How to Write a Professional Electrician Quote

Most electricians lose work they never hear about. The customer got three quotes, two of them were a text message with a number in it, and the job went to the one that looked like it came from a business. The work was the same. The paperwork wasn't.

This is what goes in a quote that wins, how to price it, and the compliance bits that have to be on there.

What to include in an electrical quote

Every quote you send should carry these, whether it's a £90 socket change or a £6,000 rewire:

• Your business details — trading name, address, phone, email, and your VAT number if you're registered.
• Your scheme registration — NICEIC, NAPIT, ELECSA or your competent person scheme, with the number. This is the single strongest trust signal on the page.
• The customer's details and the site address — these are often different, and getting it wrong on the invoice causes payment delays.
• A description of works in plain English. Not "electrical works as discussed".
• Itemised pricing with materials and labour shown separately.
• VAT shown as its own line, not folded into the total.
• Payment terms — when it's due, what happens if it isn't.
• A validity period — 14 to 30 days is normal. Without one, a customer can accept a quote six months later when copper has moved.
• What certification they'll receive on completion.

What a consumer unit replacement quote looks like

Here's a typical domestic board swap, itemised the way a customer can actually follow. These are the default prices Larzo starts you with — yours will differ by region and supplier, and they're editable:

• Consumer unit, 18-way dual RCD — £195
• Main earth bonding brought up to standard — £60
• EICR on accessible circuits — £175
• Labour, 6 hours at £60 — £360

That's £790 before VAT, £948 with VAT at 20%. Four lines, and the customer can see exactly where the money goes. Compare that to "consumer unit replacement — £948 all in", which invites one response: can you do it for £800?

The itemised version also protects you. If they later ask why an EICR was included, it's there in writing, priced, and they accepted it.

How to price electrical work

Labour

Domestic electricians in the UK typically charge somewhere in the region of £40–£60 an hour, or roughly £250–£400 a day, with London and the South East at the upper end and often beyond it. Set your rate from your own costs and local market, not from what the internet says — the range is wide because regions genuinely differ.

Materials

Charge materials at your cost plus a margin. You're carrying the sourcing time, the fuel, the account, and the risk if something's faulty. A margin in the region of 10–20% is common. Don't apologise for it, and don't hide it — a customer who sees "materials at trade plus 15%" understands it better than one who spots a £22 downlight they've seen online for £14.

Fixed price or day rate

For defined work — a board change, an EV charger, a set number of sockets — quote a fixed price. Customers strongly prefer it and it makes you easier to say yes to. For fault finding or anything behind a wall you haven't opened yet, quote a day rate with a clear cap and a note that findings will be priced before proceeding.

Contingency

On older properties, build in some room. Rewirable fuse boards often come with no earth bonding, perished rubber cable, or a meter tail that won't reach. Either carry a small contingency or state plainly that remedial work found on the day is quoted separately before it's done.

The compliance parts that must be on the quote

Electrical work in dwellings in England and Wales falls under Part P of the Building Regulations. Certain work — including consumer unit replacements and new circuits — is notifiable, and must either be notified to Building Control or self-certified by a registered competent person. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own building standards, so check the rules that apply where you work.

Installation work should be carried out to BS 7671, the IET Wiring Regulations. On completion you'd normally issue an Electrical Installation Certificate for new work, or a Minor Electrical Installation Works Certificate for smaller alterations. An EICR is a condition report on an existing installation, not a certificate for work done — they're different documents and customers routinely confuse them.

Say on the quote which one they'll get. It answers a question they didn't know to ask, and it separates you from whoever quoted without mentioning certification at all.

Common mistakes

• One line, one number. The fastest way to get haggled down.
• No validity date. Prices move. Put an expiry on it.
• Vague scope. "Rewire" means one thing to you and another to a customer who assumes it includes making good and decorating. Write what's excluded as well as what's included.
• No mention of certification. A customer comparing quotes can't value what you haven't told them about.
• Sending it days later. The quote that arrives while they still remember you is the one that gets accepted.
• No photos. A picture of the existing board, the perished cable, or the missing bonding justifies the price better than a paragraph.

Get paid: terms worth putting in writing

For anything substantial, stage it. A deposit before works commence covers your materials, and a balance due within 14 days of completion is standard. State that late payment may attract statutory interest — you're entitled to it under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts legislation for business customers, and saying so up front makes chasing easier later.

Get acceptance in writing. A typed name and date on an accepted quote is a basic electronic signature and is a great deal better than "he said yes on the doorstep" if the job ever goes sideways.

Send quotes faster with Larzo

Larzo builds the whole thing on your phone while you're still on site — itemised lines, your NICEIC badge, VAT, terms and photos of the existing installation — and sends it as a PDF on WhatsApp before you've packed the van. When they accept, it becomes an invoice in one tap. See it built for electricians →