Brett Field
Having a tradie install a flat pack kitchen costs about $2,800 on average, according to Yellow Pages (May 2026). Add about $1,600 if you need plumbing and electrical work, which brings the total to about $4,500 to $5,000.
Below are install prices per kitchen, per metre and per hour, what an installer's price covers, the extra trades, how IKEA's installer referral works and the Queensland rules. Cabinet prices are in our guide to kitchen cabinet costs, so this post is only about putting them in. These are market prices from cost guides, checked on 19 October 2026. They are not a quote from us.
How much does it cost to install a flat pack kitchen in 2026?
Most guides put the installer's labour at about $1,800 to $5,000 for a whole kitchen. Here is what each one says.
| Source | What it prices | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Yellow Pages (May 2026) | Flat pack kitchen install, average | About $2,800, plus about $1,600 for plumbing and electrical |
| KitchenQuote (2026) | Cabinet installation, whole kitchen | $1,800-$4,500 |
| Airtasker (August 2026) | Independent installer, average-sized kitchen | $2,000-$5,000 |
| Airtasker (August 2026) | Gold Coast, labour for a plumber, electrician, carpenter and painter over a 2-4 week install | $7,470-$14,940 |
KitchenQuote says its range depends on the size of the kitchen, how complex it is and whether the benchtop install is included. The Airtasker Gold Coast line is much higher because it counts four trades, not just the installer. We found no other install price for the Gold Coast.
How much does IKEA kitchen installation cost?
About $1,200 on average for professional installation, according to Yellow Pages. Airtasker prices the labour by kitchen size.
| Kitchen size (Airtasker, August 2026) | Labour to install an IKEA kitchen |
|---|---|
| Small (under 10 m2) | $1,100-$2,500 |
| Medium (10-20 m2) | $2,500-$4,500 |
| Large (20 m2 and up) | $3,500-$7,000 |
An IKEA kitchen is a flat pack kitchen, so the other prices in this post apply to it too. IKEA's own installation pages show no install price.
Does IKEA install kitchens in Australia?
No. IKEA Australia's installation page says plainly: "IKEA doesn't provide this service." Instead, it sends you to hipages, where you can ask for up to three quotes from local installers.
This is how IKEA's kitchen installation referral page says it works:
- Measure, plan and buy your IKEA kitchen first. IKEA offers a measuring service and a planning service.
- Fill in the form on hipages and attach your 3D plan from the IKEA kitchen planner.
- Get up to three quotes. The referral does not cover South Australia.
- Get the room ready yourself. IKEA says to clear it out, do any patching, painting or floor work, set up a temporary kitchen and put all the boxes in the room.
IKEA also says that, depending on your state or territory, the install may need a licensed professional. If you want to do it yourself, it has a METOD installation guide and a step-by-step video.
How much do installers charge per cabinet, metre or hour?
About $100 to $200 per lineal metre of cabinets for the labour, or $80 to $150 per cabinet. A lineal metre is one metre of cabinets measured along the wall.
| Rate | Cost | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Flat pack labour, per lineal metre | $100-$200 | Sparky (Brisbane page, September 2026) |
| Cabinet assembly, per cabinet | $80-$150 | Airtasker (August 2026) |
| Kitchen installer, per hour | $70-$130 | Airtasker (August 2026) |
| Carpenter, per hour | $40-$120 | hipages (January 2026) |
| Plumber, per hour | $80-$200 | hipages (January 2026) |
| Electrician, per hour | $80-$100 | hipages (January 2026) |
Ask whether a per-metre price covers the base cabinets only or the wall cabinets too. An hourly rate is hard to compare, because nobody knows the hours until the job is done.
What does a flat pack installer's price include?
Usually the cabinets put together, levelled and fixed in place, and not much more. Sparky says installation labour covers fitting the cabinets, levelling them and scribing them to the walls. Scribing means trimming panels to fit walls that are not straight. KitchenQuote says a cabinet quote often adds the kickboards, and sometimes the visit to measure for the benchtop.
Both guides say plumbing and electrical work are usually quoted separately. KitchenQuote also leaves out tiling, painting, rangehood ducting and putting in the appliances. Sparky's Brisbane guide lists removing the old kitchen as outside the usual price too.
The benchtop is the grey area. It often needs cut-outs for the sink and cooktop, and a join where two lengths meet. What's The Damage says a benchtop's price depends on its size, edge and cut-outs. We could not find a 2026 price for cutting and joining one on its own, so ask each installer to list it. Our guide to benchtop replacement costs has prices by material.
What costs extra when you install a flat pack kitchen?
