A price per square metre can help you begin planning a medical clinic. It cannot tell you everything that will be included when the doors open. Before using a rate to judge a tenancy, set a budget or compare builders, it helps to understand the work sitting behind the number.
For standard medical fitouts, SoulMED’s indicative planning guidance for 2026 is approximately $1,850-$3,500 per square metre. These are starting points for a scoped conversation, not a fixed price for every clinic. Specialist facilities, including radiology practices, can exceed the standard range.
Our Medical Fitout Cost Guide is the companion resource for understanding the breakdown. Read it alongside your proposed rooms, equipment and site information. The useful question is not simply whether your project fits within a range, but what has been allowed for and what still needs to be established.
Read the rate together with its scope
A square-metre rate compresses many decisions into one figure. Two clinics with similar floor areas may have different room arrangements, different existing services and different levels of work required before construction can begin. A larger floor area does not automatically explain all of that variation.
Before multiplying a rate by the tenancy area, establish which area is being measured and which works the figure is intended to include. Confirm whether the amount includes design, approvals, loose furniture and equipment sit within it or elsewhere in the project budget. A number without that basis can easily be used for the wrong comparison.
The standard example total should be treated in the same way. It is an illustration of likely expenditure for an example scope, not an allowance that can be transferred unchanged to any property. Your own estimate needs to reflect the actual site and intended clinical use.
Understand the main parts of the work
Start with the work needed to define and document the clinic. Drawings and consultant input help turn an idea into something that can be coordinated and priced. Their scope depends on the project. Ask what documentation is included, which decisions remain open and what would trigger further work.
Building work then gives the clinic its physical arrangement. Depending on the existing premises, this may involve removing unwanted elements, forming rooms, changing openings and completing ceilings and surfaces. It should be clear whether the estimate assumes an empty tenancy, retained rooms or alterations around existing construction.
Joinery and finishes bring another set of choices. A reception counter, storage unit or consultation-room cabinet should be described well enough to understand what is being priced. The important comparison is the intended function and agreed detail, including durability and suitability for the planned use. A photograph alone does not define the work.
Services need their own attention. Power, plumbing, ventilation and data requirements are shaped by the proposed rooms and equipment as well as what is already available. An existing outlet or visible air-conditioning grille does not establish capacity or suitability. The relevant team needs to determine what can be retained and what must change.
Approvals and professional involvement also need a clear place in the cost plan. Ask which tasks are included, which are arranged separately and who is responsible for progressing them. The detail matters more than assuming that a general phrase such as “complete fitout” covers every possible cost.
These are useful categories for discussion, rather than fixed percentages to apply to every clinic. A responsible breakdown follows the project instead of forcing it into a preset allocation.
Look closely at the starting condition
An existing medical tenancy can appear to offer a head start. It may contain rooms, cabinetry and services that seem suitable. Before counting those features as savings, establish whether they support the proposed practice and what evidence is available about their condition.
An apparently simple reuse decision can affect other work. Keeping a cabinet may constrain where a room can be arranged. Retaining part of a ceiling may complicate access for changes above it. Removing an unwanted wall may reveal work that was not visible during the first inspection.
A bare tenancy presents a different starting point. It may offer more freedom in planning while requiring more new work. Neither situation should be judged by appearance alone. Record what is known, what has been inspected and what the estimate currently assumes. That record gives the next cost discussion something concrete to resolve.
Allow for the needs of specialist clinics
Radiology is a useful example of why a standard medical-fitout range has limits. Depending on the intended equipment and practice, specialist coordination and shielding can add requirements beyond an ordinary consulting environment.
Where radiation shielding is required, its design should follow the relevant assessment. Lead-lined walls may be part of a specified solution, but they are not a universal requirement for every room or every imaging service. The equipment, proposed use and surrounding spaces need to inform the assessment and construction scope.
A broad rate should therefore never be treated as confirmation that a tenancy is ready for a particular modality. Bring the proposed equipment information into the discussion early, and have the relevant specialists identify the work before relying on a budget. This protects the planning process from assumptions that become difficult to correct later.
Separate the fitout from the whole opening budget
The builder’s scope is one part of establishing a practice. Equipment purchased directly, loose furniture, technology subscriptions, relocation and other owner-managed items may sit outside it. Some may overlap with contractor work, so identify both the purchase and the installation responsibility.
Keep these items visible without counting them twice. If a cabinet is already included in the construction scope, do not add it again under a separate furnishings allowance. If an equipment supplier delivers a device but does not provide the building connection, make that boundary clear.
Your practice also needs a considered approach to uncertainty. Discuss unresolved site conditions and decisions before choosing a contingency allowance. A reserve should respond to the risks of the project, rather than disguise work that is already known to be missing.
Use the guide to start a specific conversation
A useful first step is to read SoulMED’s cost guide and mark the questions that apply to your proposed clinic. Bring the floor plan, site information and equipment intentions to the discussion. Ask which costs can be clarified now and what evidence is needed for the remainder.
That turns a broad range into a working plan. The aim is a clinic budget that reflects the space your patients and practitioners need, with enough clarity to make the next decision calmly.
