What you need
- A studio account with Smart Planning switched on (it is in preview, and sign-up opens soon).
- A computer or a tablet: phones show the estimate but can’t design.
- The room drawn in Smart Planning, with its walls.
- Your own rates, if you have them: Settings › Rates & estimates › False ceilings, and Ceiling lights and fittings. Until you change them, the app uses its default rates.
Steps in the app
- Open the plan in Smart Planning and pick the Ceiling tab.
- Click the room, pick a design in the library on the left (Samples or My designs) and press Apply. The room panel also suggests one.
- Change what you need: the levels, the edge (Cove with LED, Moulding, Shadow groove, Louvers / flutes), the finish (POP, Gypsum board, Wood, Glass, Mirror, PVC, Metal, Acrylic or a material from the catalogue) and the lights and fittings.
- Open the Estimate tab on the right, or the Ceilings · ₹ chip at the bottom right of the plan.
- Read the rough total and the price per sq ft, then every line and the To buy (rough) list. Press Excel to download it.
How the calculation works
Board: every face you see from below is measured in sq ft: the base along the walls, each level, the sides of each step and both faces of a cove’s lip. Each is priced at its finish’s rate, which includes the GI frame. The edges of glass, mirror and catalogue panels are priced as gypsum.
Coves, mouldings and shadow grooves are priced by the running foot along their edges, louvers by the sq ft they cover, the LED strip by the metre inside each cove, and each light, fan point, AC grille and access panel by the piece.
Labour is the board area (with any louvers) times the labour rate per sq ft. GST is added only if you set it, on the floor’s or the building’s subtotal.
The To buy list is not priced, because the board rate already includes the frame: gypsum sheets of 6 × 4 ft with 10% wastage, POP bags at 20 sq ft a 25 kg bag, GI channels and sections in 12 ft lengths, and screws.
The default rates: POP ₹55 and gypsum board ₹65 per sq ft, cove ₹60 and moulding ₹45 per running ft, LED strip ₹120 a metre, labour ₹25 per sq ft, and ₹450 for a fan point or a downlight.
Worked example
A 16 × 12 ft room (192 sq ft inside the walls). POP along the walls, and a gypsum board recess 2 ft in from every wall, 6 in higher (LVL +6 in), with a warm LED cove. One fan point and four downlights.
| Gypsum board: 131.6 sq ft × ₹65 | ₹8,556 |
|---|---|
| POP: 108.9 sq ft × ₹55 | ₹5,989 |
| Cove: 40 running ft × ₹60 | ₹2,400 |
| LED strip: 11.9 m × ₹120 | ₹1,426 |
| Fan point: 1 × ₹450 | ₹450 |
| Downlights: 4 × ₹450 | ₹1,800 |
| Labour: 240.5 sq ft × ₹25 | ₹6,013 |
| Ceilings, rough total | ₹26,635 |
| Per sq ft of ceiling (192 sq ft) | ₹139 |
| Gypsum boards | 7 sheets of 6 × 4 ft (with 10% wastage) |
|---|---|
| POP | 6 bags of 25 kg |
| GI channels and sections | 323.8 running ft (27 lengths of 12 ft) |
| Screws | 369 |
| LED strip | 11.9 m |
Common mistakes
- Counting only the flat area: the sides of each level and the cove’s lip are board too, and the estimate counts them.
- Forgetting the lights: the fan point, downlights and LED strip add up quickly.
- Using rates from another city: set yours in Settings › Rates & estimates before you share a figure.
- Reading the To buy list as exact: it uses thumb rules (sections every 18 in, channels every 4 ft, an angle along each step).
- Treating it as a quotation: it is a rough estimate from the drawing and your rates.
Questions
Is the price per sq ft for the room or the ceiling?
For the room’s area inside its walls: ₹139 per sq ft for the 192 sq ft room in the example.
Is GST included?
Only if you set a GST % in Settings › Rates & estimates. It is added to the floor’s or the building’s subtotal, not to each room.
Can my client see the cost?
Only if you turn on Show prices on the client tab when you share the link. The site team’s page and PDF never show prices.
Can I use my own designs?
Yes. Save a design to My designs and apply it to any room; the estimate follows the design.