Grey structure vs turnkey
"Grey structure" means walls and roof with no finishing — no plaster, tiling, paint, doors, electrical fittings, or sanitary ware. "Turnkey" means move-in ready. The gap between them is mostly finishing cost, and it's larger than most first-time builders expect.
Why some owners choose grey structure and finish later
Building grey structure first and finishing in stages spreads the cash outlay over time and lets the owner choose finishing materials directly instead of through a contractor's package — but it usually costs more in total than a single turnkey contract, since staged work loses bulk-purchase and continuity efficiencies. Starting from grey structure (walls, roof, no finishing) at Rs 3,000/sq ft (mid estimate), moving to even the economy turnkey tier roughly doubles the total per-square-foot cost once finishing is added.
Wide low/mid/high bands reflect genuine real-world variation by city, contractor, and material choice — not measurement imprecision. Run your own covered area and tier through the Construction Cost Calculator for a full estimate, and the material quantity calculators for bricks, cement, steel, tiles, and paint needed at each stage.
Source: Cross-referenced Pakistani construction-cost guides (Glorious Builders, HA Design Studio, Shelters Engineering, The Family Builders, SQFT Construction), July 2026. Full versioned table on the rates reference page.