How Quickly Do I Need to Return a Quote?
About 48 hours on smaller jobs is the aim. Larger jobs can take longer, as long as you tell us when to expect the price.
The short answer
On smaller jobs we aim for your price within about 48 hours. On larger jobs, take the time you need and keep us told.
On smaller jobs such as repairs and rooflight installations, we aim to have your trade-rate price within about 48 hours of the site visit. On larger jobs it can take longer, and that is fine, provided you tell us roughly when to expect it. That is the whole rule. The rest of this page explains why it sits where it does and what it looks like day to day.
It is an aim, not a stopwatch. Nobody is removed for a price that lands on day three because a supplier was slow to come back. What causes problems is a quote that goes quiet with no word from you, because the customer is waiting and we are the ones they ring.
Smaller work
Why the aim is about two days
A repair or a rooflight is usually something you can price from what you saw on the survey. You know the materials, you know how long it takes, and you rarely need anybody else's number before you can commit to yours. Two days gives you time to finish the job you are on, check a price or two and send it over, without the customer's interest going cold.
The customer side matters here. After a site visit, we tell the customer when their quotation should arrive. When that date holds, they trust the process and they are ready to decide. When it slips without explanation, they start ringing other firms. A prompt, accurate price is one of the most reliable ways to turn a site visit into paid work.
It helps you too. The sooner your figure reaches us, the sooner we can prepare the quotation, issue it and start following it up. Who writes the quotation explains how that part is split between us.
In practice
Smaller jobs, larger jobs, and keeping us told
Smaller jobs
Repairs, rooflight and skylight installations and similar work you can price from the survey. This is where the 48-hour aim applies. If something unusual turns up, such as a hidden defect or a specialist part, tell us and we reset the expectation with the customer.
Larger jobs
Full replacements, extensions and other larger domestic construction. Material prices move, suppliers take time to respond, and an accurate price can take a week or more. That is accepted, as long as the customer is not left guessing.
Keeping us told
A short message is enough: when you expect to have the price, and why if it will be later than planned. We pass that on to the customer, so you are not taking calls about it on site.
The sequence
From site visit to quotation
What happens between the visit and the customer seeing a price.
You attend the site visit
We book it around your availability and the customer's. You survey the job and set the technical scope. Site visit expectations covers what we ask of you on the day.
You price it at trade rate
You put your figure together as you would for a trade customer and submit it to us. What rates do you expect? explains why we ask for trade rather than retail.
We prepare the quotation
We turn your price into a professional written quotation, name you as the appointed main contractor and issue it to the customer.
We follow it up
Chasing a submitted quotation is our job, not yours. You hear from us when the customer accepts, has a question or wants to talk about a start date.
Track record
How quote timing feeds into the work you are sent
Opportunities go to contractors with a good record on response speed, communication, professionalism with customers and completed work. Quote timing sits inside that. A contractor whose prices come back promptly and accurately, or who explains the delay when they do not, builds exactly the record that earns more work. The detail is in how opportunities are allocated.
Quote turnaround is separate from replying to a new opportunity. When we first offer you a job, we ask for a reply the same day, ideally within about two hours, even if the reply is no thanks. That standard is set out in contractor response time standards.
If you realise straight after the visit that the price will take longer than usual, say so there and then. A message on the drive home that reads 'waiting on the supplier, expect it Friday' is all it takes, and it turns a potential complaint into a customer who knows exactly what is happening.
A contractor with a good record who occasionally needs an extra day is not treated like a new contractor who goes quiet. Trust builds over time, and it earns flexibility. The longer explanation is in quote turnaround expectations, and the whole arrangement is on the Work with Mortaro page.
Straight answers
Quote timing, briefly
Is 48 hours a hard deadline?
No. It is what we aim for on smaller jobs. If you need longer, tell us when to expect the price and we will keep the customer informed.
What if I can't price it without a supplier quote?
Say so after the visit. Waiting on a supplier is a normal reason for a longer turnaround, and the customer would much rather know than wonder.
Do I have to produce a formal quotation document?
No. You submit your trade-rate price and we prepare and issue the professional quotation to the customer.
For contractors
Tell us about your business
Your trade, the areas you cover and the size of work you take on. A person reads every enquiry, and if it looks like a fit we will send you the full application.