A builders quotation should settle the job on paper before labour is booked and materials are ordered. The customer needs to see the scope, price, assumptions, payment stages and how changes will be agreed.
The template below is for UK builders pricing domestic or commercial work. Replace the brackets and delete sections that do not apply.
This is general information, not legal advice. A quotation and the customer’s acceptance can affect the contract between you. Use terms suited to your business and get advice on high-value or unusual jobs.
Builders quotation template
Your business
[Full legal business name]
[Trading name, if different]
[Address]
[Telephone and email]
[Company number, if limited]
[VAT number, if VAT registered]
Customer and job
Prepared for: [Customer name and address]
Site address: [Where the work will happen]
Quotation number: [Unique reference]
Quotation date: [Date]
Valid until: [Date]
Proposed start: [Date or subject to agreement]
Scope of work
[Describe each part of the job in the order it will be done. Name the rooms, areas, drawings or specification being priced.]
Included:
- [labour]
- [materials and stated specification]
- [plant, access or hire]
- [waste removal]
- [testing, certificates or handover documents]
Not included:
- [decoration or making good outside the stated area]
- [fees, surveys or specialist reports]
- [hidden defects or work not visible when priced]
- [customer-supplied items]
Price
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| [Preliminaries or site setup] | £[ ] |
| [Work package 1] | £[ ] |
| [Work package 2] | £[ ] |
| [Materials or provisional item] | £[ ] |
| Subtotal | £[ ] |
| VAT [rate, if applicable] | £[ ] |
| Quoted total | £[ ] |
State whether the price includes VAT. If an item cannot be fixed yet, label it clearly as an allowance or provisional sum and explain how the final amount will be established.
Payment schedule
| Stage | When due | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Deposit | [On acceptance / date] | £[ ] |
| Stage 1 | [Milestone] | £[ ] |
| Stage 2 | [Milestone] | £[ ] |
| Final balance | [Completion / handover] | £[ ] |
Changes and acceptance
Variations: Work outside this scope will be priced and agreed before it is carried out, except where urgent action is needed to make the site safe.
Customer responsibilities: [access, parking, power, water, clearing rooms, decisions or supplied items]
Programme: [estimated duration and assumptions]
Acceptance: I accept this quotation, its scope, price and payment schedule.
Name: [ ] Signature or online acceptance: [ ] Date: [ ]
Worked quotation example
A builder is pricing a utility-room conversion. The aim is to make the boundaries visible, not to write “utility room works” and one total.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Protect access route and isolate work area | £240 |
| Remove existing units and dispose of waste | £480 |
| Alter hot, cold and waste pipework | £760 |
| New base units, worktop and fitting | £1,850 |
| Plaster repairs and mist coat | £520 |
| Subtotal | £3,850 |
| VAT at 20% | £770 |
| Quoted total | £4,620 |
The scope says that appliances, final decoration and electrical consumer-unit upgrades are excluded. A £1,000 booking deposit is due on acceptance, £2,000 after first fix, and £1,620 on completion.
That gives both sides something usable. The customer can compare the price with the scope. The builder can point to the stated exclusion if the customer later asks for the whole room to be redecorated.
Quote or estimate?
Use the heading that matches what you are providing.
- Estimate: an informed indication where the final price may change as the work becomes clearer.
- Quotation: a stated price for a defined scope, subject to the assumptions and terms written on it.
Do not call a figure fixed and then rely on a vague line saying “price may change”. If part of the job is uncertain, isolate that part as an allowance, provisional sum or daywork rate. Explain what evidence will set the final figure.
Describe the work so it can be checked
A solid scope names:
- the drawings, revision numbers or specification used
- the rooms, elevations or work areas
- the quantity and standard of named materials
- who supplies appliances, sanitaryware or finishes
- removal and disposal of waste
- making good and decoration
- testing, certification and handover
Write “supply and fit 12 white double sockets to drawing E-04” rather than “electrics”. Write “two coats trade vinyl matt to new plaster only” rather than “decorate”.
This also makes the later invoice easier. The accepted lines can carry into a construction invoice without changing the description halfway through the job.
Put assumptions and exclusions beside the price
An exclusion is not small print. It tells the customer which cost is not in the total.
Common building-job assumptions include:
- clear access during stated working hours
- existing services being in usable condition
- no asbestos or concealed structural defects
- customer decisions being made by agreed dates
- planning, building-control or professional fees being paid separately
- merchant prices remaining available until the quotation expires
Be specific. “Unforeseen work excluded” is weaker than naming the concealed conditions most likely to alter the job.
Set a validity date
Materials and subcontract prices move. A valid-until date gives the customer time to decide without leaving the price open indefinitely.
If the date passes, duplicate the quote, check current costs and issue a new version. Do not silently alter the accepted document. Sendinvo lets you duplicate and reprice a quote while keeping the old record intact.
Agree payment stages against work
Tie each payment to a date or visible milestone. “Halfway through” invites an argument. “After first-fix plumbing and electrical work are complete” can be checked.
For direct customer work, deposits and stages can be printed with their own due dates using deposits and payment plans. CIS subcontract work is handled differently: each application normally becomes its own invoice, with any deduction shown there.
The stages should add back to the quoted total. If the deposit is part of the price, say so. Do not make it look like an extra charge.
Control variations before doing them
A useful variation record contains:
- the requested change
- the extra or reduced price
- any effect on the programme
- the customer’s approval
- the date agreed
Keep the original quote unchanged. Record the variation separately, then show it as its own line on the invoice. That gives the accounts team a trail from request to approval to payment.
Turn acceptance into the invoice
With Sendinvo, the client opens the quote link and accepts or declines it without creating an account. An accepted quote opens a draft invoice with the customer, lines, prices, discount and notes already carried across.
The invoice is where you set the payment term, apply a CIS deduction or add VAT reverse-charge wording. Those do not belong on every quotation by default.
Start a free Sendinvo account to send the quote, record the acceptance and turn the agreed lines into an invoice without typing the job twice.