The trades and the jobs around the cabinets can cost as much as the install. Here are the main extras, with Gold Coast figures where a guide has them.
| Extra | Cost | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Removing the old kitchen and the rubbish | $980-$3,925, typically $1,950 | What's The Damage (Gold Coast page, October 2026) |
| Plumbing connections | $400-$1,200 | Sparky (Brisbane page, September 2026) |
| Plumbing to reconnect or move the sink and dishwasher | $800-$2,500 | KitchenQuote (2026) |
| Electrical work | $300-$1,400 | Sparky (Brisbane page, September 2026) |
| Electrical, including new circuits and the oven connection | $1,200-$3,500 | KitchenQuote (2026) |
| Tiled splashback | $390-$2,450 | What's The Damage (Gold Coast page, October 2026) |
| Glass splashback | $785-$1,775 | What's The Damage (Gold Coast page, October 2026) |
| Plasterboard wall repairs, per m2 | $30-$90 | Airtasker (August 2026) |
The cheapest kitchen to install keeps the sink, dishwasher and oven where they are now. What's The Damage says moving them adds a new plumbing rough-in ($1,475-$4,900) and new wiring ($1,475-$3,925) on the Gold Coast. For the cost of a whole kitchen, see our Gold Coast kitchen renovation cost guide.
Should I install a flat pack kitchen myself?
Doing it yourself saves the installer's fee, which is roughly $1,100 to $5,000 on the figures above. You still have to pay a licensed plumber and electrician, so DIY never takes the trades off the bill.
Here is what you take on:
- Time. Sparky says a full kitchen takes 2 to 5 days to fit, for the cabinets alone. The benchtop and the trades come on top of that, and you have no working kitchen while it goes in. Our guide to how long a kitchen renovation takes has the full timeline.
- Walls and floors that are out. Yellow Pages says to check the corners with a set square. If a gap is bigger than 6 mm, you may need a professional installer. It also says to check the floor with a spirit level and mark the high and low spots.
- Running the trades. KitchenQuote says the trades must come in order: plumbing and wiring rough-in, then cabinets, benchtop, tiling, and the final connections last. Managing it yourself "requires time and risk tolerance", it says.
One rule helps a DIYer in Queensland. The Electrical Safety Office says fitting an electric wall oven into a cabinet is not electrical work, as long as you do not connect it. A licensed electrician makes the connection.
What are the rules for installing a kitchen in Queensland?
Four rules matter: who needs a licence, who does the plumbing, who does the wiring and how big the deposit can be.
- Licence over $3,300. A contractor needs a QBCC licence for building work valued over $3,300. The QBCC counts labour, materials and GST in that value.
- Plumbing at any value. Plumbing, drainage and gas fitting need a QBCC licence whatever the job costs. Sparky's guide says the sink and dishwasher connections must be done by a licensed plumber.
- Wiring by a licensed electrician. The Electrical Safety Office says DIY electrical work is illegal, with fines of up to $40,000 for an individual. Appliances that need to be hard-wired must be connected by a licensed electrician. Your insurer may refuse a fire claim if illegal electrical work caused the fire.
- Deposit limits. Under the QBCC deposit rules, the most a contractor can ask for is 20% on jobs of $3,300 or less, 10% on jobs of $3,301 to $19,999 and 5% above that. Up to 20% is allowed only when made-to-measure work done off site, such as kitchen cabinetry, is more than half the contract price.
The QBCC also says to agree to a fixed-price contract, not a cost-plus one, so you stay fully covered by the Queensland Home Warranty Scheme.
How do I compare flat pack installation quotes?
Ask each installer to price the same list, in writing:
- how many cabinets or lineal metres, and who puts the boxes together
- removing the old kitchen and the rubbish
- cutting, joining and fitting the benchtop
- who books and pays the plumber and electrician
- the splashback and any wall repairs
- a QBCC licence number if the job is over $3,300
- a fixed price, with a deposit inside the QBCC limits
We install flat pack kitchens across the Gold Coast. We book the licensed trades and give you a timeline with the proposal. See our kitchen renovations page for the kitchens we have done.
Where do these prices come from?
Checked on 19 October 2026: Yellow Pages (flat pack kitchen cost, last updated May 2026), KitchenQuote (kitchen installation cost, 2026), Airtasker (IKEA kitchen cost, last updated 25 August 2026), Sparky (kitchen cabinetry, Brisbane page, September 2026, and Australia page, 2026), hipages (IKEA kitchen installation cost, updated 27 January 2026) and What's The Damage (kitchen renovation cost, Gold Coast page, October 2026). IKEA Australia's installation referral pages show no date. We left out CHOICE's installer prices because its flat pack kitchen article was last updated in September 2024. Rules from the QBCC (when you need a licence, reviewed August 2021; the role of the QBCC and deposits, both reviewed June 2025) and the Electrical Safety Office. We will check the prices again every three months.
See our kitchen renovations work, or check what your job will cost.
