Construction Quote Template

Quote vs. estimate vs. bid proposal

A quote is a fixed price for defined work. When the customer signs it, that is the number — not a starting point, not a ballpark. That makes it the right document for the small, direct jobs a subcontractor does outside its GC contracts: a fan replacement, a water heater, a tenant’s extra drops, the service call that turned into a repair. It is the wrong document when the scope is not settled, because then you are quoting a guess.

An estimate is the internal worksheet where you build up cost by section and set your margin; you can also give a customer an "estimate" when the scope is still open, but say so. A bid proposal is the formal offer in a competitive selection — a GC, a bid package, drawings and specs, alternates, inclusions and exclusions over two pages. The quote is the one-page version for work you are asked for directly, and it should read like one: what, where, how much, by when, sign here.

What goes on a one-page quote

• Quote number, date, valid-until. The expiry date protects your price; the number lets you find it when the customer calls in six weeks.
• Prepared for and job address. Separate blocks — the bill goes to one, the crew goes to the other.
• Description of work. Two or three sentences of scope, including what done looks like ("return it to service the same day").
• Line items. Quantity, unit, unit price, amount, at sell price. Include removal and disposal, equipment, materials, labor, rentals and permits as their own lines so nothing rides for free.
• Optional items. Priced adds the customer can initial, kept out of the total.
• Subtotal, tax, total, deposit, balance. Tax only on the taxable lines, and a deposit figure the customer can pay with the signature.
• Terms. Deposit and balance, schedule and lead time, exclusions, warranty, and that the price is firm through the valid-until date.
• Acceptance. Customer signature, printed name, date — and yours.

A worked example: a $6,376.71 exhaust fan replacement

The completed example is a mechanical contractor quoting the owner of a medical office campus — the same owner whose new building appears on our other templates — for a failed rooftop exhaust fan on the existing building next door. Six lines: remove and dispose of the old fan ($380), a new 1,800 CFM direct-drive upblast fan ($2,640), a curb adapter ($410), the electrician’s disconnect and reconnect ($685), eight crew hours at $196 ($1,568) and a day of boom lift ($425). Subtotal $6,108.00. Only the fan and the curb adapter are taxable, so Denver’s 8.81% applies to $3,050.00 and adds $268.71, for a total of $6,376.71.

A 30% deposit of $1,913.01 is due on acceptance and the $4,463.70 balance on completion. Two options sit outside the total — replacing the neighboring fan during the same visit ($2,890) and a vibration-isolation curb with extended motor warranty ($520) — priced so the customer can say yes without a second quote. The terms give a 2–3 week lead time, one day on site, and exclude roofing repairs beyond the curb seal, permit fees and after-hours work. The quote is dated September 10 and valid until October 10, 2026.

Deposits, tax and validity — the three lines that protect you

Deposit. Special-order equipment is money out the door before you have been paid anything. Set the deposit to cover it, ask for it with the signature, and check your state’s limits on residential deposits. Tax. Whether you collect sales tax depends on your state and on how the job is classified; the per-line taxable flag lets you tax materials only, everything, or nothing, and the taxable amount prints so the customer sees the basis. Validity. A quote with no expiry is a price you have to honor whenever the customer gets around to it. Put the date on the page and follow up before it passes.

Tracking quotes: the log and your win rate

The Excel workbook includes a Quote Log: one row per quote with customer, job, date, valid-until, amount and a status of Sent, Accepted, Declined or Expired. It totals what you have quoted and what you have won, computes days left on every quote still marked Sent, and calculates your win rate from the decided ones. Fifty quotes at a 40% win rate tells you more about next quarter than any single job does — and a quote that has been "Sent" for 45 days is either a follow-up call or an Expired.

Common quoting mistakes

• Quoting from the estimate’s cost lines instead of sell prices, and giving away the margin.
• No valid-until date, so last spring’s price is this fall’s contract.
• Leaving out removal, disposal, lift rental or permits — the lines that are always "extra."
• Folding options into the total, so the quote looks high and the upsell never happens.
• No exclusions, so the roof repair you found under the curb becomes your problem.
• Starting work on a phone call with no signature and no deposit.

Once the quote is accepted, the work order and the invoice follow from it: use the work order template to dispatch the crew and the contractor invoice template to bill it, less the deposit. For competitive work with drawings and specs, move up to the bid proposal template, and for the process behind the number read how to create a construction bid.