How much does a fit-out cost in Sydney?

A typical Sydney office fit-out costs around $2,600 per square metre, and Rider Levett Bucknall's 2026 Sydney rates run from $1,860 to $5,800 per square metre for most office types, depending on the tenancy and finish. Hospitality, heritage and occupied buildings sit outside those averages, so the scope, the services and the building's rules decide your real number.

Laidre has fitted out offices, restaurants, bars, gyms and shops across Sydney since 2010, from Bligh Street and Martin Place in the CBD to Woolwich, Alexandria, Balmain and Brookvale. This guide sets out what the published cost guides say, how to build a budget, and the costs that catch people out.

How much does a fit-out cost per square metre in Sydney?

Three independent cost guides publish Sydney office figures every year. They measure slightly different things, so read them as a range rather than a quote.

• Cushman & Wakefield, 2026. An average Sydney office fit-out costs $2,599 per square metre, "all-in", covering builder's works, mechanical and electrical, furniture, AV and IT. Retrofitting an existing office averages $1,566 per square metre. (Cushman & Wakefield)
• Rider Levett Bucknall (RLB) Riders Digest 2026, Sydney. These are rates for good quality office space, including loose and fixed furniture, at fourth quarter 2025 prices and excluding GST. Insurance and government offices run from $1,860 to $3,500 per square metre open plan, and $2,250 to $3,750 fully partitioned. Major company headquarters run from $2,750 to $5,000. Solicitors and financiers run from $3,250 to $5,800. Executive and front of house areas can reach $8,500 to $17,500. (RLB)
• Turner & Townsend, 2026. A low-specification Sydney fit-out costs $3,357 per square metre and a high-specification one $7,221. (Turner & Townsend)

These are office benchmarks. Restaurants, bars, gyms and shops follow different drivers, which we cover below.

How do you budget for a commercial fit-out?

Build the budget in layers, and make sure each line says what it includes.

• Floor area times a rate. Pick the rate that matches your finish and layout. More enclosed rooms, more glass and more joinery push you up the range.
• Services. Most of the cost and most of the surprises sit in the ceiling and under the floor: mechanical, electrical, hydraulic and fire services. Check what the base building can give the tenancy before the design is locked in.
• Approvals and fees. Certifier, consultant and authority fees, and the NSW long service levy (see below).
• The building's rules. Hours, lifts, loading docks, security escorts and noise limits all affect the program, and time costs money.
• Furniture, AV and IT. Some cost guides include these and some don't. Check before you compare numbers.
• Contingency and GST. Hold a contingency for what you can't see yet. Published rates are often quoted excluding GST.

For bigger jobs, these numbers add up fast. At 25 Martin Place, Laidre delivered a $3.7 million food court upgrade for Dexus as design and construct, and a separate $1.6 million amenities upgrade, both inside a building that stayed open. If you'd rather have one team own the design, the budget and the build, that's how design and construct works.

What's the minimum budget for a small office fit-out?

There isn't a fixed minimum, but you can work out a starting point. Take the floor area and multiply it by a published rate. A 150 square metre open-plan office at RLB's lowest Sydney rate of $1,860 per square metre comes to about $279,000 before GST, furniture included. At that size the NSW long service levy applies too.

Small jobs often cost more per square metre, not less. Approvals, services connections, the building's rules, site setup and make good don't shrink in proportion to the floor area. A small tenancy is also more likely to share walls, ceilings and services with neighbours who stay open.

To keep a small fit-out lean:

• Reuse what works: ceilings, lighting, air conditioning and existing rooms.
• Keep enclosed rooms to the ones you really need.
• Spend on the areas clients see and the places people use most.
• Decide early. Changes cost little on paper and a lot on site.

If you're improving a space you already occupy, it may be a refurbishment rather than a fit-out, and that's planned and priced differently. See office fit-out or refurbishment.

What hidden costs should you allow for?

These are the items that most often sit outside a headline rate.

• Base building services. Upgrades to air conditioning, power, sprinklers or detection that the tenancy needs but the building doesn't provide.
• The NSW long service levy. It's 0.25% of the cost of building work of $250,000 or more, including GST, and has to be paid before a construction certificate or CDC is released. (Long Service Corporation)
• After-hours work. Noisy, dusty work often has to happen outside business hours. On one recent office job we ran demolition from 5 to 7am so the building wasn't disturbed. RLB's demolition rates exclude work outside normal hours.
• Asbestos and other surprises. RLB's refurbishment rates exclude asbestos removal. Older buildings can hide it behind walls and ceilings.
• Heritage requirements. At The Observer Hotel in The Rocks, every service route needed the heritage architect's sign-off. We worked through 172 items on the heritage schedules, and three fire-engineered solutions kept the original stair. Work like that takes time and needs to be in the budget from day one.
• Building management costs. Lift bookings, security, out-of-hours supervision and fit-out guide requirements.
• Make good. Many leases require you to return the space at the end. Cushman & Wakefield's 2026 guide puts the average Sydney office reinstatement at $420 per square metre. (Cushman & Wakefield)

Our office fit-out for RP Infrastructure on Level 9, 20 Bond Street in the Sydney CBD shows how these items turn up. We reconfigured the entry and foyer, built new meeting rooms with acoustically insulated walls run up to the slab, and installed illuminated signage, new carpet and power and data to the workstations. Once work started, the existing air conditioning unit needed replacing, and that became an approved variation, along with extra IT. RP Infrastructure's team kept working in their existing office areas, so work there, such as painting, electrical and the lobby carpet, was scheduled for weekends or before 8am.

Why do hospitality, gym and retail fit-outs cost more?

Their costs are driven by systems, not finishes. In a restaurant or bar, the kitchen, exhaust, drainage, grease waste, fire services and acoustics all have to work together and pass inspection before you can trade. At The Observer we fitted kitchen fire suppression and a fire-separated cellar. In a gym, floors, sound and change rooms matter most, and the change rooms take a big share of the budget.

We haven't found a reliable published Sydney rate per square metre for restaurants, bars or gyms, so we price them from the scope. Our recent hospitality and gym work includes Cucinetta in Woolwich, Blackwattle Bar + Brewery in Alexandria and Monday Club in Balmain. At Bucketty's Brewing Co. in Brookvale, which we designed and constructed, the brief was to reuse, recycle and repurpose, so the fit-out was planned around salvaged materials from the start. There's more in restaurant and cafe fit-outs, pub, bar and hotel fit-outs and commercial gym fit-outs.

How do you keep a fit-out on budget?

• Get a builder to walk the site before you sign the lease, or before the design is final.
• Confirm the approval pathway and what the building provides.
• Ask for a quote that lists inclusions and exclusions line by line.
• Order long-lead items early.
• Keep one person accountable. On our jobs, one person from Laidre runs your site and keeps you up to date.

Our guide to commercial fit-outs in Sydney goes through the steps before work starts, and planning works in an occupied building covers staying open while we build.

Get a number for your space

Published rates give you a starting point. A site walk gives you a real number. Send us the floor area, the plans and your timing, and talk to Dylan, Matt or Neil about a budget for your fit-out. You can also see our commercial and hospitality work.

Cost figures are from published 2026 guides and are indicative only. They're not a quote. Rates change, and every building is different.