What a written quote from a tradesperson should include
The hardest part of hiring for a larger job is not finding three quotes. It is that the three quotes describe different work, so the cheapest number is rarely the cheapest job. Getting them into a comparable shape is most of the skill.
A quote and an estimate are not the same thing
An estimate is an informed guess and is expected to move. A quote is an offer to do defined work for a stated price, and once you accept it you have an agreement. The CCPC’s guidance is direct about this: ask for a quote including VAT rather than an estimate, because a written quote is binding unless you change the job, while an estimate has no such standing. Plenty of disputes come from one side treating a document as a quote and the other treating it as an estimate, so establish which you have been given.
Where the full extent of the work genuinely cannot be known until something is opened up — a roof, a floor, old wiring — an honest tradesperson will say so and quote for the known work plus a stated rate for whatever is found. That is more trustworthy than a single confident number.
What should be written down
- Scope: what is being done, and explicitly what is not
- Materials: which products, which grade, and who buys them
- Preparation: often the biggest hidden difference between two quotes
- Access equipment: scaffolding or towers for anything above ground floor
- Waste removal: skips and disposal, and who pays
- Timeline: start date and expected duration, not just a price
- Payment schedule: staged against progress, not a large sum up front
- VAT: whether it is included, and the VAT number
- Who is doing the work: the named business, and whether any of it is subcontracted
Compare on scope, not on the bottom line
When one quote is noticeably lower, the usual explanation is that it covers less. Fewer coats, less preparation, cheaper materials, no waste removal, no scaffolding. None of that is dishonest if it is stated, but it does mean the numbers are not comparable until you line the scopes up side by side.
Ask each tradesperson the same written questions. Two quotes that answer the same list are comparable in a way that two free-form documents never are.
Deposits and staged payments
A deposit for materials on a large job is normal. Paying a large proportion of the total before work starts is not. Tie payments to identifiable stages of progress, and keep a meaningful final payment until the work is finished and you have seen it. A payment schedule should say what is paid at each stage, for what work, and how many payments there are in total.
Pay in a traceable way, and prefer a bank card for any large deposit. Deposits are usually non-refundable, but paying by card means the provider may be able to reverse the transaction through a chargeback if the business ceases trading. Cash with no receipt leaves you with no record if something goes wrong, and no VAT invoice.
If it goes wrong
The Consumer Rights Act 2022 strengthened consumer rights when buying services, so a poorly performed job is not simply bad luck. For smaller disputes, the small claims procedure is an inexpensive route and covers claims up to €2,000. This is another reason a written quote, a written scope and a paper trail of any changes matter: they are the evidence.
Insurance, registration and certificates
Ask for public liability insurance, and for employer’s liability where a team is involved. Some work carries a legal certification requirement on top: electrical work on a fuse board or a new circuit needs a Safe Electric registered contractor and a Completion Certificate, and any gas work must be done by a Registered Gas Installer who issues a Declaration of Conformance. Establish who is providing those certificates before the work starts, not after.
Larger structural work may also need planning permission or have Building Regulations implications. Check that early — it is not something a tradesperson’s quote will resolve for you.
Put changes in writing too
Most cost disputes come from changes agreed verbally mid-job. If the scope changes, get the change and its price confirmed by message or email before it goes ahead. A short written trail costs nothing and settles almost every argument that would otherwise come up at the end.