Plumber quote template and how to quote a plumbing job

How plumbers usually price a job

Plumbers usually price in one of three ways: a fixed price per job for work you can see and have done before, an hourly or day rate for fault-finding and work you cannot fully see, or a price per item, such as per radiator or per fitting, added up into a total. Many quotes mix all three, with a call-out charge on reactive work.

What to include on a plumbing quote

A good plumbing quote answers every question the customer would otherwise ring you about, and it protects you if the job changes once the floor is up. Work through this list.

1. Your details. Business name, address, phone and email, plus your VAT number if you are registered.
2. A quote number, the date and a valid-until date.
3. The customer's name and the site address.
4. A plain-English scope of work. Each room, each fitting and each pipe run, in words the customer understands.
5. Who supplies what. If the customer is buying their own taps or suite, say so, and say what that means for your guarantee.
6. What is not included. Tiling, making good, decorating, boxing in and faults in existing pipework are the usual causes of a row.
7. A price breakdown. Parts, labour and other costs such as disposal of old fittings, parking or notification fees.
8. VAT, shown clearly, or a line saying no VAT is charged.
9. Payment terms and how changes are handled.
10. How to accept, and, if the job includes gas work, your Gas Safe registration, since HSE encourages customers to check it.

How to quote a plumbing job, step by step

Price a plumbing job from the bottom up, in the same order every time: survey, parts, markup, labour, extras, then VAT. Working in a fixed order is what stops the small things going missing.

1. Survey the job and confirm the scope

Walk the job and work out where water and waste will run, where the stopcock and isolation valves are, what access there is under floors and behind panels, and what the existing pipework is made of. Take photos and measurements. Write down what you cannot see, because that is where your assumptions go on the quote.

2. List every part at the price you pay

Build the list fitting by fitting: pipe, fittings, valves, clips, traps, wastes, sealant and fixings, plus any sanitaryware or appliances you are supplying. Price it from your own trade account, and get a price for anything you have not bought before rather than guessing.

3. Add your markup, and know it from margin

Markup on parts pays for sourcing, collecting, returns and the risk of a part failing under warranty. Some plumbers build their profit into the labour rate instead. Either way, know the arithmetic:

4. Work out all the labour

Break the job into tasks and put time against each one: isolating and draining down, stripping out, first fix, second fix, refilling and bleeding, testing for leaks, commissioning, clearing up, plus travel and any trips for parts. Then price those hours at your own rate.

5. Add the extras, then VAT

Disposal of old fittings, parking, access equipment and any building regulations notification are real costs, so give each its own line.

Add VAT only if you are VAT registered. GOV.UK says you must register if your taxable turnover for the last 12 months goes over £90,000, measured on a rolling 12 months rather than your tax year. The standard rate is 20%, but some goods and services carry a reduced or zero rate, so check GOV.UK's VAT rates if you are unsure. If you are not registered, say on the quote that no VAT is charged.

Extras, variations and the pipework you cannot see

Put one simple rule on the quote: if you find something that could not be seen at the survey, you stop, explain it, price it and only carry on once the customer agrees. Then write each change down as it happens.

• Corroded pipework or valves that will not shut off.
• Floorboards, tiles or boxing that have to come up to reach a run.
• Problems with the boiler or system that sit outside your scope.
• The customer upgrading taps, a shower or a radiator halfway through.

For each change, keep a short note of what it is, why it is needed, the price, the customer's agreement and the date. A photo makes the conversation easier.

Deposits, payment terms and how long the quote lasts

Put the deposit, any stage payments, the due date for the balance and a valid-until date on every quote. Customers rarely argue with terms they agreed before you started. They argue with terms they first hear about on the invoice.

Deposits and stage payments

How much deposit you ask for is your decision, but tie it to something real, such as a boiler, cylinder or bathroom suite you are ordering for that customer. Citizens Advice tells customers that if a deposit is worth more than the work done so far, they can propose a figure and ask for the difference back, so a deposit that matches what you have spent on their job is easier to defend than a round number. On a full bathroom or a heating system, set out stage payments linked to finished stages, such as first fix complete, rather than to dates.

When the balance is due

Write the due date in plain words, for example "balance due within 7 days of completion", and say how to pay. If your customer is a business, GOV.UK explains that on late business-to-business payments you can claim interest at 8% plus the Bank of England base rate, plus a fixed sum of £40, £70 or £100 depending on the size of the debt. If no payment date was agreed, the payment counts as late 30 days after the customer gets the invoice or you finish the service, whichever is later.

