The short version
Pay against work you can see, not against dates on a calendar. The turnkey schedule we use: 10% once you are onboarded and the quote is mutually agreed, 50% when site marking is complete and the execution teams are deployed, 35% when carcass — structure — work is finished, the walkthrough is done and the external finishes are selected and agreed, and 5% at handover once the snag list has been worked through. Budget separately for the society NOC, the refundable damage deposit, GST if the quote is pre-tax, and anything on the exclusions list. Refuse three things: materials left to the contractor’s discretion, open-ended “at actuals” with no approval gate, and a large advance with no written statement of what you receive if the project stops. As a rule of thumb, be cautious of any studio asking for more than 25–30% of the total before you have seen a single layout or drawing.
The week before you sign is the week you are least protected. You have three quotes open. One studio wants a token cheque by Friday. The contract is fourteen pages, and the payment terms sit on page eleven in a font size nobody chose for reading.
Most homeowners compare the total and skip the schedule. That is a mistake, because the schedule decides how much of your money is at risk at any point in the project. Two contracts with the same total can leave you exposed by very different amounts in week three.
This guide covers what a fair schedule looks like and why each percentage sits where it does. It also covers two costs that nobody budgets for — the society NOC and the damage deposit — the exclusions list that turns a ₹25 lakh quote into a ₹28 lakh spend, and the clauses we would refuse to sign.
Why the schedule matters more than the total
A quote tells you what you will pay. The payment schedule tells you when, and, more importantly, what you will have received by then.
Interior work is unusual because you pay for things that do not yet exist. Carcasses are cut at site or in a factory, stone is cut to size, hardware is ordered against your kitchen layout. Nothing is finished, and yet money has moved. A good schedule matches each payment to a moment when something real has happened. A poor one matches payments to dates, or to the studio’s cash-flow needs.
Every payment should be verifiable by a site photograph, an order confirmation or a walkthrough — not by a date on the calendar. If a stage cannot be checked, it is not a stage. It is a due date wearing a stage’s name.
The stages, and why each percentage sits where it does
Here is the schedule we use on turnkey projects, with the reasoning behind each line. How the work itself runs alongside these payments is set out in our process.
| Stage | Trigger | Share | What you should see before you pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| Token | Onboarding complete, quote mutually agreed | 10% | A comprehensive quote or contract, with the scope, BOQ and exclusions attached |
| Material procurement | Site marking complete; execution teams deployed | 50% | Photographs of the marking on your own walls and floors, the deployment schedule naming the carpentry, electrical and POP teams, and the raw material order confirmed in line with the package you opted for |
| Hardware and paint | Carcass and structure complete; walkthrough done; external finishes selected and agreed | 35% | A recorded walkthrough of the completed carcass work with you, and your sign-off on the external finish selections |
| Handover | Snagging worked through | 5% | A snag list worked through with the team, with everything addressed before you move in |
| Total | — | 100% | — |
A note on snagging, and the two weeks after you move in
Some faults only appear once a home is lived in. A drawer that catches when the season turns. A socket that is in the wrong place for how the room is actually used. A door that moves slightly with the humidity. No handover walkthrough finds these, because they need somebody cooking, sleeping and moving through the space to surface them.
So handover is not where the snag list ends. We work through everything visible before you move in, and then come back after about two weeks of living to pick up whatever the first fortnight has revealed. It costs us a return visit, and it is the difference between a home that was finished and a home that works.
Worth asking any studio: what happens to a snag you find in your third week? If the answer is vague, the schedule ends at handover and so does their interest.
Why is half the money due before the home is finished?
The 50% is large because procurement is where most of the cost is incurred. Made-to-order kitchen and wardrobe carcasses, shutter finishes, stone and imported hardware are paid for upfront, and once cut to your dimensions they cannot be sold on to anybody else. The kitchen is usually the largest single order of the lot — what a modular kitchen costs in Pune shows what sits inside that number.
What makes the 50% fair is what it is tied to. It is released against things happening in your own flat that you can stand in and photograph: the marking set out on your walls and floors, and the carpentry, electrical and POP teams physically deployed. It comes with the order list and the specifications you approved.
What it is never tied to is a date. If a studio asks for half the money and cannot show you activity in your home and a list of what is being ordered against your drawings, you have not been given a stage. You have been given a date.
A worked example: a ₹25 lakh turnkey project
₹25 lakh is roughly a full-scope 3BHK in Pune. If your own figure is different, the percentages do not change — only the amounts do. Our 3BHK interior cost guide breaks that total down room by room from a completed project.
| Stage | Share | Amount | Paid so far |
|---|---|---|---|
| Token | 10% | ₹2.50 L | ₹2.50 L |
| Material procurement | 50% | ₹12.50 L | ₹15.00 L |
| Hardware and paint | 35% | ₹8.75 L | ₹23.75 L |
| Handover | 5% | ₹1.25 L | ₹25.00 L |
Look at the last row. At handover you are still holding ₹1.25 lakh. That is the leverage that gets a snag list closed in days and not weeks — the single most useful line in the schedule.
