Is a Quote Legally Binding?

Is a quote legally binding? Yes, once your customer accepts it: a quote is an offer, and acceptance turns it into a contract to do the described work at the quoted price. Before acceptance you can withdraw or change it. After acceptance, the price only moves if the quote allowed for it or you and the customer agree a change.

A quote is an offer, not a formality

Plenty of people treat a quote like a brochure. Something you send to look professional, then sort the real price out on the job. That’s backwards.

In contract law a quote is an offer. When the customer accepts it, you have a contract, and it doesn’t need a signature. An email saying “go ahead”, a deposit landing in your account, or letting you start on the Monday can all be acceptance.

Once that happens you’re both bound. You to do the work described for the price stated. Them to pay it.

Before it’s accepted, you’re free. You can withdraw it, reprice it, or let it lapse. An offer ends when its stated time runs out or, if you never stated one, after a reasonable time. “Reasonable” is exactly the word you don’t want to be arguing about when copper’s gone up since you priced it. Put a date on it.

Quote or estimate: which one binds you?

A quote is a fixed price for defined work. An estimate is your best guess at a price that could move. The full split is in quote vs estimate.

Here’s the bit that catches people out. Writing “estimate” at the top doesn’t protect you if everything underneath reads like a firm price.

Section 50 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 says anything you say or write to a consumer about the service becomes a term of the contract if they take it into account when deciding to go ahead. It’s subject to any qualification you gave them on the same occasion. So the qualification has to be on the document, next to the number, not mentioned on the phone three weeks later.

Section 51 covers the gap. Where no price is fixed, the consumer pays a reasonable price for the service, and no more. An estimate of £2,000 that turns into a £4,500 invoice with no warning is going to struggle to look reasonable.

The rule of thumb: quote when you can see the job. Estimate when you can’t, and say in writing what would change the number.

What to put on a quote so it protects you

Scope. What you’re doing, item by item, room by room. Vague scope is where every row starts.

Exclusions. What you’re not doing: making good, decorating, skip hire, disposal of old kit.

Assumptions. “Assumes existing circuits are serviceable.” “Assumes clear access to the loft.”

Validity period. “This quote is valid for 30 days.”

A variations clause. Any change to the scope gets priced and agreed in writing before the work is done.

Payment terms. Deposit, stages, when each payment is due. See payment terms for trade work.

How to accept. Sign it, or reply to the email saying so.

If you’d rather not write that wording from scratch, the terms and conditions builder puts the clauses together for you.

What happens when the job changes

Once the quote is accepted, the price is the price. It only moves if the quote allowed for it or the customer agrees the change, and that agreement needs to be clear and on record. A nod in the hallway is not an agreement you can show anyone.

Worked example

You quote £3,800 to rewire a kitchen. The quote lists the circuits, excludes making good, assumes the existing wiring back to the board is serviceable, and is valid for 30 days. The customer accepts by email.

Day two, they ask for 4 extra double sockets and under-cabinet lighting. You price it: 4 sockets at £85 is £340, the lighting circuit is £420. That’s a £760 variation. You email it, they reply “yes, go ahead”. New contract total: £4,560.

Day three, you open up a wall and find old rubber-insulated cable feeding the kitchen. Your assumption didn’t hold, so you price the remedial work at £650 and send it before touching it. They agree. Total: £5,210, every pound of it in writing.

Now run it the other way. You do the sockets and the lighting on a verbal “yeah, fine”, and the £760 turns up for the first time on the final invoice. The customer says the quote was £3,800. You’re now arguing about what a reasonable price is, after the work’s done, with nothing on paper. Same job. Same £760. The only difference is one email.

Common mistakes

No validity date. Your price sits there forever and gets accepted four months later at last spring’s material costs.

"Estimate" on top, fixed price everywhere else. The customer relies on the number. Section 50 means that number can become the contract.

No exclusions. If making good isn’t written as excluded, expect to be told it was included.

Extras on a nod. Every variation gets a price and a yes in writing before you pick up a tool.

Agreeing the job in their kitchen and forgetting cancellation rights. A consumer contract agreed at the customer’s home is an off-premises contract. The customer then has 14 days to cancel. If you don’t give them the required cancellation information, that period can stretch by up to 12 months.

Do this in FieldHive

The protection is all in the wording, so write it once and stop retyping it. Build your quote in the free quote and estimate builder: scope, exclusions, validity period and acceptance line, in your browser. When the job changes, price the extra properly with the job variation pricing calculator before you send it.

And if you want the accepted quote to become the job, then the invoice, without typing the price out again, that’s what the FieldHive app does. The number the customer said yes to is the number that ends up on the bill.

Aid, not advice

This guide explains when a quote becomes a binding contract so you can write quotes that protect you. It is not legal advice. Whether a particular quote binds you turns on its wording and on what was said and agreed, and consumer and business customers are treated differently. For a disputed or high-value job, get advice from a solicitor.

Correct as at September 2026: Consumer Rights Act 2015 ss.49 to 52; Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 regs 29 to 31. Contract formation (offer, acceptance, consideration) is common law.