Getting quotes · Worth care
Have the quotes been checked properly?
Run every quote through the Quote Clarity Check before you agree anything.
- When it lands
- As soon as you have two or more quotes.
- What it costs to get wrong
- Vague quotes turn into variations. Most overruns are visible in the wording of the quote before work begins.
The purpose of checking a quote is not to find the cheapest number. It is to find out what each quote does not say — because that is where the final account is decided.
Compare on scope, not on the total
Put the quotes side by side and read them against your tender pack line by line. Is scaffolding in? Is making good in? Are structural steels supplied and installed, or supplied only? Is the kitchen fitted, or fitted by others?
The differences you find are usually larger than the headline difference between the quotes.
Provisional sums are the tell
Two quotes: £68,000 and £81,000. The cheaper carried provisional sums against groundworks, drainage and electrics — three of the least predictable items on the job. The final account came in at £96,400. The dearer quote had priced all three properly and would have finished under it.
A provisional sum is not a price. It is a placeholder that says nobody has decided yet, and the risk sits with you.
Look for the language of future cost
Subject to survey, to be confirmed, allowance only, excluding, if required, TBC on site. Every one of these is a sentence that means money later. Count them, and ask for each to be turned into a figure before you sign.
Send the gaps back in writing
Give every builder the same list of questions and a deadline. Their answers tell you two things: what the real number is, and how they behave when asked to be precise. Both are worth knowing before you appoint.
Why this one matters
Clarity, certainty and detail are measurable. Seeing the same quote scored against the others shows you which builder has actually thought the job through.
Do this week
- Run every quote through the Quote Clarity Check.
- List each provisional sum and exclusion.
- Send an identical clarification request to all builders.
The realistic choices
Compare in the portal
Included with portal access. Scores clarity, certainty and detail.
Ask the builder to re-issue
A good builder will happily add detail. A reluctant one is telling you something.
What good looks like
- Every quote scored and the gaps written down
- Questions sent back in writing before appointment
Questions worth asking
- What is not in this price?
- How will costs change if the ground is different to expected?
From real projects
The cheapest quote was the dearest
Two quotes: £68,000 and £81,000. The cheaper one carried 'provisional sum' against groundworks, drainage and electrics. Final account: £96,400. The dearer quote had priced all three as fixed.
The lesson: Provisional sums are not prices. Count how many a quote contains before you compare totals.
Putting it into practice
What this decision should leave behind
The steps to work through, the paperwork worth keeping and the questions to send your builder today.
- · Put the quotes side by side on scope, not price
- · Run the Quote Clarity Check
- · Send the gaps back in writing
- · Template: Quote clarification request
- · Paperwork: All quotes, as issued
- · Paperwork: Saved clarity report
- · Paperwork: Written answers to your gap questions
Next decision
What are you actually signing?