How to quote a plumbing job (UK): step by step, from the survey to the signed quote

TL;DR: Look at the job first. List every fitting and length of pipe. Price labour task by task, including the merchant run and making good. Add waste, testing and a fair margin. Then write a quote (a fixed price), saying what's included, what isn't, how long the price lasts, and what happens if you find a problem you couldn't see. If customers sign up in their own homes, read the Trading Standards guidance on cancellation rights first.

• Quote: a fixed price for the work you've described.
• Estimate: your best guess, and the final bill can move.

Customers read the two very differently. Citizens Advice tells customers to ask for a quote, so expect them to.

For planned work like bathrooms and radiators, give a quote. For emergencies, agree your call-out charge and hourly rate before you start, and put it in a text.

Go and look for anything bigger than a tap washer. Take photos.

Check:

1. Pipe material and condition. Copper, plastic, lead? Signs of old leaks?
2. Stopcock and isolation valves. Do they work? If not, that's extra time.
3. Water pressure and the hot water system. Combi, cylinder, gravity? It changes what you can fit.
4. Access. Floor types, boxing-in, tiling, parking, stairs.
5. Waste and drainage. Falls, where the waste runs, any shared drains.
6. What the customer actually wants. Write their list down with them, item by item.

If something needs fixing before you can start, say so now.

Go room by room:

• pipe by type and length
• fittings, valves, brackets, clips
• the main items (radiator, shower, basin, WC)
• sundries: PTFE, flux, solder, silicone, jointing compound, fixings

Then:

1. Price it from your merchant today.
2. Allow for waste and offcuts.
3. Add your markup the same way on every job.

Forgotten sundries and a second merchant run are where small jobs lose their profit.

Break it down: strip out, first fix, second fix, testing, commissioning, making good, clean-up.

Then add the time people forget:

• travel and parking
• the merchant run
• draining down and refilling
• waste disposal trips
• a return visit if something has to settle or be re-checked

Multiply by your hourly or day rate. If you haven't set your rate from your real costs yet, start with how much a plumber should charge in the UK.

Many plumbers keep a fixed price list for common jobs: tap replacement, toilet fill valve, radiator swap, washing machine connection. Customers like knowing the price, and you save time quoting.

Build each menu price from:

1. your usual time for that job
2. typical parts
3. travel
4. your margin

Then add a line: "Price assumes standard access and working isolation valves. If not, I'll tell you before I carry on." Keep bigger jobs on a full written quote.

• Gas work. Read HSE's gas safety FAQs and check your Gas Safe registration covers the job before you quote. If it doesn't, point the customer to a registered engineer.
• Bathrooms and heating. Check GOV.UK's building regulations approval pages, or your competent person scheme, to see whether the job needs notifying. Cover the time and any fee in your price.

Citizens Advice tells customers a quote should include:

• a fixed total price, not a daily rate
• a breakdown of the work and materials
• separate costs for each material and part of the work
• how long the price is valid for
• whether the price includes VAT
• when the price can go up, for example only if they agree to extra work

Add these too:

• What's not included, for example tiling, decorating, moving furniture, disposal of the old suite.
• Hidden problems: "If I find damage I couldn't see at the survey, I'll stop, show you, and agree the cost in writing before I carry on."
• Payment terms and any deposit for materials.

VAT: if you're registered, say clearly if your price includes VAT or if VAT is added on top. Check GOV.UK's VAT registration page to see when registering applies to you.

Plumbers get caught by this more than most, because so many jobs are agreed on the doorstep or during a call-out. Before you take sign-ups in customers' homes:

1. Read the official guidance. Business Companion, the Trading Standards guidance site, has a quick guide to off-premises sales. It covers cancellation periods, what information to give, urgent repairs and starting work early.
2. Keep a cancellation form and notice ready to hand over with your quote.
3. Get it in writing if a customer asks you to start straight away.
4. Treat emergency work and extra work separately. Write up the urgent repair and any extra job you sell on the same visit as separate lines, and check the guidance for how each is treated.
5. Note where each job was agreed (in their home, by phone, by email).

1. Ring or text two or three days after sending a quote.
2. After each job, compare your actual hours and materials with the quote.
3. Adjust your menu prices and your next quote.

The Plumber Pricing Calculator — Premium (£14.99) is one Excel workbook with 25 plumbing services pre-loaded, from tap repairs to unvented cylinders and CCTV drain surveys. You enter your hourly rate, materials, travel and waste, and it builds a quote-ready total with your margin. It has adjustable rates for emergency, weekend and standard work, plus a quote builder for bathrooms.

For the paperwork, the Plumber Business Documents — Premium (£19.99) includes a Quote & Estimate Form, a Plumbing Survey & Assessment and a Service Agreement & Terms, among 17 templates.

They survey the job, list materials, estimate labour task by task, add travel, waste and margin, and give a written fixed-price quote. Small repeat jobs are often priced from a menu.

Materials at today's merchant price plus your markup, labour hours times your rate, plus travel, waste disposal, any notification costs and return visits. Check the total against your menu price for similar jobs.

Not without talking to the customer first. Say in the quote when the price can change. If you find something extra, stop, show them and agree the cost in writing before you carry on.

It depends on where and how the job is agreed, and emergency work is treated differently. Business Companion's guide to off-premises sales explains it. Read it before you take sign-ups in customers' homes.

A quote for planned work. For emergencies, agree your call-out and hourly rate before you start and confirm it by text.

All accessed 1 October 2026.

• Citizens Advice, "Before you get work done on your home" (quote vs estimate; what a quote should include)
• Business Companion, "Consumer contracts: off-premises sales" (cancellation rights for contracts agreed in the customer's home)
• HSE, "Gas safety: frequently asked questions"
• GOV.UK, "Building regulations approval: when you need approval"
• GOV.UK, "Register for VAT: when to register"

This article is general guidance, not legal advice. Check the Business Companion guidance or take advice for your situation.