Tiles landed in Canberra

The tiles we priced

150 m2 of 600 x 600 matt porcelain, one production batch, 10 percent spares, palletised.

Landed in Canberra, line by line

Every line from the factory gate to your site. Low, middle and high use the low, middle and high of every published rate at once. Estimate: no delivered Elje job sits behind this figure yet.

By the container

About 1,000 m2 in its own 20 ft container into Canberra: about $20,458 landed, $17 to $25 per m2. Estimate.

Shipped with a kitchen

On its own, a tile order pays the full set of fixed charges and Elje's minimum fees. Added to a kitchen in the same shipment it adds about $2,243 to the kitchen's landed price ($1,713 to $2,961), because the port, broker, delivery and Project Plan are already paid. Estimate.

Against Canberra prices

Supply only is the fair comparison with a landed price; installed prices include labour, which you pay either way.

Amber ACT price zone (Fyshwick), Pure Stone: $40.77 promo, $67.95 RRP per m2, about 8% above Amber's Sydney zone.

WTD tiling $44 to $110 per m2.

Is it worth it?

It depends how you ship them. 150 m2 on its own lands at about $43 per m2, close to what local porcelain costs ($41 to $68 per m2). With a kitchen they add about $15 per m2, and a full 20 ft container lands at about $20 per m2. Estimate.

The Canberra market

Canberra is the second dearest city after Sydney, about 10 percent above Brisbane on the cost index: kitchens $13,200 to $49,500 installed, bathrooms $11,000 to $38,500. Amber Tiles prices its ACT zone about 8 percent above Sydney. Much of what Canberra buys is trucked in from Sydney already, so the extra truck leg on a landed order is a cost the local supply chain carries too.

How it gets to Canberra

Foshan factory to Nansha, Shekou or Yantian, a direct service to Port Botany, then about 300 km by road to Canberra.

Canberra has no port. Goods land at Port Botany in Sydney and come down the Hume and Federal Highways.

Most Canberra deliveries come as a tautliner load from a Sydney depot. A whole-house order can come as a container on a B-double route; ask what your street will take.

What moves the number

• Weight, not volume. Tiles fill a container's weight limit long before its space. A shared container charges the larger of cubic metres and tonnes, so 150 m2 of porcelain pays for about 3.4 tonnes.
• Quantity. Around 1,000 m2 of 600 x 600 porcelain fills a 20 ft container by weight. At that size the landed price per m2 drops sharply.
• Size and thickness. Large formats and 20 mm outdoor pavers weigh more per m2 and break more in transit.
• One batch. Order every tile for the project from one production batch, with 10 percent spares. A second batch will not match.
• Testing. Slip rating reports for wet areas, and an asbestos-free test report for any new tile body.

What it has to comply with

• Wet areas and outdoors need an AS 4586 slip rating (P3 wet indoor, P4 outdoor is common). Ask for the P rating report, not a European R rating.
• Australia bans asbestos. The ABF can test ceramic imports at the importer's cost, so get the test report before shipping.
• Porcelain tiles: tariff 6907.21.90, general duty 5 percent, Free from China with a certificate of origin. Mosaics under 7 cm are Free anyway.

Notes for Canberra

Cold winters, frost and dry heat in summer. Ask for timber and veneer that has been conditioned for low humidity, and check door and window glazing against your energy rating.

• Canberra carries the longest truck leg of any capital on this page. Cartage is the line to watch.
• Most Canberra fit-outs come from the Sydney side, so a Sydney container run is the benchmark for timing.
• ACT building and plumbing work is licensed through Access Canberra. Imported WaterMark and RCM products are installed by a licensed trade, the same as local ones.

Questions