How to write an electrician quote that wins the job at full price.

Why the quote wins the electrical job.

A customer choosing an electrician is doing something they cannot check. They cannot look behind the consumer unit and judge your work. So they judge the only thing they can see, which is your paperwork.

That is why the cheapest electrical quote does not always win. A written quote that names your scheme, your registration number and the standard you work to answers the question the customer is actually asking, which is "can I trust this person in my house with my family's safety".

Get that right and you stop competing on price with someone working cash-in-hand and unregistered.

The 9 things every electrical quote needs.

1. Your business details, and your scheme registration number.
2. A clear scope of works, circuit by circuit or room by room.
3. Itemised pricing: labour, materials, testing and certification.
4. The standard you work to, BS 7671 and the current amendment.
5. What certificate the customer receives at the end.
6. Whether the work is notifiable under Part P, and who notifies it.
7. Clear exclusions, especially making good and existing wiring faults.
8. Payment terms and stage payments on larger jobs.
9. A workmanship guarantee, and manufacturer warranties on parts.

Lead with your scheme registration.

If you are registered with NICEIC, NAPIT or another competent person scheme, that belongs at the top of the quote, not buried in the footer. Put the scheme name and your registration number where the customer will see it.

Most customers have been told to "check they are registered" by a family member, and most have no idea how. Making it easy for them removes the main reason they hesitate.

The same applies to insurance. One line saying you carry public liability cover, with the amount, does more work than a paragraph of reassurance.

How to price and itemise electrical work.

One number for a rewire tells the customer nothing and invites them to haggle. Break it down so each part can be understood and, where relevant, removed.

A sensible structure for most domestic jobs:

• Labour, priced by day rate or by circuit, with the number of days stated.
• Materials, listed by the main items: consumer unit, cable, accessories, containment.
• Testing and certification, as its own line, because it is real work and real cost.
• Making good, either priced or explicitly excluded. Never left vague.

Itemising also protects you when the customer asks to trim the price. They can drop the extra sockets, not your testing time.

Certification, notification and who pays.

Say plainly what the customer gets at the end. For most installation work that is an Electrical Installation Certificate. For smaller alterations it may be a Minor Electrical Installation Works Certificate. For a periodic inspection it is an EICR.

Where the work is notifiable under Part P of the Building Regulations, state who is notifying it and whether the cost is included in your price. This is the single most common source of argument at the end of an electrical job, and one sentence in the quote prevents it.

Inclusions and exclusions that stop disputes.

Electrical jobs go wrong at the edges, not in the middle. The disputes are almost never about the price of the consumer unit. They are about plastering, lifting carpets, and what happens when you open a wall and find something horrible.

Put these in writing every time:

• Making good to plaster and decoration: included, or excluded and by whom.
• Lifting and relaying floor coverings.
• Pre-existing faults found once work begins, and how they will be priced.
• Access requirements, and parking or permit costs.
• Removal of old materials and waste.

Payment terms for electrical jobs.

On a small job, payment on completion is fine. On a rewire or anything with a significant materials bill, do not fund the customer's project out of your own account.

A common structure is a deposit to cover materials, a stage payment at first fix, and the balance on completion and handover of certificates. Say when payment is due, in days, and what happens if it is late.

Holding the certificate until payment clears is a normal and reasonable term. State it up front rather than springing it at the end.

Common mistakes that lose electrical work.

• Quoting by text message. It reads as casual on work that is anything but.
• Hiding the scheme registration. It is your strongest asset. Lead with it.
• Burying certification in the price. Show it as a line so the customer values it.
• No exclusions. You end up plastering for free.
• No follow-up. Most quotes go quiet and are never chased. That is where the work goes.

Copy-paste electrical quote template.

Replace the brackets with your details. Send it as a PDF, not a message.

What to do next.

Rewrite your next quote using the structure above and send it as a PDF. Lead with your scheme number, itemise the testing, and put your exclusions in writing.

Then follow it up. Day 2 to check it arrived, day 5 to answer the quality question, day 10 to give a reason to decide. Most electricians send and hope. The follow-up is where the work is.