether any of it has to be cut into an existing slab. This is the difference between a consulting suite and a dental surgery on otherwise identical floor plans.
3. The approvals pathway. A change of building use adds time and consultants before construction starts. Time is rent, and rent during a fitout is a real cost that rarely appears in anyone’s comparison of two quotes.
4. Staging around an operating practice. Working around a practice that stays open means more mobilisations, out-of-hours work and temporary protection. It costs more than a continuous program and is often still cheaper than closing.
5. Finishes. Genuinely last. The gap between a good commercial specification and a premium one is real, but it’s smaller than any of the four above and it is the only one you can change your mind about late.
Warm shell or cold shell
The two terms get used loosely in lease negotiations, and the difference between them is worth more than most of the incentive being offered.
A warm shell arrives with base building services in place: conditioned air to the tenancy, a ceiling grid, lighting, sprinklers, an accessible path of travel and often a bathroom. You are fitting out on top of something that already works.
A cold shell is a concrete box with a power supply and a water point. Air conditioning, ceilings, lighting, fire services, floor coverings and sometimes the accessible bathroom are all yours.
If a landlord is offering a contribution, the first question isn’t how large it’s. It’s which of these two you’re being handed.
Cost questions
How much does a practice fitout cost per square metre?
Indicatively, $1,200 to $1,800 per square metre for a dental base build, $1,400 to $2,200 for general practice, and $1,500 to $2,300 for a small animal veterinary clinic, all on a warm shell, excluding clinical equipment and GST. Specialist, procedural and hospital work sits above those ranges.
What is not included in those rates?
Clinical equipment, GST, landlord works, rent and outgoings during construction, your own furniture and IT hardware, and any base building upgrade the landlord requires. Shielding design and radiation licensing are priced separately wherever imaging is involved.
What moves a fitout budget the most?
Shell condition first. Warm versus cold is worth hundreds of dollars per square metre before a single finish is chosen. Then services load, the approvals pathway, whether you’re staging around an operating practice, and only then finishes.
Why will nobody else publish a price?
Because every project genuinely is different, and a range invites comparison on the one number that is easiest to compare. Both things are true, and that is why the ranges here come with their assumptions attached not on their own.
Will the final price come in at the range?
The range is a planning figure for ruling a site in or out, not a quote. A priced scope follows a site assessment and a documented design, and it will reflect your shell, your equipment schedule and your approvals pathway. If a site is going to fall outside the range, you should hear that early.
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