What to Include on a Contractor Estimate
A checklist of everything a contractor estimate should carry, from license numbers to the exclusions line that prevents most disputes.
Go straight to the blank contractor estimate Free, no signup. Read on if you want the detail first.The header
Business name, address, phone, email, and license number where your state requires it on written contracts. Then the customer name and, separately, the job address.
Residential work constantly involves an owner who does not live at the property. Two address fields, always.
The scope
Line by line, in the customer's language rather than trade shorthand. "Tear off existing shingles and haul away" beats "T/O and disposal".
Then the exclusions line, which is the highest value sentence on the page.
The exclusions line, written out
Most estimates either have no exclusions at all or have a paragraph of legal language nobody reads. The version that works is short, specific to this job, and sits directly under the scope where the customer is already looking.
Something close to: not included, permits and permit fees, disposal beyond one load, moving or storing furniture, repair to framing or subfloor found in poor condition once finishes are removed, work outside normal hours. Six items, in plain words, each one naming a thing that has actually cost somebody money on a job like this one. Then a final clause saying anything found that is not listed in the scope is priced in writing before it is done.
The money
Subtotal, tax, deposit required to book the work, and the total. If you are asking for a deposit, say what it covers, usually materials.
Check whether your state caps residential deposits before you set one.
Put the payment schedule on it too
A total with a deposit and nothing in between leaves the customer to imagine the rest, and what they imagine is usually that they pay the balance when they are happy, which on a long job is not a schedule at all.
Name the points at which money moves and tie each one to something visible rather than to a date: on signing, on delivery of materials, at rough in, at substantial completion. A customer who can see where the money goes rarely argues about it, and you are not financing somebody else's project out of your own account.
The dates
The date you wrote it, the date it expires, and an indication of when you could start. A start window turns a price into a plan and wins jobs against identical numbers.
Sign lines are what turn it into an agreement
An estimate with a signature block and a line saying that signing accepts the scope, the price and the terms on the page does most of the work of a short contract. It costs you nothing, and on small jobs it is often the only signed document that will ever exist.
Leave room for both names, both dates, and a line for the customer to initial the exclusions. That last one sounds excessive and is the single cheapest way to end a conversation that starts with the words I never agreed to that.
The whole list, in order
If you check nothing else before sending, check this.
- Your business details and license number where required.
- Customer name and billing address, and the job address separately.
- A document number and the date you wrote it.
- Scope, itemized, in the customer's language.
- Exclusions, specific and short, right under the scope.
- Allowances for anything genuinely not yet knowable, with what happens above or below.
- Subtotal, tax, deposit and total.
- The payment schedule, tied to visible milestones.
- A valid until date and a realistic start window.
- The written change order sentence.
- Sign and date lines for both sides.
Free Contractor Estimate Template, free, no signup, PDF Word and Excel.
Questions people ask
Does an estimate need to be signed?
Nothing requires a signature for an estimate to be a valid offer, but a signed one is worth far more than an unsigned one. It proves what scope was accepted at what price, it fixes the exclusions in place, and on small jobs it is frequently the only signed document in existence. Add a signature block to the template once and it costs you nothing thereafter.
Should an estimate show labor and materials separately?
Usually yes on residential work, because itemized numbers get argued with far less than lump sums, and because a later change order is much easier to justify when the customer can see which half of the original moved. The exception is competitive commercial work, where the package often dictates the format and a lump sum with named alternates is what is being compared.
What deposit can I ask for?
Enough to cover material you have to buy before you start, which is the version a customer understands and agrees to. Several states cap deposits on residential improvement work as a percentage of the contract or as a fixed amount, and the figures are different in each of them, so check your own state licensing board before setting one. Always say on the document what the deposit is for.
How detailed should the scope be?
Detailed enough that somebody who has never seen the property could read it and know what you are going to do, and written in words the customer uses rather than trade shorthand. That is a higher bar than most estimates meet and it is the whole defense against a dispute, because almost every dispute is a disagreement about what was included.
Do I put my license number on an estimate?
Several states require it on written documents given to residential customers, with rules that vary on which documents and how prominently. Check your own board for the exact requirement. Including it everywhere is never a problem, so the practical answer is to build it into the template and stop thinking about it.
What if I find more work once I have started?
Stop, price it in writing, and get it approved before doing it. That is what the change order sentence on the estimate exists to make normal, and following it consistently is the difference between extra work being paid for and extra work being a gift. A change order should also say what it does to the completion date, because time is the part people forget to change.