What a quote must say

A quote is a promise with a price on it. The price only means something if both sides agree on what is being promised: which parts, to which drawing and revision, in which material and finish, in what quantity, delivered how and when, and with what left out. Most quoting disputes are not about arithmetic. They are about scope: a finish the estimator did not see, a quantity the customer changed, a packaging requirement nobody priced, a revision that arrived after the quote went out. A shop that states its scope precisely can defend its price; one that does not ends up absorbing the difference.

This chapter sets out how to read an enquiry for everything that drives cost, and what the quote itself must say. The running case reads the EN-700 enquiry and finds, on a general-notes sheet the estimator had not opened, a powder-coat finish that would have cost the job about A$2,926 at 50 off had it not been priced.

Reading the enquiry

Before any arithmetic, the estimator reads the whole enquiry, every drawing sheet, every specification and every note, and lists everything that will cost money. For a sheet metal job, that means:

• parts and quantities: every part number, how many per assembly, and the quantities to be quoted;
• drawings and revisions: which revision of each drawing applies;
• materials: grade, thickness, coating, and any requirement for certificates;
• processes: cutting, folding, joining, hardware, and any special methods the drawing requires;
• finish: coating, colour, masking, and inspection of the finish;
• inspection and testing: first-article inspection, test reports, dimensional reports;
• packaging and delivery: how the parts are to be packed, labelled and delivered, and when;
• commercial terms: payment, validity, warranty, and any penalties.

Anything not found should be asked about, in writing, before the quote is priced. An assumption made silently becomes a dispute later.

Figure 1Reading the EN-700 enquiry

• Do: Parts list and quantities20, 50 and 200 off; one enclosure per set
• Do: Drawing set and revisionRevision B of all sheets
• Do: Materials1.2 mm galvanised steel, 2.0 mm aluminium, 2.0 mm steel
• Do: HardwareHinge, latch, gasket, rivets, self-clinching nuts, earth stud
• Do: FinishPowder coat, grey, on the general-notes sheet
• Do: TestingWater spray test on 1 in 10, per the specification
• Do: PackagingIndividual cartons, labelled with order number
• Ask: DeliveryCustomer's site or ex-works; asked in writing

The running case: the EN-700 enquiry

This is an illustration. The customer sends a drawing set for EN-700 at revision B: a general arrangement, a general-notes sheet, detail drawings of each part, and a short specification for testing and packaging. It asks for prices at 20, 50 and 200 off, delivered to its site within six weeks of order.

The estimator’s first pass lists the parts from the detail drawings: the back panel, two side panels, roof, base and rain hood in 1.2 mm galvanised steel; the door and cable plate in 2.0 mm aluminium; the equipment plate and two brackets in 2.0 mm steel; and the bought-in hinge, latch, gasket and fasteners. Each part’s blank, cut, bends and joints are counted in the following chapters.

The error: a finish on the general-notes sheet

This is an illustration. The detail drawings showed the parts as “galvanised, no further finish”. The estimator priced them that way. The general-notes sheet, which the estimator had not opened because it contained no parts, stated: “all external surfaces powder coated, grey, after assembly”. The customer’s purchase order would have referred to the whole drawing set.

A reviewer checking the quote before it went out opened every sheet, as the shop’s checklist required, and found the note. Powder coating EN-700’s parts, about 3.9 m² of surface per enclosure counting both faces of the panels, door and plates, at an illustrative A$15 per square metre including masking, would add about A$58.52 per enclosure, about A$2,926 at 50 off. Priced as galvanised only, the job would have delivered that amount of free coating or a dispute about whose reading of the drawings was right.

The quote was revised to include the coating and, because coated sheet changes some processes, the estimator asked the customer two questions in writing: whether the inside surfaces were to be coated too, and whether the coating was to be applied before or after the clinched seams, which affects both cost and the coating’s integrity at the joints, as Sheet Metal Joints by the Numbers explains. The answers became part of the quote’s scope. The shop also changed its checklist’s first line from “read the drawings” to “open and read every sheet in the set, including general notes and title blocks”, because the general sheet is where finishes, tolerances and inspection requirements most often hide.

Figure 2Effect of the missed finish on the EN-700 quote at 50 off, ex GST

Coating per enclosureA$58.52

Coating for 50 enclosuresA$2,926

What the quote must say

A quote’s text matters as much as its price. EN-700’s quote states:

• the drawings and revisions quoted: drawing set revision B, listed sheet by sheet;
• quantities and price per quantity: each price break separately, with the price per enclosure and the total;
• inclusions: material, fabrication, hardware listed, powder coat as specified, water testing as specified, cartons and labels, delivery to the customer’s site;
• exclusions: cable glands, installation, anything not on the listed drawings, and changes after order;
• assumptions: each answer to the estimator’s questions, and any point the customer has not yet answered;
• validity: 30 days, because sheet and aluminium prices move;
• lead time: from order and approved drawings, not from enquiry;
• GST: prices stated excluding GST, with GST shown separately, as Chapter 8 explains;
• payment and warranty terms.

A quote that lists its drawings and revisions protects both sides: if revision C arrives, it is plainly a different job, to be requoted, not a change the shop must absorb. The wording should be plain enough that someone who was not in any of the conversations, a new buyer at the customer or a new manager at the shop, can read the quote a year later and understand exactly what was offered.

