How to Quote When Material Costs Keep Changing

When steel, cement or imported parts change price between your quote and your purchase, your profit can disappear. You can't control the market, but you can control the risk you take on.

Shorten your validity period

Only hold a price as long as your supplier will. If a supplier's price is good for 10 days, a 30-day validity leaves you exposed for 20 days. See validity periods.

Get supplier quotes first

For expensive materials, get a current written price before you quote. Note its expiry date. It's better to delay your quotation by a day than to guess.

Add a price-adjustment clause

For large or long projects, you can state this openly:

"Prices are based on material costs on the date of this quotation. If the cost of [named material] changes by more than 5% before purchase, the price will be adjusted, and we'll show you the supplier's price."

Be specific and fair, and apply it in both directions if possible. Get legal advice for large contracts.

Separate materials and labour

Showing materials on their own line makes any later change easier to explain and keeps labour unaffected.

Include a contingency where appropriate

On uncertain jobs, build in a reasonable allowance, or show a clearly labelled contingency line that's only used if needed.

Buy early

If the client accepts, consider buying key materials as soon as the deposit arrives. That's one more reason to take a deposit that covers them.

Talk early

If costs change, tell the client before it becomes a problem. Showing the supplier's updated price makes the conversation factual and much less awkward.

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