Renovation cost calculator for a flat in Tbilisi or Batumi

What this calculator estimates

Many new flats in Tbilisi and Batumi are sold in black, white or green frame, so the contract price is not what it costs to move in or let the flat. This calculator budgets the gap: works and finishing materials, kitchen, bathrooms, doors, appliances, air conditioning, design, unpaid connections and a reserve. It also covers an older flat that needs a full renovation.

Every rate is a price advertised by a renovation firm, guide or shop, or a published tariff. Advertised prices differ widely and none is a market average, so each line has a low and a high figure, and the result is a range with its middle. A written quote from a contractor who has seen the flat beats any estimate.

What each field means

City

The rates are the same for Tbilisi and Batumi: the Batumi tariffs we found sit inside the Tbilisi ranges. The city changes only the electricity note: the default electricity fee is Energo-Pro's, and the Tbilisi fee is not confirmed.

Flat size, m²

The area to finish, from the contract or the registry extract.

Starting condition

No law defines black, white or green frame, and each developer sets its own content, so read the specification attached to your contract. Roughly, a black frame has outer walls and little else, a white frame adds plaster, screed and utility lines, and a green frame leaves mainly the final finishes. Old flat, full renovation means every finish, wire and pipe is replaced.

Finish level

Economy suits a flat for letting; standard is a mid-range finish to live in; premium uses better materials. We have no default rate above GEL 2,300 per m² (one firm advertises luxury from GEL 2,800); price such a job from a designer's specification.

Kitchen, bathrooms, doors, air conditioners

Kitchen units are for about 2.4 m of cabinets, made and fitted; the maker we used prices worktops and built-in appliances separately. The base rate already covers one bathroom, so each further bathroom adds its own budget. The door price follows the finish level. Air conditioners are budget inverter units plus fitting.

Appliances and furniture

The budget set is a fridge, washing machine, hob, oven, microwave and hood at low shop prices. The letting packages come from our guide to furnishing a flat for rent and already include appliances and one air conditioner. Add anything better under other appliances or furniture.

Demolition

For an old flat only, and your own figure: no firm publishes a per-m² price for stripping a flat. One Tbilisi contractor lists wall demolition at GEL 50 per m² of wall; a 2026 guide quotes GEL 150-300 per debris trip.

Contingency

A reserve for hidden defects and changes, as a share of everything else. Contractor guides suggest 10-15%; the range is theirs, not ours.

Connections, inspection, VAT

Tick gas or electricity only if the flat is not yet connected and the fee is yours; check whether your developer contract covers it. For electricity, enter the fee you are quoted. VAT, if ticked, is added to contractor lines only, because shop prices and tariffs already include it; no advertised renovation price we found says whether it includes VAT.

Currency

The calculator works in lari and converts at 2.624 lari per dollar, the National Bank of Georgia rate for 5 August 2026. Enter the rate on your payment date.

Assumptions

Values are advertised prices or tariffs, checked on 3 November 2026 unless dated otherwise; numbers in the last column refer to the sources at the end. Dollar prices are converted at 2.624.

How the estimate is calculated

The calculator builds a low budget from the bottom of every range and a high budget from the top. Each starts with the flat size times the base rate for the finish level, plus or minus the per-m² adjustment for the starting condition. It then adds extra bathrooms, doors, kitchen, appliances and furniture, air conditioners, design (per m²), ticked connection fees, your demolition figure, and cleaning and inspection (per m²). If VAT is ticked, 18% goes on the works, adjustment, bathrooms, kitchen, design, demolition, cleaning and inspection. The contingency is the chosen percentage of that subtotal; the middle figure is the average of the two totals. A 10% reserve on the subtotal is 9.1% of the total.

We did not use the lowest starting prices of some contractors for the base rate, because one says they exclude finishing materials and others do not say what they include.

In the default case, the works cost GEL 32,500 to GEL 55,000. Doors add GEL 2,944, the kitchen GEL 2,500 to GEL 4,000, appliances GEL 1,861, the air conditioner about GEL 1,200 and cleaning GEL 750, a subtotal of GEL 41,747 to GEL 65,767. With 10% the total is GEL 45,922 to GEL 72,344, about USD 17,501 to USD 27,570. The other two cases use invented inputs, not real quotes; in the Batumi case the premium range alone spans GEL 84,000 to GEL 184,000 for the works.

How to read the result

Treat the low estimate as a floor: it assumes the cheapest rate on every line and no surprises beyond your reserve. Budget near the middle, and nearer the high end for a premium finish or an old flat, where one crew's blog says demolition and new utilities can double the labour cost. The breakdown shows that the works line dominates, so finish level and size move the total most.

Use the result to compare frames before you buy. In the third quarter of 2026, Tbilisi new-build flats were offered at a median of GEL 3,287 per m² in black frame, GEL 3,752 in white and GEL 4,493 in green, so green was offered at about GEL 741 per m² more than white, while the advertised renovation saving from green is only GEL 30-75. Our comparison of white frame, green frame and turnkey for letting works through that choice, and the guide to the three frames explains the labels. For letting, carry the total into the rental yield calculator; for monthly costs, see the cost of living calculator.

Then get itemised written quotes that state the materials, VAT, duration and what happens if hidden defects appear. One crew's blog advises paying no more than 30% in advance. To hand the job over, see our renovation and furniture service.

Permits, VAT and connections: what is not costed

• Permits. In the current text of the 2019 permit resolution (No 255, consolidated 16 February 2026), Article 4(4) lets owners repair and finish a flat, move partitions other than fire-separating walls and repair its own networks with neither a permit nor a building notice. Changing load-bearing structures, the look of the facade or the building's networks is reconstruction (Article 4(3)) and may need a building notice or a permit, a project and the owners' association; making a new opening or installing an air conditioner and ventilation pipe is listed in Class I (Annex 1). Permits are not costed.
• VAT. 18%; a business must register once its taxable supplies pass GEL 100,000 in 12 months, so small crews often do not charge it. No advertised renovation price we found says whether VAT is included.
• Gas. Since 1 July 2026, GEL 1,100 with VAT in Tbilisi, Batumi and other self-governing cities, up to 60 working days, payable over 17 months; the network inside the flat is yours.
• Electricity. Energo-Pro Georgia's live tariff page shows GEL 1,600 with VAT for 220 V up to 10 kW and GEL 2,500 for 380 V; the page is not dated. A different company serves Tbilisi, and its fee is not confirmed, so the calculator lets you enter the fee.
• Noise. The night rule runs from 23:00 to 08:00 and leaves daytime repairs out.
• Developer finish. If the developer finishes the flat for you, see the turnkey renovation entry.