Is a quote legally binding in the UK?

Generally yes. If you give a quote and the customer accepts it, you have agreed a fixed price and you are expected to honour it, even if the job takes longer than you thought. An estimate is different: it is a considered guess that can change as the work becomes clearer. Always label which one you are giving, in writing.

How long should a quote be valid for?

Thirty days is the usual default and it is long enough for most customers to decide. Material prices move, and your diary fills up, so an open-ended quote can leave you honouring a price you set months ago. Put the expiry date on the quote itself.

Should I charge for quoting?

For a straightforward job, no: quoting is part of winning work. For a survey that takes real time, such as a full rewire or a detailed site visit, charging a call-out or survey fee is reasonable and common. Many traders credit that fee back against the job if the customer goes ahead.

How much deposit should a tradesperson ask for?

It depends on the materials. For a labour-only job, many traders take nothing up front. For a job with a big material spend, 25 to 50 percent is normal, because you should not be funding someone else's kitchen out of your own pocket. Say clearly what the deposit covers and when the balance is due.

Do I need to show VAT on a quote?

If you are VAT registered, yes: show the net figure, the VAT, the gross total and your VAT number, so there is no argument later about whether VAT was included. If you are not VAT registered, say so explicitly, for example 'No VAT applied'. Silence makes customers assume VAT will be added on top.

Guide

How to write a quote that wins the job

Most jobs are not lost on price. They are lost because the quote turned up late, looked rushed, or left the customer guessing what they were actually buying. This is what to put in a quote, how to price it so you still make money, and what to do after you send it.

First, decide: quote or estimate?

In the UK these are not the same thing, and the difference can cost you. A quote is a fixed price. If the customer accepts it, you are expected to do the work for that money, even if it takes longer than you hoped. An estimate is a considered best guess that can move as the job opens up.

Neither is wrong. Quote when you can see the whole job. Estimate when you genuinely cannot, for example when you will not know what is behind the wall until you are in it. The mistake is being vague about which one you have given, because the customer will always assume it was the fixed one.

What every professional quote includes

If any of these are missing, you invite a question, and questions delay decisions.

Your business name, address and contact details, plus your VAT number if you are registered
The customer's name and the address the work is happening at
A unique quote number, so you can both refer to it later
The date you issued it and the date it expires
A plain description of the work, in the customer's language rather than trade shorthand
The costs broken down: labour, materials, and anything else such as skip hire or parking
The total, stating clearly whether VAT is included or not applicable
What is not included, so nobody assumes it is
Payment terms: any deposit, when the balance is due, and how to pay
How to accept, ideally something they can do in one tap rather than by writing an email

Price it so you still make money

Work out your labour first, then add everything the job actually consumes. The costs people forget are the ones that quietly eat the margin: the trip to the merchant, the waste run, the parking, the hour you spent writing the quote in the first place.

Labour, at a day rate or hourly rate you would be happy to repeat fifty times
Materials, with a markup, because you are carrying the cost, the collection and the risk if something is faulty
Travel and fuel, especially for a job that needs several visits
Waste removal, skips and tip fees
A contingency on anything you cannot see yet, typically 10 to 15 percent

Marking up materials is not sharp practice. If you buy it, transport it, and stand behind it when it fails, that is a service and it is fair to be paid for it.

Be explicit about VAT

If you are VAT registered, show the net figure, the VAT, the gross total and your VAT number. If you are not registered, write something like "No VAT applied" rather than saying nothing, because silence lets a customer assume twenty percent is coming later. That is a bad conversation to have after the work is done.

Put an expiry date on it

Thirty days is a sensible default. Material prices move, and without an expiry you can find yourself honouring a number you set last spring. It also does something useful and quiet: it gives the customer a reason to decide rather than leave it in the inbox.

Ask for the deposit

This is the single biggest cash-flow lever available to a one-person business, and it is the one most often skipped out of awkwardness. For a labour-only job you may not need one. For anything with a serious material spend, 25 to 50 percent up front is normal and expected. You should not be funding someone else's bathroom out of your own account.

A deposit also does a quieter job: it separates the people who are going ahead from the people who are still collecting prices.

Write down what is not included

Exclusions are as important as inclusions. Making good and decorating, removing the old unit, scaffolding, anything discovered once the floor is up. Listing these is not being difficult, it is protecting the relationship, because every "while you are here" that was never priced comes out of your own time.

Presentation matters more than it should

A tidy PDF with your logo, a clear total and a way to accept says something a text message does not: that you will turn up, that you will do the paperwork properly, and that the job will not be chaos. Customers cannot judge your first fix. They can judge your quote, so they use it as a proxy.

Follow up, twice

Most quotes are lost to silence, not to a cheaper rival. People go on holiday, or the job slips down the list. A short message a few days later, and again a week after that, wins more work than shaving the price ever will.

Keep it easy: ask whether they have any questions rather than whether they have made a decision. It gives them something to reply to.

Common mistakes

Sending it days later, when someone quicker has already been booked
One lump-sum figure with no breakdown, which reads as guesswork
No expiry date, leaving you tied to old material prices
Not saying whether VAT applies
Forgetting exclusions, then absorbing the extra work yourself
No deposit on a material-heavy job
Never following up

Make it a habit rather than a chore

Everything above is a checklist, which means it is exactly the sort of thing worth doing the same way every time. My Job Goblin builds the quote from a description of the job, keeps your numbering and terms consistent, works out VAT and the deposit, produces the PDF, and lets the customer accept and pay online, so the follow-up is not another job for the evening.

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