How to read a trade quote

Most quote disputes are not disputes about price. They are disputes about scope, discovered after the work started, where two people held different pictures of the same sentence. Everything in this guide is aimed at closing that gap before anyone picks up a tool.

Quote or estimate

These are different instruments and the document should say which it is. A quote is an offer to perform defined work for a stated price and generally binds once accepted. An estimate is an informed projection and does not. If the heading says one and the body reads like the other, ask for clarification in writing.

What a good quote contains

1. 1The legal entity name, its ABN, and the licence number under which the work will be performed.
2. 2A scope description a stranger could follow, what is being done, where, and to what standard.
3. 3Materials specified by product rather than by category. 'Quality fittings' is not a specification.
4. 4Labour and materials separated, and compliance or certification items shown separately again.
5. 5Explicit exclusions. This is the most informative section of any quote.
6. 6The variation process: that variations will be documented and priced before work proceeds.
7. 7Payment terms tied to completed stages rather than to dates.
8. 8Validity period, and what happens if material prices move.

Making quotes comparable

Give every trade an identical written brief. Different briefs produce numbers that cannot be compared, and the effort of writing the brief once is repaid immediately. Then read the exclusions side by side. That is nearly always where the difference between a high and a low quote actually lives.

Warning signs

• A deposit demanded above your state's statutory cap for domestic building work.
• Cash-only pricing, or a discount conditional on no paperwork. That discount is priced at the value of the rights you give up.
• Pressure to sign today, or a price that expires within hours.
• No ABN, no licence number, no written scope.
• Payment demanded in full before work starts.
• An unsolicited approach at your door. This triggers specific cooling-off rights under Australian Consumer Law, which are worth reading before you agree to anything.

Before you sign

• Check the licence on the register yourself, not from a photo of a card.
• Check the ABN is active on ABN Lookup and matches the name on the quote.
• For building work above the threshold, confirm domestic building insurance is in place before paying a deposit.