How do you write a quote for electrical work?
An electrical quote is the job written down so plainly that the customer can check it against the finished work: each item on its own line with where it goes and what it costs, the certificate they will get and who notifies building control, VAT shown separately if you charge it, a valid-until date, what is not included, and how and when you want to be paid. Your scheme registration goes on top, because it is the first thing a careful customer looks for.
Start with the scope, one line per item
The single most common cause of a dispute on electrical work is a quote that said “kitchen rewire” and a customer who thought that included the cooker circuit. Write the job the way you would walk it: room by room, item by item, with a quantity on every line. “Double socket, kitchen, 4” and “Double socket, hallway, 2” are two lines, not one line of six — the customer can count them on the wall afterwards, and so can you.
Put the location on the line, not just the item. Two lines both called “Double socket” at the same price look like a duplicate, and a customer who thinks they have spotted a mistake is a customer who now reads every other line looking for one.
- Accessories and fittings — sockets, switches, downlights, pendants — with the count and the room.
- Circuits and boards — a consumer unit change, a new cooker or shower circuit, an EV charger supply — with the rating where it matters.
- Labour, either folded into each line or as its own line at a stated rate. Either is fine; mixing the two on one quote is not.
- Testing and certification as its own line, even at £0, so the customer can see it is part of the job.
Say which certificate they get, and who notifies
Most domestic electrical work in England and Wales falls under Part P of the Building Regulations, and some of it — a new circuit, a consumer unit change, work in a bathroom — is notifiable. A customer rarely knows this, but they will ask about it the day they sell the house and the buyer's solicitor wants paperwork. So the quote should say, in one line, what they will receive when the job is done: an Electrical Installation Certificate for new circuits, a Minor Works Certificate for additions to an existing one, and, for notifiable work, that you will notify building control through your scheme (NICEIC, NAPIT or whichever you are registered with) and they will receive the compliance certificate.
That is also why your registration belongs in the header, not the small print. It is the claim the customer can check in thirty seconds on the scheme's website, and a quote that carries it reads differently from one that does not. If you are not registered with a competent-person scheme, say how the notifiable work will be signed off instead, and price the building control fee in.
Show VAT the way the invoice will
If you are VAT-registered, show the subtotal, the VAT as its own line, and the total the customer will actually pay. A quote that quietly shows net figures and an invoice that adds 20% is the second most common cause of a dispute. If you are not registered, a short line saying the price is not subject to VAT stops the question being asked. There is a separate guide on VAT on quotes for the edge cases.
Put a date on it
Cable and consumer units do not cost what they cost six months ago, and your diary fills up. A quote with no expiry is an open offer at today's prices for as long as the customer cares to sit on it. Thirty days is the usual figure; shorter if a large part of the price is a material whose cost is moving. When it lapses, re-quote rather than quietly honouring a price that no longer works — see how long a quote should be valid.
Write down what is not included
Electrical work leaves marks. Chased walls, lifted boards, holes for downlights — the customer may assume “make good” means decorated, and you may mean filled and left for the decorator. Say which. The usual exclusions on a domestic electrical quote are:
- Plastering and decorating beyond filling chases.
- Lifting and refitting fitted flooring, laminate or tiles.
- Remedial work on the existing installation found on inspection — price it as a separate quote when you find it, not as a surprise on the invoice.
- Supply of light fittings or accessories the customer is choosing themselves.
- Building control fees where you are not self-certifying.
Payment terms, in one line each
A deposit if you take one (and what it covers — usually materials), when the balance is due (on completion, on certification, within seven days), and how to pay. If you charge for a cancelled visit or a delayed start, this is where it goes. These are the same sentences every time, which is why they are the part most worth writing once and printing on everything.
A structure to copy
Top to bottom, an electrical quote that has all of the above reads like this:
- Your business name, address, phone, email, and scheme registration number.
- The word Quote, a quote number, the date, and the valid-until date.
- The customer's name and the address of the work.
- A one-line description of the job.
- The line items: item, location, quantity, unit price, line total.
- Subtotal, VAT (or “not subject to VAT”), total.
- Certification and notification: which certificate, who notifies.
- Exclusions.
- Payment terms.
Speak to Quote produces that document from a dictated description: you say the job walking round the house, the line items come back with locations and quantities, your registrations and terms are already in the header and footer, and the VAT lines are right because you set them once. The electrician page shows a worked example of a consumer unit change and a kitchen's worth of sockets, from what was said to what was sent.