How to write a quote for trade work and follow it up so more customers say yes

Legal and tax points are summarised from the official sources listed at the end. They are not legal or tax advice.

Call it a quote only when you can stand behind a fixed price

The word on the top of the document changes what the customer expects. Citizens Advice tells homeowners that a quote is a fixed price and an estimate is "just a rough guess", and advises them to get a quote rather than an estimate. Once a customer says yes to a quote, it is a binding agreement, whether it is written down or not.

Citizens Advice says a trader can only charge more than a quote if the customer asks for extra work, agrees to pay for extra work the trader says is needed, or the trader made a mistake writing down or calculating the price. "It took longer than I thought" is not on that list. Northern Ireland's official business guidance puts the same point from the trader's side: you must stick to the quotation price even if you carry out more work than you expected.

Use an estimate when you cannot see the work yet

An estimate is the right choice when the price depends on things you cannot see yet, such as a leak under a concrete floor. Business Companion, the government-backed trading standards guidance site, says an estimate should clearly state that it is an approximation and that a full survey or more information would be needed for a full quotation. It also warns that estimates must be realistic and not misleading.

Most jobs sit in the middle. You can fix the price for what you can see and put clearly labelled allowances (provisional sums) against the parts you cannot. Whatever you choose, use the same word in the email, the attachment and on the phone.

Ask the right scoping questions on the site visit so the price is right first time

Most quote disputes start with a question that was never asked on the visit. Write the answers down rather than trusting memory. The enquiry details should already be in front of you from the first call; if they are not, the guide to handling calls and enquiries covers what to capture at that stage.

• What does the customer want to end up with, in their words? "A shower that works" and "a walk-in shower with a glass screen" are different jobs.
• Who is choosing fittings, tiles, sockets or finishes, and by when? If they are still choosing, that part of the price is an allowance.
• What is behind, under or above the work? Ask about previous work, the age of pipework or wiring and known leaks, and lift a board if you can.
• What access and working hours apply: parking, stairs, a managing agent, a tenant at home?
• Who makes the decision and who pays? An occupier, a landlord and a letting agent may be three different people with three different answers.
• When do they need it done, and why that date?
• Is any permission or sign-off needed? Citizens Advice reminds homeowners that most plumbing, electrical and heating work counts as work on a "controlled service or fitting" under building regulations.

Take photos and measurements you can price from at your desk

Photograph the existing installation, the consumer unit or boiler data plate, access routes and anything that might cause a problem. Measure and sketch. If the job is accepted, those photos become the "before" record for the job file.

Put these items in every trade quote so the customer can say yes without ringing you

Citizens Advice gives homeowners a list of what a quote should include: a fixed total price, a breakdown of the work and materials, how long the price is valid for, whether it includes VAT and when it can go up. Write the scope as tasks the customer could check, say what isn't included, show any allowances, and put the deposit and payment stages in writing, matching the terms in our getting paid guide. Our quote template for trade work gives you a printable quote with every part in place, a filled-in example, and the cancellation details home customers must get.

Some work has its own rules: HMRC's Notice 708/6 zero-rates installations of energy-saving materials in homes until 31 March 2027, reverting to 5% from 1 April 2027, so check it before quoting heat pumps, insulation or solar. If you are not VAT registered (required above £90,000 taxable turnover), say so on the quote.

Price labour and materials properly so the job still makes money

Clear wording does not rescue a price that loses money. You need to know where the number came from.

Count all the hours the job takes

Price the hours on site plus the hours around them: collecting materials, travel, testing, snagging and the return visit for the shower screen that arrives late. Your day rate has to cover the van, insurance, tools, software and time spent quoting jobs you do not win, not just what you want to take home.

Price materials with waste, delivery and price rises in mind

Allow for waste and offcuts (tiles and flooring especially), delivery and skip hire. Apply any materials markup consistently. If the customer supplies their own fittings, say so in the scope and say you are not responsible for missing parts or faults in items you did not supply.

