Apartment renovation costs in Chișinău (2026): labour prices per m² for each job

Looking for the cost of one specific job?

This guide covers the budget for the whole apartment. For individual jobs, use the detailed guides below, with price lists, calculations and questions to ask a tradesperson. Links become available as the series is published.

• Electrician costs in Chișinău and Moldova.
• Plumber costs in Chișinău and Moldova.
• Tile installation prices.
• Plastering, skim coating and painting prices.
• Drywall wall and ceiling costs.
• Floor screed and laminate installation prices.
• Demolition costs and what to ask about rubble removal.
• Post-renovation cleaning costs.

Apartment renovation cost per m²: cosmetic, standard (euro-renovation) and major

Companies and platforms in Chișinău split “turnkey” renovation into three levels, priced per m² of the apartment’s floor area. The difference lies in how deep the work goes: a cosmetic renovation keeps the old wiring and pipes, while a major renovation redoes almost everything.

Why such big differences? The remont.md average combines the prices of 15 tradespeople on the platform with a market review, while remont24.md and uniteh.md are renovation companies whose list prices are roughly two to three times higher (for uniteh.md, it is unclear whether materials are included). The budget benchmark sits between the two. As a rough guide, if you hire a company with a team, a contract and a detailed estimate, budget towards the top of the benchmark or above it. A self-employed tradesperson (meșter) may charge less than the benchmark: on remont.md, the averages are 1,150 MDL/m² for cosmetic, 1,564 for euro-renovation and 2,229 for major renovation.

Worked examples: 1-, 2- and 3-room apartments

We multiplied the floor area by the budget benchmark and added the 10–15% contingency that okeyimobil.md recommends as a minimum. The areas are examples: replace them with your own. In Moldova, apartments are described by their number of rooms (camere), not bedrooms; the kitchen, bathroom and hall are not counted, so the 2-room apartment in the painting example below has a living room and a bedroom.

In an older apartment, even 15% may not be enough: okeyimobil.md writes that in the old housing stock the final cost can exceed the initial estimate by up to 30–40%. To reduce surprises, ask for the hidden work to be listed explicitly in the estimate: demolition, debris removal, levelling, and the electrical and plumbing work, as reparatieapartament.md also recommends.

New build in variantă albă or an old block (series 143, 102, 135)

What variantă albă means. Variantă albă (literally “white version”) is, in the words of the developer A-CASA, “an intermediate stage at which a home in a new block is handed over”: walls plastered or ready for finishing, screed poured, electrical installations prepared according to the design, plumbing and heating installations completed up to the stage set in the technical documentation, and windows and the front door fitted. The same developer notes that the work included is not necessarily the same in every project, so ask for the exact list in the contract.

After handover come the finishes, and A-CASA also lists what may remain to be done: sockets, switches and light fittings, floor and wall tiles in the bathroom and kitchen, flooring, interior doors and bathroom fixtures. We do not give a price per m² for finishing a variantă albă apartment, because the sources disagree: remont.md shows an average of 895 MDL/m² (≈ €45), while remont24.md charges €175/m² (≈ 3,520 MDL) for labour alone, almost four times as much. With a gap that wide, the only reliable benchmark is an itemised estimate, checked against the tables below.

For the total budget, okeyimobil.md estimates that fully fitting out a variantă albă apartment can cost a further €15,000–40,000 (≈ 301,000–804,000 MDL) or even more, depending on the floor area and the level of finish; urbanism.md gives €15,000–30,000 (≈ 301,000–603,000 MDL) for complete finishing, depending on the quality of the materials.

Old blocks. For the older standard-design blocks, known by their series number (143, 102, 135 and others), we found no separate price lists. The company remont24.md does publish one example: the major renovation of a 72 m² apartment in a series 143 block (Decebal Street, completed in February 2025) cost, according to the company’s estimate, 373,382 MDL in labour (≈ 5,190 MDL/m²; ≈ €18,600 in total at today’s rate) and 88,902 MDL in basic materials (≈ €4,400). This is a single project, at one company’s prices, not an average.

The difference from a new block comes from the volume of work: in a resale apartment you also pay for demolition, debris removal, levelling and, if the wiring and pipes are old, replacing them. In the same company’s price list, renovating a resale apartment costs €240/m² (≈ 4,820 MDL) in labour, 37% more than for a variantă albă apartment.

