Finish a first quote you can review and use.

1. Choose a project and control the source pack

Finish with: One named source pack and a short list of open questions.

Use a real but non-urgent extension, refurbishment, conversion or similar whole-building project. A job you already understand is useful for checking the first result. Gather the current drawings, specification, schedules and project notes. Remove superseded revisions and unrelated files.

• Record each file’s name, revision and date. Keep unresolved selections and missing documents visible.
• Add site facts the drawings cannot show: restricted access, occupied areas, working hours, protection, waste routes and who supplies particular items.
• State the pricing purpose and scope boundaries. For example, distinguish removing a floor from supplying and installing its replacement.
• Keep supplier quotations and your own quantities/rates alongside the source pack so you can check the important lines.

Use the project-pack checklist · blank editable sheet · completed example · printable example. For more detail, read how to turn drawings into a controlled scope.

2. Create the project with a clear pricing basis

Finish with: A project whose identity, source set and commercial purpose are clear.

Sign in to your workspace, or create your account for the free first project. Use the project-creation workflow in your workspace, name the job consistently and add the controlled source pack. Keep your project description specific enough to explain what is being priced.

• Confirm the business/workspace issuing the quote, the currency and the intended tax basis.
• Check company contact details before producing a client document. The full rate-library, branding and workspace setup can be completed when you need it.
• Use current project information and record the open scope questions before starting the first pass.

Business settings and your own rates is the deeper setup guide. You can return to it for labour, plant, trade-rate evidence and report branding.

3. Read the first pass before changing numbers

Finish with: A first pass with a clear review order, rather than an unchecked final price.

Start the first-pass workflow and follow the progress shown in the workspace. Generation time and the time you spend checking the quote are different. Use the current progress/expected-time message in the application; a more detailed pack can need more review.

• When the result is available, check the project description and document audit against the files you supplied.
• Read the total, likely range, confidence and review warnings together. A completeness indicator is not approval of every quantity or rate.
• Choose the high-value or uncertain packages to review first; do not work through the rows at random.
• If there is an error or progress is unclear, use the generation support checks before starting another run.

See the written estimate-health task or the complete screenshot walkthrough.

4. Check a package you know well

Finish with: An estimator-owned price with recorded decisions and clear remaining qualifications.

Open one important line and follow its evidence. Check the scope, quantity and unit first, then labour, materials, plant and the commercial assumptions. Replace draft values with project evidence where required and record why you accepted or changed them.

• Trace quantities to the drawing, specification, supplied note or assumption that supports them. If the label and the source disagree, record the discrepancy and verify the measurement.
• Confirm labour hours and rate fit the crew and site conditions. Distinguish person-hours from elapsed programme duration.
• Match materials by product family, specification, pack/coverage and unit. Check waste, delivery, VAT and supplier validity before using a price.
• Make inclusions, exclusions, allowances and questions explicit. Resolve material risks or state their treatment before issue.
• Use the quote’s review controls only after completing the checks, not merely because you opened a line.

The fixed-price review checklist · blank editable sheet · completed example · printable example helps you record the decision. For quantity evidence, use the reasoning task; for prices, use the material-review walkthrough.

5. Generate, open and inspect the client report

Finish with: A checked client document and a clear issue decision.

Choose the report for its reader. The Scope of Work is the formal quotation; the Client Budget Report gives a plain-English summary. Internal cost and material reports are useful for your own checking and purchasing. Use the report walkthrough to inspect the options.

• Confirm the report pricing template agrees with the reviewed estimate on margin, contingency, VAT and scope.
• Complete the customer name, address and cover message. Select the sections the reader needs while retaining material assumptions and exclusions.
• Download the document and open it. Check the client total, displayed VAT/rounding, recipient, scope and qualifications; compare with the reviewed version.
• After actually sending the checked quote, record the client-seen version using the issue workflow. A download alone does not mean a client received it.

Use the price and handover checklist · blank editable sheet · completed example · printable example. Stephen’s story describes one builder getting a detailed quote to his customer; your own result depends on the pack and review.

Returning with another job? Keep the useful evidence and price the next project.

Return to business defaults when you need them

The detailed Settings walkthrough now has its own guide. Use it for reusable pricing evidence, company details and branding.

• Profile and locale
• Company and reports
• Markets and pricing
• Rates, plant and libraries
• Workspace branding

Check the business setup before relying on its defaults.