Know your margin before you agree to a discount

Illustrative example: a job priced at £7,550 before VAT has £6,000 of labour, materials and subcontract costs in it. That leaves £1,550, a gross margin of about 20.5%. A 10% discount (£755) cuts that to £795, so you give away almost half of the profit to "round it down". Knowing this number before the customer asks is what lets you discuss scope instead of just cutting price. The figures here are invented for the arithmetic and are not a guide to bathroom prices.

Give home customers their cancellation rights before they agree to the work

The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 give consumers a 14-day right to cancel many contracts made away from your business premises. That includes a contract agreed in the customer's home, and Citizens Advice says the 14-day cooling-off period also applies to work arranged over the phone or online. For a service contract, the regulations say the cancellation period ends 14 days after the day the contract is entered into.

What you must give the customer, and what happens if you do not

For an off-premises contract, regulation 10 says you must give the consumer specified pre-contract information and, where a right to cancel exists, a cancellation form, on paper or, if they agree, another durable medium such as email. If you do not give the information about the right to cancel, regulation 31 extends the cancellation period by up to 12 months. Failing to give that cancellation information for an off-premises contract is also a criminal offence under regulation 19. Business Companion publishes the model cancellation form.

Starting work inside the 14 days

If the customer wants you to start sooner, regulation 36 says you must not begin the service within the cancellation period unless they make an express request, and for an off-premises contract that request must be on a durable medium. An email saying "Please start on 20 October, before my cancellation period ends" does the job. If they then cancel, they pay a proportionate amount for what has been done. If you did not give the right cancellation information, they may owe nothing for work already carried out.

Urgent repairs and other exceptions have limits

Regulation 28 removes the cancellation right where the consumer specifically asked you to visit for urgent repairs or maintenance; Citizens Advice gives the example of a plumber mending a burst pipe. It does not cover extra services or goods sold on the same visit beyond the parts needed for the repair, so a new bathroom agreed after fixing the burst pipe has normal cancellation rights. Off-premises contracts where the customer pays £42 or less are also outside these rules (regulations 7 and 27), and Business Companion describes lighter information rules for some immediate repair and maintenance jobs of £170 or less.

Illustrative example: a bathroom refit quote with a provisional sum

An invented quote from a VAT-registered plumbing and heating firm for a bathroom in a 1930s semi. The figures show layout and arithmetic, not a price guide.

Under the table, the quote would say in plain words:

• Provisional sum: "We cannot see the joists until the floor is lifted. If repair is needed we will show you before starting it and charge at £280 per day labour plus materials at cost plus 10%. If no repair is needed, £450 plus VAT comes off the final bill."
• Tile PC sum: "If your chosen tiles cost more or less than £30 per m², the difference is added or credited on the final invoice."
• Exclusions: "Decorating outside the tiled area, replacing the door, and any work to the boiler or heating system are not included."
• Payment: "£1,800 on acceptance to order the suite, £3,600 when first fix and boarding are complete, the balance on completion within 7 days, adjusted for the provisional and PC sums."

The deposit is about 20% of the total, which sits inside the 25% ceiling Citizens Advice suggests to homeowners, and it is linked to a real cost. The customer can see exactly which £1,110 could change, and how.

Send one controlled version of the quote and record when it went

Send the quote as a PDF with the reference in the subject line: "Quote Q-0412: bathroom refit at 14 Elm Road". In two or three sentences, say what it covers, the total including VAT, how long it is valid and how to accept.

If you change anything, issue a new version number and say which one it replaces: "Version 2 replaces version 1 sent on 6 October. The only change is the shower tray size." Keep both. When the customer accepts, the acceptance should name the version, so the job is never booked from an old attachment.

Keep a quote register so every sent quote has a next action and an owner

A quote register lists every open quote with a date for the next thing that should happen, so on any morning you or the office can see which quotes need a call today. A spreadsheet is fine to start: our quote tracker spreadsheet for trades gives you the columns, headings to copy and formulas that flag overdue follow-ups.