Labour prices by job: tiling, plastering, drywall, flooring

Once you know which jobs you need, you can build the budget line by line: quantity × unit price. The prices below are for labour only, without materials.

Tiling cost per m² (floor and wall tiles)

Tile adhesive, grout and spacers are usually not included in the laying price, so ask beforehand (remont.md, June 2026). For tiling a whole bathroom, floor and walls, mesterulmeu.md gives 5,000–15,000 MDL (≈ €250–750) in labour, without materials. In a small bathroom the price per m² comes out higher than in the table, probably because of the cuts, corners and pipe boxing, which take time regardless of the area.

Plastering, skim coating and painting: cost per m²

What it costs to paint a 2-room apartment

Painting is priced per m² of wall, not of floor, so first work out the area: the room’s perimeter × the ceiling height, minus windows and doors. The ceiling has the same area as the floor. Here is the calculation for a sample 2-room apartment with 2.6 m ceilings.

From the 140.9 m² of walls, subtract the windows and door openings, ≈ 20 m² in this example (an interior doorway is subtracted twice, once for each room it opens into), which leaves ≈ 121 m². With the ceilings, that makes ≈ 166 m² to paint. At 40–60 MDL/m², the painting alone costs ≈ 6,600–10,000 MDL (≈ €330–500). If the walls and ceilings also need a skim coat (60–100 MDL/m²), add ≈ 10,000–16,600 MDL, and if the walls are uneven and must be plastered level using guide beads, another ≈ 12,100–18,200 MDL for the 121 m² of walls. For comparison, mesterulmeu.md gives 8,000–20,000 MDL (≈ €400–1,000) for painting a standard 2-room apartment throughout.

Drywall (plasterboard, gips-carton or rigips): walls, ceilings, partitions

Screed and flooring: laminate, self-levelling screed

Allow time, too. In summer, a screed can take loads after ≈ 21 days, compared with 28 days in November, and laminate needs at least 48 hours in the room before laying, to acclimatise (remont.md, 5 June 2026).

Demolition and debris removal

Are you a tradesperson or do you run a team? Compare your rates with the tables above, and for your legal status, see our guide to working legally as a tradesperson: business patent (patentă), independent entrepreneur (antreprenor independent) or sole proprietorship (ÎI).

Electrician prices in Chișinău (2026)

Electricians charge per item (a socket, a light fitting, a panel) or per m² when you replace all the wiring. On remont.md, an electrician’s call-out to an apartment costs 100–300 MDL (average 200, 17 tradespeople), and electric24.md advertises a free consultation for jobs over 1,000 MDL. Ask in advance whether the call-out is charged separately or deducted from the price of the job.

Cost of rewiring a 2-room apartment. At the remont.md average of 200 MDL/m², 50 m² means ≈ 10,000 MDL (≈ €500) in labour. The mesterulmeu.md guide gives, for 2 rooms (50–70 m²), 6,000–9,000 MDL in labour plus 5,000–8,000 MDL in materials, 11,000–17,000 MDL in total (≈ €550–850); for one room, 7,000–11,000 MDL, and for 3 rooms, 16,000–25,000 MDL, also including materials. Higher than both, okeyimobil.md estimates a complete replacement of the wiring at €1,000–2,500 (≈ 20,100–50,200 MDL), depending on the floor area and the number of electrical points, without separating labour from materials.

ANRE-authorised electricians in the Republic of Moldova: what it means and how to check

In the Republic of Moldova, the National Agency for Energy Regulation (Agenția Națională pentru Reglementare în Energetică, ANRE) issues electrician authorisations for 5 years, by grade: grade I covers installations up to 1,000 V and 10 kW, grade II those up to 1,000 V and 200 kW, and grades III and IV higher voltages and power ratings. The authorised electrician confirms in a declaration that the completed installation complies with the connection permit (aviz de racordare) and the design, and takes part in its acceptance and in switching it on (Regulation approved by ANRE Decision No. 413/2021 (opens in a new tab)).

When is an authorised electrician required? Law No. 164/2025 on electricity (opens in a new tab) (Legea nr. 164/2025 cu privire la energia electrică) requires the authorised electrician’s declaration when an installation is connected to the grid: the declaration confirms that the installation is admitted into service (art. 72(18)). For installations with a contracted capacity above 150 kW and the other cases listed in paragraph 19, a certificate of compliance (act de corespundere) issued by the state energy supervision body is required instead.