How long the price stands

There is no fixed rule, so choose a period and write a valid-until date on the quote. Prices for parts, sanitaryware and boilers move, and a clear date stops an old price being held against you. Citizens Advice says a trader generally cannot raise an accepted quote just because their own costs have gone up, so that date is what protects you if a customer comes back months later.

Rules plumbers should know before quoting

Three sets of rules affect what goes on a plumbing quote: who may do gas work, when building regulations apply, and how you are paid when you work for a contractor.

Gas work

HSE says anyone employed to work on gas appliances in domestic premises must be a Gas Safe registered engineer, and the engineer's ID card shows which appliances they are qualified to work on. Only quote for gas work your registration covers, and if you are not registered, leave gas work out of the quote altogether.

Building regulations

GOV.UK lists installing a bathroom that involves plumbing, installing or replacing a heating system and adding extra radiators as work that might need building regulations approval. Replacing baths, toilets, basins and sinks does not need approval. If you are registered with a competent person scheme, the customer does not need to get approval themselves. Where notification applies, price the time and any fee on the quote.

Taking waste away

If you take waste away in your van, check your registration. GOV.UK says a business that transports waste in England must register as a waste carrier, and that registration usually costs nothing if you only carry waste you produce yourself. Put disposal on the quote as its own line so the customer can see it.

Working for a contractor: CIS and the VAT reverse charge

If you work as a subcontractor for a builder or main contractor, the Construction Industry Scheme will usually apply. GOV.UK says contractors deduct 20% from payments to registered subcontractors, 30% from unregistered ones and nothing for those with gross payment status. The deduction is worked out after taking off VAT and materials the subcontractor paid for, among other items, so show materials as their own line on your quote and invoice.

If you are VAT registered and you work for a VAT-registered contractor who reports the payment under CIS, the VAT domestic reverse charge usually applies: the customer accounts for the VAT to HMRC instead of paying it to you. HMRC's technical guide says the invoice must say "reverse charge" and make clear the customer must account for the VAT. It does not apply to work for householders, or to a customer who has told you in writing that they are an end user or intermediary supplier (GOV.UK guidance).

Put it in writing, and know the cancellation rules

Send every quote in writing and get the acceptance in writing too: a signature, an email reply or an online accept button. Citizens Advice describes a quote as a promise to do the work at an agreed price, and an estimate as the trader's best guess at the cost. If you can see and price the whole job, call it a quote. If part of it cannot be known until you start, say so, and either call it an estimate or quote the known part and list your assumptions.

If you agree the job with a customer in their home, it is usually an off-premises contract. Business Companion, the Chartered Trading Standards Institute's guidance for businesses, says the customer then normally has 14 days to cancel a contract for services, starting the day after the contract was made. If you do not give them the cancellation information, that period can be extended by up to 12 months. To start inside the 14 days, the customer must expressly ask you to in a durable medium such as an email, and if they then cancel they pay for the work done up to that point. Contracts of £42 or less are exempt. Business Companion also says there is no right to cancel where the customer specifically asked you to call to carry out urgent repairs or maintenance, although other goods or services you sell on the same visit keep that right.

Common plumbing quote mistakes

Most underpriced plumbing jobs lose money on the parts of the job that do not feel like plumbing.

• Leaving out draining down, refilling, testing and clearing up.
• Forgetting sundries such as clips, sealant and fixings, or pricing from the shelf rather than your account.
• Not saying who supplies the suite, taps or appliance.
• A vague scope such as "plumbing work to bathroom".
• No valid-until date, so an old price is held against you.
• Mentioning the call-out charge only on the invoice.
• Agreeing extras by word of mouth and never writing them down.

Quote on site with Graft'd

Graft'd is a quoting, invoicing and job app for UK tradespeople. Talk or type the job and it builds the quote with a plain-English scope of works for you to check. Parts are priced from supplier guide prices or your own rates, and it is set up for the way plumbers price, per job, per item or per day. Your customer accepts the quote online, you invoice in one tap and get paid through your own payment link, and Graft'd chases late payers for you. Job notes, photos and receipts stay with the job, and CIS and the VAT reverse charge are handled on invoices. For plumbers and gas engineers it also keeps landlord gas safety and service records.

It runs in your phone's browser, so there is nothing to download from an app store.