Five schedules that should make you slow down
| What the schedule says | Why it is a problem | What to ask for instead |
|---|---|---|
| 50–60% before any design sign-off or site activity | You have paid the majority when the studio has nothing to lose by delay | A token of about 10% at signing, with the larger payment tied to visible activity in your home |
| Instalments by date (“30% on the 15th”) | Payments continue whether or not work is on time | Stage-based payments, each tied to a described, checkable trigger |
| Nothing held back at handover | No leverage during snagging | A retention of about 5% released when the snag list is closed |
| Cash, no GST invoice | No paper trail for a dispute or warranty claim | Bank transfer or cheque against a GST invoice for every stage |
| No stated position on what happens if the project stops | If either side ends it early, nothing in writing says what you have bought | A clause stating what scope each phase payment covers, and that the paid phase is completed |
Design-only and supervision fees
If you hire a studio for design only, or for design plus supervision, the money moves differently. The design fee is usually paid in parts against deliverables: the concept, the working drawings, the final package. A supervision fee is usually billed as the project progresses, so it tracks the site rather than the calendar. The same test applies to both — each payment should be tied to something you can point to. For how these fees are set in Pune, see interior designer charges in Pune, and for which engagement suits you, turnkey vs design-only.
The costs nobody budgets for: society NOC and damage deposit
If you live in a Pune apartment society, the studio cannot start until the society allows it. This creates two costs, and one delay, that rarely appear in a quote.
| Item | What it is | Who pays | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Society NOC | Written approval from the society for interior work | You | Before work starts |
| Damage / security deposit | Held against damage to common areas: lifts, staircases, corridors, walls | You | Before work starts. Usually refundable |
| Work-hour & access rules | Timings, labour ID passes, material-lift booking, common-area protection | You, in time and sometimes fees | Throughout |
Amounts and rules vary a great deal between societies. What to do about it:
- Ask the society office for the renovation rules in writing before you sign with anyone.
- Put the NOC and the deposit in your own budget, outside the studio’s quote.
- Ask when the NOC will be issued — it can take days, and your start date depends on it.
- Check who is responsible if the deposit is deducted for damage. The contract should say.
If you are moving into a new flat, this interacts with possession and the builder’s snagging — our interior design checklist covers what to settle before work begins, and the week-by-week timeline shows where the NOC sits in the schedule.
What turns a ₹25 lakh quote into a ₹28 lakh spend?
The exclusions list. It is the part of the quote that says what is not included, and every studio has one. The problem is when it is short, vague or missing, because the things left off tend to arrive later as “additional work”.
| Often excluded | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| GST | Can add a meaningful percentage if the quote is pre-tax |
| Civil work | The largest source of surprise costs |
| Electrical points & light fittings | The count is often an assumption in the quote |
| Appliances | Hob, chimney, oven, geyser — sometimes included, often not |
| Loose furniture, curtains, décor | Frequently shown in renders and priced separately |
| Society charges | NOC, deposit, lift booking, as above |
| Changes after sign-off | Should have a written process and a price |
Ask for the exclusions list in writing before you compare two quotes. It tells you more than the inclusions do. A quote that looks cheap usually has a longer one — we take that apart in why cheap interior quotes are expensive.
One that is often excluded and shouldn’t be: debris removal and post-work cleaning sit inside our scope, not as a line that appears afterwards. Check where they sit in any quote you are comparing — a finished home you have to clean yourself is not a finished home.
Three clauses to refuse
1. Materials left to the contractor’s discretion
What it looks like: “Century plywood or equivalent.” “Marble as per availability.”
Why we would refuse it: it lets the material you approved be swapped for something cheaper, with no approval from you and no adjustment to the price.
What we do instead: our BOQ names the brand, grade and thickness for every major material, and our packages set out the plywood grade, laminate and hardware each one carries. There is no “or equivalent” clause in our contracts. If a named material genuinely becomes unavailable, we come to you in writing with the alternative before anything is ordered, and any saving is credited back to you.
2. “Additional work at actuals” — when it is open-ended
What it looks like: “Any work not included in this BOQ will be charged at actuals.” A blanket sentence, covering anything, approved by nobody.
The distinction that matters: some costs genuinely cannot be fixed at quote stage. Civil work behind a wall nobody has opened. A natural stone slab whose rate moves between quotation and purchase. Pretending otherwise would be dishonest, and any studio that has done a renovation knows it.
The problem is not that a cost is variable. It is that a variable cost was never named, and then appears with no approval step.
What we do instead: where a cost genuinely cannot be fixed, we name that item on the exclusions list at quotation stage and give you an indicative range for it. Nothing is then executed without a written change order stating the reason, the cost and the effect on the timeline, signed by you before the work is done.
So the clause to refuse is not “at actuals”. It is open-ended at actuals — unnamed in advance, and ungated by your approval.
3. A large advance with no written statement of what it buys
What it looks like: a substantial payment taken early, described only as an advance, with nothing in the contract about what you receive for it if the project stops.
