The total tells you least
A lower total can mean a keener price, or it can mean less work. Until you know which, the comparison is not a comparison at all.
Start with what each quote says it includes, in the same order, and write the differences down. The exercise usually takes an hour and often changes which quote is actually cheapest.
What is not in the price
Look for the work that always exists and is easy to leave out: taking down and disposing of what is there, temporary support, drainage alterations, making good to the existing house, scaffolding, waste removal and the finishes nobody has chosen yet.
A quote that lists its exclusions is not a worse quote. It is usually a more honest one, and it is far easier to price the gaps than to discover them.
Allowances, sums and the word included
Where a quote carries an allowance for kitchens, bathrooms, tiling or joinery, that figure is a placeholder chosen by the builder, not a price for what you intend to buy. If your taste sits above it, the difference arrives as an extra.
The word included, used without a description, is the single most expensive word in a domestic quote.
Putting two quotes on the same basis
Write one list of the work, then fill in what each builder has priced against each line, with a note where somebody has excluded it. Price the gaps yourself, even roughly, so that both columns describe the same house at the end.
You are not looking for the cheapest builder. You are looking for the one whose price you understand.
What this means for you
The best moment to ask these questions is before you choose, because the price is still open and nobody has started. After signature the same questions become a negotiation.
Reltic checks builders’ quotes for homeowners and puts competing prices on the same basis, in plain English.
Send us the quote before you sign
We will tell you what it leaves out, what looks high and what is likely to come back as an extra.