Follow up a quote on a set schedule, with wording that gets a reply

Customers go quiet because they are busy, waiting for other quotes or unsure about something, so a short follow-up is part of the service. When you send the quote, ask when they're hoping to decide and put that date in the register. Our quote follow-up messages for trades set out what to send the day after, a week on and before the quote expires, with replies to the usual objections.

Answer "too expensive" by checking the scope before you cut the price

When a customer says your price is too high, ask what they are comparing it with. Often the other quote is for less work, or a "plus VAT" price. Citizens Advice itself warns homeowners to be cautious of a quote that is much lower than others, because the trader may not be quoting for exactly the same work.

Useful replies are specific. "Can I ask if the other quote includes the electrician and certificate for the fan? Mine does, at £480 plus VAT." Or: "If budget is the main issue, we could keep the existing bath position and save the cost of moving the waste. That would bring it to about £8,000 including VAT. Want me to send a version 2?" Changing the scope to change the price keeps your margin; cutting the same scope for less suggests your first price was padded.

Close cold quotes cleanly and learn why they went cold

If you have made your agreed follow-ups and heard nothing, mark the quote "no response", not "lost on price", and stop chasing. Send the final message, record the date, and move on. A customer who comes back in two months is not owed the old price: check the validity date, re-check material prices and your diary, and issue a new version if anything has changed.

Once a month, look at closed quotes. If the cold ones were mostly sent days after the visit, speed may matter more than price. If one job type rarely converts, look at how you describe or price it.

Agree changes after acceptance in writing before you do the extra work

Once a quote is accepted, extra work should be agreed as a variation before you do it: what is changing, the price, any effect on time, and the customer's written OK. The Consumer Rights Act 2015 says a change to information that became part of the contract is not effective unless expressly agreed. A text that says "Yes, go ahead with the extra radiator at £385 inc VAT" is far better than a nod on site.

Illustrative example: during a rewire, an electrician finds the customer wants two extra double sockets in the kitchen and an outside socket. Before doing them, they send a variation: “Variation 1 to quote Q-0388: add two double sockets to kitchen and one outdoor socket on new circuit, £340 plus VAT (£408 including VAT), adds half a day. Please reply YES to approve.” Our variation form template for trade jobs sets out how to word, price and record each change so the final invoice matches what was agreed.

Guides in this section

Shorter guides that go deeper on writing quotes and following them up.

Quote tracker spreadsheet for trades: columns and formulas

Fifteen columns, the formulas that flag overdue follow-ups, and a ten-minute weekly routine, with a free Excel download.

Quote template for trade work: a printable quote customers can say yes to

A quote form to print or copy, what to write in each part, a filled-in example for a flat roof, and the cancellation details you must give when work is agreed in a customer's home.

Quote follow-up messages: what to send after a trade quote, and when to stop

Three messages to copy for text and email, a simple timetable, replies for the usual objections, how landlords and agents differ, and the point where a follow-up becomes marketing.

Use the free software checklist, then read the jobs guide

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Trade business software checklist: know what you need before you book a demo

List what your quotes, follow-ups and job records need to do, so you can test any software against it.

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Read next

How to record trade jobs on site so the office can invoice without ringing you

Picks up once the quote is accepted: book the job, record what happened on site and agree extras before you invoice.

Read the guide

Sources checked for this guide

Quote content and consumer rights points checked against official guidance. The routines and schedules above are our suggestions, not legal requirements.

• Citizens Advice: Before you get work done on your home
• Citizens Advice: Cancelling building or decorating work
• nibusinessinfo.co.uk: Difference between a quotation and an estimate
• Business Companion: Forming a contract (quotations and estimates)
• Business Companion: Consumer contracts, off-premises sales
• legislation.gov.uk: Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013
• legislation.gov.uk: Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 50
• GOV.UK: How VAT works
• GOV.UK: VAT rates
• HMRC: VAT on energy-saving materials and heating equipment (Notice 708/6)