When you get a quote do you expect it to be broken down?

[JuanPotatoTwo]

Just had a quote for some work we're having done. In the quote he's listed everything he plans to do, fit and supply, but not costed each thing individually. No break down of labour and materials. So for all I know the figure he's come up with at the end could have little relation to the costs involved. Do quotes normally come itemised?

I do trust him and like him but still feel I'd like it all costed out. How could I word it without offending him do you think?

You have to ask your self.
Do you like his quote? Like him/her? Their reputation etc?
A quote is a quote - you won't be asked to pay more if the job runs over on time or materials - so what really is the point of breaking it down?

And yes if we are asked to break down a quote we know people are after getting the materials cheap off the internet themselves - the good tradesmen are far too busy to get involved in haggling and we don't entertain it.

You either want the job done at the price quoted or not - simples

IME builders don't like to be too specific as some things over run while others will be less than expected and they don't want you saying 'you said that job would take 27 minutes and you've taken 34 minutes'

You just have to weigh up if you're happy with the overall cost or not.

Not had a huge amount of quotes done but the quotes I have had, are as you described.

Someone once said that they don't give an exact costing breakdown for every small piece of the job for 2 reasons. It invites the customer to start haggling or the customer tries to set to quotes against each other to get a better deal.

So if a quote for a new bathroom when the customer is providing all the fittings, I would expect a list of what they will do and a final price. The quote may include a price for extras too.

If the job is much bigger, say a conservatory, utility and a new kitchen then I would expect a bigger breakdown but again, not into each and every part if the job.

Thanks for answers. I do like him and he has a good reputation I think. I don't want to haggle or source things myself, I just thought it was normal to have stuff itemised. But from your replies it seems that's not always so.

I'm in the rubble middle of building work and got a few quotes. One was not v itemised, one fairly well itemised, and another was fully itemised. But they were all itemised to some degree.

Went with the builder who itemised everything. But not because of the itemised quote really. Mostly because he was highly recommended, and when we met him, he seemed 'solid'.

You just need to make sure that ALL the work that you require doing is itemised. E.g boiler install would not just be 'remove boiler and replace with new' ££££

The quote should give a full breakdown of the work that will be done and then a total for it.

Just make sure you know what's included and what's not included. Also remember a quote is a fixed price, an estimate can go up or down.

Ok, thanks for further replies. Good point re quote v estimate too :)

His quote does give a full breakdown. lurking I don't envy you living in rubble - hope the end result is worth it.

If it was for example a bathroom, yes I would expect some sort of breakdown. The chap that did ours did this. He had a cost of materials separate to labour and we chose the bath, shower etc from his brochure. So we knew roughly what they cost. However we are having a new front door and have just had an all in one quote, as it consists of a door and him fitting it