Split the project into sections
Group the work by phase or by trade: demolition, structure, roofing, services… That way the customer understands it and you keep it under control.
Building quote template: what it includes and how to write one
A construction quote is built item by item: each line is a piece of work with its unit, quantity, rate and amount. Here is a building quote template with the columns you can't leave out, an example and the steps to get it right, in Excel or in software.
What it is
How do you write a construction quote?
A construction quote is the offer you give the customer with all the work you are going to do, split into items and grouped into sections. Each item says what is done, how it is measured (m², m, m³, kg, nr…), how much will be done and at what rate.
The amount of each item is its quantity times its rate, and the quote total is the sum of them all. It sounds simple, but everything that follows depends on that document: what is built, what is valued each month and what is invoiced. That's why your template should always keep the same structure.
Construction quote template
The columns of the template
These are the columns of an itemised construction quote template, like a priced bill of quantities, with what goes in each one.
| Column | What goes in it | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Code | The section and item number. | 01.01 |
| Unit | How the work is measured: m², m, m³, kg, nr… | m² |
| Description | The work to be done and what it includes. | Supply and installation of sandwich panels |
| Quantity | The number of units, taken from the drawings or measured on site. | The m² of roof |
| Rate | What one unit costs, including your margin. | The rate per m² |
| Amount | The quantity times the rate. | 1.240,00 € |
Construction quote example
An example with sections and items
The sample quote from the Gestrab demo: a roof in two sections (sample data).
| Code | Unit | Item | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01.01 | m² | Supply and installation of sandwich panels | 1.240,00 € |
| 01.02 | m | Galvanised steel gutter | 386,50 € |
| 02.01 | m² | Removal of the existing roof | 2.115,00 € |
| Total | 3.741,50 € |
Step by step
How to write a construction quote without mistakes
Describe every item
What it includes and what it doesn't: materials, labour and equipment. A vague description is the first argument with the customer.
Measure carefully
Each item in its own unit. A measurement error carries into the amount and then into every valuation.
Price each unit
What one unit of that item really costs you, plus your margin.
Check the total
Add up the sections, check the total and send the quote with your company's branding.
Use it as the basis for the project
If the customer accepts it, that quote is the reference for everything that is built, valued and invoiced.
Excel or software
A construction quote in Excel: where it falls short
A building quote template in Excel is fine to get started. The trouble starts when the customer accepts the quote and the work begins.
- The quote stays in one file and the project is run in another: the items have to be typed in again.
- Each month's valuations are done in another sheet, copying quantities and rates.
- Nobody sees the quoted, completed and invoiced amount of each item at the same time.
- Copies of the file multiply and it's not always clear which one is right.
Before you send it, also check the costly measurement mistakes (in Spanish).
With Gestrab
From construction quote to project without retyping it
In Gestrab the estimate is built item by item, with quantities, rate and amount, and printed with your company's layout. When the customer accepts it, the project is created from the estimate.
From then on each item tracks its planned, completed, certified and invoiced quantity. The project is planned in work orders, carried out with job sheets from the phone and invoiced cumulatively. See how it works in estimates and projects and how the valuations follow in this interim valuation example.
What columns does a building quote template need?
The item code, unit of measurement, description of the work, quantity, unit rate and amount (quantity times rate), grouped into sections with the total at the end.
Can I write the construction quote in Excel?
Yes, it works to get started. But once the customer accepts it, the items have to be copied into the project, the valuations and the invoices. In Gestrab the project is created from the estimate, with no retyping.
Which companies is Gestrab for?
For companies in the construction sector: building work, installations, refurbishments, roofing, maintenance… Any company that prices its work item by item, carries out projects with its own staff, and certifies and invoices the work done.
Does it handle cumulative and certificate-based invoicing?
Yes. Each project tracks the planned, completed, certified and invoiced quantity, and progress is invoiced cumulatively. There are also manual invoices and automatic invoicing of pending delivery notes and recurring services.
Gestrab
More from Gestrab
Interim valuations and progress invoicing
Planned, completed, certified and invoiced quantities for every item, with progress invoiced cumulatively.
Job sheets from the phone
The field staff app: the day's work orders, working day, mileage and the job sheet signed by the customer.
Job costing per project
Labour, materials, overheads and travel for every job sheet and every project.
Estimates and projects
Itemised estimates that become projects, and work orders to plan them.
Interim valuation example
A cumulative valuation item by item: this month, previous valuations and what goes on the invoice.
From estimate to invoice
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