Decide whether you are replacing furniture or renovating the room
Keeping a sound layout and renewing cabinet fronts is not the same project as relocating the sink, cooking equipment and extraction. Start by inspecting the room and services, as QUALITEL recommends. List the usable items to keep, the replacements and the work needed before installation.
Define the final deliverable: furnished room, working appliances, connected sink, finished splashback and usable lighting. If the supplier’s offer ends at assembled cabinets, someone else must price and accept responsibility for the remaining connections and finishes.
Give all trades one approved plan
Record appliance references before confirming connections. An oven, hob, dishwasher and refrigerator bring space, ventilation, power and accessibility requirements that must agree with the furniture layout. Have the relevant professionals validate them; do not assume the cabinet drawing is an electrical or plumbing design.
| Interface | Who needs to confirm what? |
|---|---|
| Kitchen / electrician | Equipment references, connection positions and access |
| Kitchen / plumber | Water and drainage positions, isolation and maintainability |
| Kitchen / ventilation specialist | Hood type, air route and compatibility with existing systems |
| Furniture / floor | Finished levels, tolerances and installation sequence |
| Worktop / walls | Final dimensions, cut-outs, supports and splashback order |
Ask the installer which dimensions can be measured early and which must be verified after preparation. Record who bears the cost if a manufactured item follows an outdated drawing. Freeze a dated version for ordering and explicitly replace it when a change is accepted.
A hood is not a substitute for the room’s ventilation
The AQC kitchen guide warns against connecting an extraction hood to the VMC or a flue. Collective ventilation and combustion appliances create additional constraints. A recirculating hood filters cooking air; it does not provide the room’s fresh-air renewal.
Before choosing an external discharge, check its technical feasibility and any co-ownership or planning requirements. Ask a competent professional to resolve the air system, particularly with a natural-draught combustion appliance. An attractive duct route on a furniture rendering is not evidence that it is safe or authorised.
Account for the whole project
| Category | EUR |
|---|---|
| Removal, protection and waste | 700 |
| Walls, floor and preparation | 1 200 |
| Electrical adaptations and lighting | 1 400 |
| Plumbing and final connections | 800 |
| Ventilation adaptation | 600 |
| Cabinets and fronts | 6 000 |
| Worktop and cut-outs | 1 400 |
| Appliances | 2 300 |
| Furniture and worktop fitting, excluding service connections above | 1 800 |
| Delivery and carrying in | 400 |
| Final cleaning | 200 |
| Subtotal | 16 800 |
| Illustrative contingency, 10% | 1 680 |
| Total | 18 480 |
The furniture and worktop total €7,400, but the project subtotal is €16,800. That difference is why a cabinet promotion is not a complete budget. Remove genuine overlaps when a supplier already includes delivery, fitting or a connection; do not remove necessary work merely because it is absent from an offer.
Compare installation offers and your own purchases
Ask whether the fitting price includes unpacking, fixing, end panels, plinths, worktop cut-outs, sealing and removal of packaging. Record which service connections are included and the qualified trade responsible. Clarify repeat visits if a made-to-measure worktop is installed after the cabinets.
For owner-purchased appliances and materials, the VAT guidance explains the normal 20% treatment of direct purchases, while eligible installation may qualify separately. Do not compare an equipment-only price with an installed package using the same assumed reduced VAT rate.
Also agree responsibility for receiving goods, reporting damage, storing them, checking completeness and managing replacement parts. A missing panel can leave the kitchen incomplete even when the main installation is finished. Ask how that affects any stage invoice.
Order against verified dimensions and a cash calendar
- Confirm the functional layout and technical feasibility.
- Approve appliance references and one coordinated drawing.
- Obtain itemised room-preparation and installation quotations.
- Resolve dimensions and any permissions before releasing manufacture.
- Schedule deliveries against a suitable, secure installation space.
- Arrange final connections, commissioning and acceptance.
Give every order a price, validity date, expected delivery, payment dates and person responsible for checking it. The official quotation guide explains contractual information. Keep an accepted change to dimensions, products or timing with the order rather than relying on a phone conversation.
Inspect the working kitchen, not only its appearance
At acceptance, check doors and drawers, appliance clearances, accessible isolation points, stable fixing, worktop edges, joints and agreed finishes. Ask the responsible trades to demonstrate connections and operation. Keep photographs, serial numbers, instructions and invoices.
If an appliance is not connected, record that its operation has not been checked and identify the remaining intervention. “Everything looks installed” is not the same as the complete usable result you budgeted. Keep the cost of that remaining work in the forecast until its scope and price are resolved.
Sources and method
- QUALITEL — Préparer une rénovation de cuisine
- Agence Qualité Construction — Créer ou rénover sa cuisine, 2e édition
- Service Public Entreprendre — Taux réduits et achats directs de matériaux
- Service Public — Devis et contrat de travaux
Sources consulted on 18 October 2026. Worked cost tables are editorial examples, not average market prices or contractors’ offers. Tax explanations concern metropolitan France.