Why we would refuse it: not because money should be returnable on demand, but because you should know exactly what each payment entitles you to before you make it.
What we do instead: our payments are staged by phase, and each phase payment buys a defined scope of work. If either side ends the project, the phase you have paid for is completed as agreed between us, and nothing further is billed. You are never in a position where a payment sits against nothing, because a payment is only ever taken against a phase we then deliver.
Ask any studio to put the same thing in writing: what does this payment entitle me to, and what happens to that entitlement if we stop?
What happens if the delay is at your end
A schedule protects both sides, and it should say what happens when the hold-up is not the studio’s.
Most interior projects that run late do so because a decision was late, not because a team was slow. A shutter colour, a hardware finish, a stone selection — each one sits on the critical path, and once a carpentry team is deployed to your flat, waiting is expensive for everybody.
What a fair contract does is name the decisions in advance. At the start of the project we set out which selections are needed and by when. If a decision runs materially late, the timeline moves by the same amount, and any consequence is stated upfront rather than invented afterwards.
It is far easier to hold both sides to a date that was agreed than to argue about one that never was.
Questions worth asking before you sign
- Which event triggers each payment, and how will I be able to check that it has happened?
- What is the total, in writing, including GST?
- What is on the exclusions list?
- Are the brand, grade and thickness named for every major material — with no “or equivalent”?
- Which costs cannot be fixed at this stage, and how will they be approved?
- How much is held back until snagging is closed?
- What does each phase payment entitle me to, and what happens to that if either of us stops?
- Which decisions do you need from me, and by when?
Where we sit
We are a Pune and Mumbai design studio working on complete homes, sample flats and sales offices for developers, and commercial fit-outs. Most of what we do is turnkey, with design and execution under one roof — which is why the schedule above has four stages and not eight. On every project the payment schedule, the BOQ with named brands, and the exclusions list go into the contract before a token is paid. Divya reviews every project personally, and you can see completed homes across the city or how we compare with other interior designers in Pune.
This is general guidance and not legal advice. For a large project, have a lawyer read the contract.
Common questions
What is a fair payment schedule for interior work in Pune?
A fair schedule ties each payment to a stage you can verify: a token once you are onboarded and the quote is mutually agreed, the largest share when site marking is complete and the execution teams are deployed, a further share when carcass work is finished, walked through with you and the external finishes agreed, and a small retention released at handover once the snag list has been worked through. For turnkey work, ours is 10%, 50%, 35% and 5%.
How much advance should I pay an interior designer?
Keep the first payment small, about 10% for a turnkey project, and tie it to a comprehensive contract with the scope, BOQ and exclusions attached. The larger payment should come when there is visible activity in your home and a list of what is being ordered against your drawings.
Should I pay 50% before work starts?
Only if it is tied to something you can see. Made-to-order carcasses, stone and hardware are paid for upfront by the studio, so a large stage at procurement is normal. The same 50% asked for on a calendar date, with nothing marked out in your flat and nobody deployed, is not.
What happens to my money if the project stops midway?
Ask for this in writing before you sign. Our payments are staged by phase, and each phase payment buys a defined scope of work. If either side ends the project, the phase you have paid for is completed as agreed between us, and nothing further is billed. You should never be in a position where a payment sits against nothing.
Why does another studio’s quote show a separate “design approval” payment when yours doesn’t?
It depends on the engagement. Studios that charge for design and execution as separate services usually split the schedule into more stages, with one payment specifically for signing off the drawings before manufacturing starts. Ours is a turnkey engagement, so that step sits inside the 10% token — you see and approve the design as part of the same agreement that starts the project. Neither structure is wrong. What matters is that each stage, however many there are, is tied to something you can verify.
When should the final payment be made?
After the handover walk-through, once the snag list has been worked through and everything addressed before you move in. We hold 5% until that point, because it keeps snagging fast. Anything the first two weeks of living reveals is picked up on a return visit afterwards.
What happens if I find a problem after moving in?
Some faults only appear once a home is lived in — a drawer that catches when the season turns, a socket in the wrong place for how the room is actually used. We work through everything visible before you move in, then return after about two weeks of living to pick up whatever the first fortnight has revealed.
What is a society NOC for interior work?
It is written permission from your housing society to carry out interior work in your flat. Most Pune societies require it before work begins, together with a deposit and rules on working hours and material access.
Is the society damage deposit refundable?
It is usually refundable, after the society inspects the common areas at the end of the work and finds no damage. Rules and amounts vary by society, so confirm them at the office.
What is usually excluded from an interior quote?
Commonly excluded items include GST, civil and plumbing changes, extra electrical points, light fittings, appliances, loose furniture and décor, society charges, and changes after sign-off. Debris removal and post-work cleaning sit inside our scope, but they are often excluded elsewhere — worth checking in any quote you compare.
Can I pay an interior designer in cash?
We advise against it. Pay by bank transfer or cheque against a GST invoice for each stage — that gives you a record if there is a dispute and evidence for any warranty claim.