We found no rule requiring an authorised electrician for every job in an apartment, including small ones such as replacing a socket. The law does, however, require consumers’ electrical installations not to endanger life, health or property and to comply with the technical regulations in force (art. 117(13)). If your job involves a new grid connection or a change to the existing one, ask the distribution network operator (in Chișinău, Premier Energy Distribution) which documents it requires.

1. 1

   Ask for their full name and authorisation number

   The authorisation is issued in the holder’s name, in electronic form: it shows the series and number, the grade, the validity period and the holder’s photo.

2. 2

   Look them up on the ANRE list

   Open the list of authorised electricians (opens in a new tab) on ANRE’s website and search the PDF for the name (Ctrl+F on a computer; on a phone, use the search function of your PDF app). ANRE updates the list monthly. On 15 October 2026, the latest list was dated 9 October 2026 and had 152 names, 96 of them under ANRE’s Chișinău territorial office (our count); that office also covers nearby towns such as Ialoveni, Criuleni and Hîncești.

3. 3

   Check the dates and the grade

   The list includes only electricians whose authorisation and electrical safety qualification (grupa de securitate electrică) were valid on the publication date, so check both expiry dates. The safety qualification must be reconfirmed every year, and an electrician whose qualification has expired may neither work on installations nor submit the declaration (point 76 of the Regulation). Also check that the grade covers the power of your installation. If the electrician received the authorisation after 9 October 2026, they may be missing from the PDF; in that case, ask them to show it to you.

Plumber (santehnic) prices in Chișinău (2026)

In Moldova, “santehnic” and “instalator sanitar” are two names for the same tradesperson: the plumber who installs mixer taps, toilets, water heaters, and water and waste pipes. Some price lists have a minimum charge: svoy-santehnik.md charges at least 300 MDL per job, plus 500 MDL for a night-time emergency, and euroremont-md.com has a minimum charge of 1,000 MDL per working day. With other plumbers, ask whether there is a minimum charge and whether the call-out is charged separately.

If you replace the toilet, washbasin and mixer tap at the same time, tradespeople usually give a 10–15% discount on labour, and a professional plumber offers a 6–12-month warranty on the installation (remont.md, 17 June 2026). Ask for the warranty in writing.

Separately from the tradesperson’s own warranty, the Civil Code of the Republic of Moldova (Codul civil) gives you a period within which you can notify the tradesperson of defects in the work: 2 years, or 5 years for material defects in a building or in materials used for construction work (art. 1374(1), which refers to art. 1126 (opens in a new tab)). What this means when you accept the work is explained in our guide to contracts.

If you have a leak, first turn off the apartment’s water valve; if the water is coming from the building’s riser, also notify the building administrator.

Post-renovation cleaning prices in Chișinău

After a renovation, construction dust covers every surface, and there are traces of paint, adhesive and expanding foam to remove, plus the protective film on the windows. Cleaning companies charge either per m² or a fixed price per apartment, usually with a minimum charge.

What it means for your budget. The price per m² is 30–90 MDL, typically 50–75 MDL. For small apartments, though, the minimum charge matters: 50 m² × 55 MDL = 2,750 MDL, but with a company whose minimum is 5,000 MDL you pay 5,000 (≈ €250), i.e. 100 MDL/m². The mesterulmeu.md reference prices (2,000–4,000 MDL for 2 rooms) are below these companies’ minimums, so it pays to compare several offers.

Extra costs: what labour prices don’t include

The prices in the tables cover labour only. When you draw up your budget, also allow for:

For how to read an estimate, which clauses to put in the contract and how much deposit to pay, see our guide to contracts, estimates and acceptance certificates.

Are renovation prices rising in 2026? What the official data show

The official data suggest that labour is getting more expensive faster than materials: wages in construction rose by 15.5% in a year, while consumer prices of building materials rose by 3.9% (different indicators: the wages are for the second quarter, the prices for September). Neither directly measures what tradespeople charge, so this is not proof: a remont.md article of 5 June 2026 even says that renovation prices stabilised in 2026, after the increases of 2023–2024. Either way, a price list from 2025 or earlier may understate today’s prices, and a “from” price is by definition the minimum, not the final bill.

