How to Write a Construction Quote: A Practical Guide
A good quote does two things: it reassures the client and it protects you. Too many contractors lose contracts — or worse, work at a loss — because of an incomplete quote or one sent too late. Here is what every quote you send should contain, and how to speed up the process.
1. The Basics (Including What Gets Forgotten)
Every quote should include:
- Your complete business information: legal company name, address, phone, email — and your RBQ licence number. It signals professionalism, and more and more clients check it.
- Your tax numbers (GST and QST) if you are registered.
- The client's information and the exact address of the work site (not just "Mr. Tremblay's place").
- A unique quote number and the issue date. A sequential number (e.g., SOB-2026-042) simplifies your follow-ups and looks professional.
2. Describing the Work: Precise, Not Exhaustive
The scope of work is the section clients actually read. Two traps to avoid: the vague paragraph ("bathroom renovation") and the ten-page novel nobody reads.
The right approach: break the work down by trade or by phase, with a subtotal per section. For example: demolition, plumbing, electrical, finishing. The client understands where their money goes, and you can adjust one section without redoing the whole quote.
Also spell out what is not included. Written exclusions ("does not include ceiling painting") prevent 90% of end-of-project misunderstandings.
3. Pricing: Itemized or Lump Sum?
Both approaches have merit:
- Itemized pricing (materials + labour per section) builds trust and enables targeted negotiation. The client can remove one item instead of rejecting everything.
- Lump-sum pricing protects your margins and keeps things simple to read.
Either way, clearly show the subtotal, GST (5%), QST (9.975%) and the total. A tax error on an accepted quote comes straight out of your margin.
4. The Terms That Protect You
A few lines that are worth a lot:
- Validity period: 30 days is common. Material prices move; don't stay bound to a price you quoted six months ago.
- Payment terms: deposit at signing, progress payments, balance on completion. A 10–25% deposit is standard practice and filters out non-serious clients.
- Change orders: state that any additional work requires a written, approved change order before execution. This is the clause that prevents unpaid "while you're here…" requests.
- Estimated schedule: a realistic date range, noting that timelines depend on conditions (weather, material availability).
5. Speed Wins Contracts
It's the statistic few contractors measure: the first quote in often has the edge. A client who waits ten days for your price has already met two competitors.
Concrete ways to speed up:
- Build a price catalogue: your usual materials and hourly rates, ready to insert. Redoing the same math on every quote is wasted time.
- Reuse templates by project type (bathroom, roofing, extension). The structure is already there; you adjust the quantities.
- Send by email with online approval. A PDF quote the client can approve in one click gets signed faster than paper to mail back.
- Follow up systematically. No news after a few days? A polite follow-up doubles your chances of a reply. It's the most profitable — and most neglected — sales habit.
6. After Sending: Follow-Through Makes the Difference
A quote sent is not a quote won. Keep a clear view of your pipeline: sent, viewed, negotiating, approved. You'll know where to focus your follow-ups, and you'll see your real conversion rate — the most useful number for adjusting your pricing.
At Vantage, we built the platform around these principles: quotes with per-section subtotals, automatic tax calculation, online approval, automated follow-ups and AI generation from a simple description of the work. Try it free — 30 days, every feature, no credit card required.