Questions in writing

When an enquiry is unclear, the estimator asks, and keeps the question and answer with the quote. A phone call is quicker but leaves nothing to point to later. For EN-700, the estimator’s written questions covered delivery, the inside finish, the coating’s timing, whether the customer would supply the latch or wanted it bought in, and whether the 200-off quantity would be called off in one batch or in several. That last question matters more than it looks: 200 enclosures made in four batches of 50 cost more than 200 made at once, because every batch carries its own setups, as Chapter 7 shows.

The quote’s own bill of materials

The estimator’s working sheet starts as a bill of materials: every part, its material and thickness, its quantity per enclosure, and every bought-in item. For EN-700 it has nine made parts, counting the two side panels and two brackets as one line each with a quantity of two, and a list of bought-in hardware. Each line then gathers its blank size, its cutting perimeter, its bends and its joints in the chapters that follow. Building the quote from this list, rather than from a general impression of the product, makes it checkable: a reviewer can see each part and each operation, and can see at once if one is missing. Bills of Materials by the Numbers covers the structure of such a list; for a quote, a single level is usually enough.

Lead time is part of the promise

A quote’s lead time is as much a commitment as its price. Six weeks from order for EN-700 depends on the sheet and aluminium being available, the coating subcontractor’s queue, and the shop’s own capacity on its laser and folder at the time the order arrives. The estimator checks each before stating a lead time, and states it from order and approved drawings, not from the date of the quote, because an order placed three weeks after the quote arrives into a different workshop load.

Figure 3The EN-700 quote, from enquiry to order

1. Day 0Enquiry received; drawing set revision B
2. Day 1Every sheet read; questions sent in writing
3. Day 3Answers received; quote built from the parts list
4. Day 4Quote reviewed against the checklist; finish note found
5. Day 5Quote sent, valid 30 days, lead time six weeks from order
6. Day 19Follow-up call; customer confirms 50 off
7. Day 21Order received at revision B; lead time starts

Price breaks and call-offs

Quoting at several quantities is common, and each price break must be calculated, not guessed by applying a discount to the lowest quantity. The cost per enclosure falls with quantity because setups, programming, first-article inspection and some material effects are spread over more units, as Chapter 7 shows. It falls only if the larger quantity is made in one batch. A customer who orders 200 at the 200-off price and then calls them off 25 at a time has bought the cost structure of a batch of 25. The quote should therefore state that each price assumes manufacture and delivery in a single batch of the quoted quantity, or price the call-off pattern the customer actually intends.

Customer-supplied items

Sometimes a customer supplies part of the job: a latch it buys in bulk, a nameplate, a component to be fitted. Customer-supplied items reduce the quote’s material cost but add risks that should be priced or stated. The items may arrive late and hold up the job, arrive short, or arrive damaged or not to the drawing. EN-700’s customer offered to supply the door latches. The quote accepted, stating that the latches must arrive at the shop two weeks before the build, that the shop would inspect them on receipt for quantity and damage only, and that delays caused by late or faulty latches would extend the lead time. The shop’s labour to fit them remained in the price.

Revisions after the quote

Drawings change, and the change often arrives after the quote has been sent or even after the order. A revision may add a hole, change a thickness, move a bend or alter a finish, each of which can change the cost. The quote’s list of drawings and revisions makes the rule simple: an order at revision B is priced at revision B; revision C is a change, to be reviewed and, if it changes cost, requoted before it is made. A shop that quietly absorbs every small revision loses a little on every job, and the losses add up across a year.

A second pair of eyes

A quote reviewed by someone other than its estimator, against a checklist, catches the errors that its author cannot see. The review need not be long: every sheet opened, every part on the list, every operation counted, every rate current, the scope text matching the price. EN-700’s missed finish was found this way, in a ten-minute review. A shop too small to have two estimators can still separate the tasks in time, building a quote one day and reviewing it the next, which catches a surprising share of the same errors.

Quoting time is a cost too

Every quote takes time, and most quotes do not become orders. A shop that spends four hours on every enquiry and wins one in four spends sixteen hours of estimating for every job it gets. That time is an overhead, recovered in the rates of Chapter 8, and it is worth managing: simple, repeat or low-value enquiries can be priced quickly from records of similar jobs, while complex or high-value ones get the full treatment of this book. EN-700, a multi-part product at three quantities with a possible repeat order, merits the full treatment.

Budget prices and firm quotes

Customers sometimes ask for a budget price, an approximate figure to help them plan, before the design is final. A budget price should say so plainly, give its basis and its likely accuracy, and not be confused later with a firm quote. A firm quote is priced from complete drawings and states its scope as above. Turning a budget price into an order without requoting from the final drawings is a common way to lose money, because designs nearly always gain parts, finishes and tolerances between the budget and the order.

Exercise: the inside finish

The customer answers that the inside surfaces are not to be powder coated, only the external surfaces. If the external surfaces are about half of the 3.9 m² per enclosure, but masking the inside faces adds an illustrative A$4 per enclosure, what is the coating cost per enclosure and for 50 off? What should the quote now say?

Worked answer. External surfaces are about 3.9 ÷ 2 = 1.95 m², costing 1.95 × A$15 = A$29.26, plus A$4 of masking: about A$33.26 per enclosure, and about A$1,663 for 50 off, against A$2,926 for coating both faces.

The quote should state that powder coating is to external surfaces only, grey as specified, with internal surfaces left galvanised; that internal faces are masked; and that the coating is applied after assembly, as the general note requires. It should refer to the customer’s written answer by date, so that the scope is traceable if the finish is questioned on delivery.