Autumn or summer? The sources disagree. A remont.md article from June 2026 says that demand rises in September–November, when tradespeople raise their prices by 15–20%, and that waiting lists are shorter in summer. Another remont.md article from the same month says that in summer good tradespeople are booked 2–3 weeks ahead, and casadevis.md writes that summer brings more orders. Summer does, however, have a technical advantage: materials dry faster, and tile adhesive sets in ≈ 24 hours, compared with 48–72 hours in winter (remont.md, 11 June 2026). Whenever you start, ask for quotes 2–3 weeks in advance and fix the price in the contract.

How to get 3 comparable renovation quotes

Quotes can only be compared if they describe the same work. Prepare one description of the apartment and send exactly the same one to everyone.

1. 1

   Measure

   Note the floor area of each room, the ceiling height and the wall area (perimeter × height, minus door and window openings). Count the sockets, switches, ceiling lights and water points.

2. 2

   Take photos

   Photograph each room from two corners, then the electrical panel, the bathroom, the visible pipes and any uneven walls. With photos, a tradesperson can give an indicative price before a visit.

3. 3

   List the jobs

   Line by line, with units and quantities, as in the template below. If you don’t know where to start, take the lines of the first estimate you receive, remove the prices and use them as the list for the others.

4. 4

   Decide who buys the materials

   If you buy them, you know exactly what you are paying. If the tradesperson buys them, ask for the original receipts, as mesterulmeu.md recommends, and ask whether trips to buy materials are charged separately.

5. 5

   Ask for an itemised estimate

   The same lines for everyone, with labour separate from materials and anything not included spelled out. The guide on reparatieapartament.md recommends listing materials by type, brand and quantity, and including a schedule of works in the estimate.

6. 6

   Compare with the tables

   Put each unit price next to the range in this guide. If a line is far below the range, ask what is missing; if it is far above, ask why.

7. 7

   Agree on payment in stages

   The mesterulmeu.md guide to renovation scams recommends a deposit of no more than 10–30%, paid only after the contract is signed and only by bank transfer, not in cash, and a last instalment of 15–20% on final acceptance. These are recommendations based on practice, not legal rules; what the law says about payment and acceptance is in our guide to the contract and the deposit.

Methodology: where the figures come from

We used public company price lists, the reference prices of the remont.md and mesterulmeu.md platforms, articles from 2026, official data from BNS, BNM and ANRE, and the legislation in force on legis.md, the State Register of Legal Acts (Registrul de stat al actelor juridice). Some company lists are undated (euroremont-md.com, manole.md, uniteh.md, remont24.md, instalelectro.md, svoy-santehnik.md), and electric24.md shows © 2025: we treat them as the prices displayed on 15 October 2026. The older exceptions are marked in the text: the Apă-Canal page on water meters is from 2021, and the remont24.md project in a series 143 block was completed in February 2025. All sources were checked on 15 October 2026 and are listed at the end. We did not use individual classified ads or any personal data.

Offers, not transactions. The figures are asking prices, not amounts actually paid. The remont.md platform shows the minimum, average and maximum for each job and, usually, how many tradespeople gave prices (3–17); by its own description, its figures combine the tradespeople’s data with a market review, including other companies’ price lists. The mesterulmeu.md platform publishes prices set by its team on the basis of tradespeople’s rates and the market, and companies often give “from” prices. The final price is set once the tradesperson has seen the apartment.

Range and typical. The range shows the values from the sources cited on each row; for remont.md we used the rows closest to the job. “Typical” is our judgement of where most values cluster; for whole-apartment prices per m², the budget benchmark sits between the platform averages and the company lists. When the same price list appears on several websites, we counted it once.

What we left out. The introduction of the remont.md article on 2026 prices (250–350 MDL/m² for cosmetic, 600–1,200 for euro-renovation), which contradicts the tables in the same article; a row with the error “#NAME?” in the remont.md catalogue; the figures on kp.md, which we could not verify; the list on euroremontstyle.md, dated July 2024, with “from” prices and no currency; two values on lumeamesterilor.md far below the other sources, 600 MDL for the pipework of a whole bathroom and 55 MDL for unblocking a drain; and day rates, for which we found no public data.

Euros and lei. Conversions between euros and lei use the official BNM rate for 15 October 2026, €1 = 20.0927 MDL, and are rounded. Next update: January 2027. If you have a newer price list or spot an outdated figure, write to us.