How to Quote Kitchen & Bathroom Fitting Jobs in the UK
Don’t Race a Competitor’s Quote to the Bottom on Someone Else’s Kitchen
A fitter in a UK kitchen fitters group described a customer messaging him mid-job to say she had been quoted £1,300 to fit her Wren flatpack kitchen elsewhere, cheaper and sooner, and asking him to match it. He declined, said he could move his other jobs around so he was not out of pocket, and called it dodging a bullet. That single decision, holding a properly costed price rather than chasing a competitor’s number, is the difference between a profitable kitchen fitting business and one that is always busy but never quite makes money.
This guide covers how to quote kitchen and bathroom fitting jobs properly, so a customer’s second quote from someone else does not automatically become your problem.
Why Kitchen and Bathroom Quotes Go Wrong
Most problem quotes in this trade share two causes. The first is under-pricing to win the job against competitors quoting to fit the exact same flatpack kitchen or bathroom suite, a race that only ends when someone works for less than it is worth. The second is failing to separate what you are quoting for fitting from what the customer is supplying, tiling, flooring, plumbing, electrics, and gas work are often assumed to be included when they were never priced in.
A proper quote fixes both problems: it prices your actual time and skill rather than matching a stranger’s number, and it states clearly what is and is not included.
How to Build a Kitchen or Bathroom Quote That Stacks Up
Step 1: Clarify Supply and Fit vs Fit Only
Establish upfront whether you are supplying the kitchen or bathroom suite yourself, or fitting one the customer has already bought from Howdens, Wren, Magnet, or elsewhere. Fit-only jobs are priced purely on labour and any additional trades; supply and fit jobs also need a materials markup. Being clear on this from the first conversation avoids the most common source of confused, underpriced quotes in this trade.
Step 2: Survey the Space Properly
Never quote a kitchen or bathroom from photos alone. Visit the property, check access for removing the old units or suite, look for anything that will complicate the fit, uneven walls, old plumbing that needs upgrading, electrics that are not up to current regulations, and ask directly what the customer expects to be included.
For bathrooms specifically, check the condition of the subfloor and existing waterproofing. A leak from poor tanking is one of the most expensive comebacks in this trade, and it is far cheaper to price for proper waterproofing now than to fix water damage under someone’s floor in six months.
Step 3: Price Labour by What Is Actually Involved
Cost your labour based on the real scope: removing the old kitchen or bathroom, first fix plumbing and electrics, fitting units or the suite, tiling if you are doing it, second fix, and snagging. Do not price a bathroom the same as a kitchen of similar size, the trades involved and the waterproofing risk are different.
Step 4: Itemise Every Element Separately
Break the quote into clear sections: units and worktop (or supply cost if fit-only), appliances, tiling, plumbing, electrics, any gas work for a hob or boiler move, and labour. This does two things: it lets the customer see exactly what they are paying for, and it means a query about one line does not put your whole price under scrutiny.
Step 5: Decide Your Deposit Policy and State It Clearly
Some fitters in this trade take a deposit before ordering units or materials, typically 25 to 50 percent, others advertise no deposit required as a trust signal to win nervous customers who have read horror stories online. Either approach can work, but decide deliberately and state it clearly in the quote rather than improvising when the customer asks.
Step 6: Mention Finance If You Offer It
On higher-ticket jobs, customers sometimes choose a competitor purely because they offered a finance option and you did not. If you can arrange this through a finance partner, mention it in the quote itself, it can be the deciding factor on a job where the price difference between fitters is otherwise small.
Step 7: Write the Quote Clearly
A good kitchen or bathroom quote includes:
- Client name and address
- Date of quote and validity period (usually 30 days)
- Whether the job is supply and fit or fit only
- Scope of works itemised by element: units/suite, worktop, appliances, tiling, plumbing, electrics, gas work if applicable
- What’s excluded (e.g. “removal of asbestos if found”, “upgrading electrics beyond the kitchen circuit”)
- Total cost (ex VAT if VAT-registered)
- Deposit amount and payment stages
- Start date and estimated completion
Handling Variations
Design and spec errors from big retailers land on the fitter more often in this trade than most others, an appliance that does not fit the space as designed, a measurement that was wrong. When this happens, do not just solve it and absorb the cost. Confirm the fix and any additional cost with the customer in writing before proceeding, even a text reply is better than nothing, an email is better still.
The same applies to any change the customer requests once work has started. Issue a variation quote, get sign-off, and add it to the relevant stage invoice.
Using Software to Quote Faster
Building itemised quotes on paper or in a spreadsheet is slow, especially when a kitchen or bathroom quote has six or seven separate line items. Tradify is built specifically for UK tradespeople and lets you save standard labour rates and materials templates, then generate a professional itemised PDF quote in minutes.
When the customer accepts, the quote converts directly into a live job with staged invoicing built in, deposit, mid-project, and final balance, with no re-entering anything.
Pricing: From ~£34/month per user. Free 14-day trial, no card required.
Jobber is a strong alternative if you want an online client portal where customers can approve quotes and pay staged deposits digitally.
MTD and Your Quoting Records
Making Tax Digital requires sole traders to keep digital records of income and expenses and submit quarterly updates to HMRC. The £50,000 income threshold is already live for 2026/27, with the £30,000 threshold following in April 2027.
If you are using a spreadsheet to track quotes and materials spend, check whether it meets HMRC’s definition of digital record keeping, most basic spreadsheets do not count on their own. Switching to proper quoting and invoicing software solves this automatically, since compliant tools submit directly to HMRC.
Common Quoting Mistakes Kitchen and Bathroom Fitters Make
- Matching a competitor’s price without knowing their scope, a cheaper quote may exclude tiling, electrics, or removal that you have included
- Quoting from photos rather than a site visit, always survey in person, especially for bathrooms
- Underpricing bathroom waterproofing, proper tanking costs money and prevents expensive comebacks
- Not clarifying supply and fit vs fit only upfront, this confusion causes most underpriced quotes in this trade
- Agreeing variations verbally on site, always get design or spec changes confirmed in writing
- No deposit policy decided in advance, decide your approach before the customer asks, not on the spot
The Bottom Line
The fitters who make good money on kitchens and bathrooms are not the ones who win every quote, they are the ones who price properly, state their scope clearly, and are willing to lose a price-shopping customer rather than work below their real cost. A properly written, itemised quote is what makes that possible.
If you want to speed up the quoting process and make sure everything converts cleanly into staged invoices, Tradify is worth a look.
Frequently Asked Questions: Quoting Kitchen and Bathroom Fitting Jobs
Start by clarifying whether the job is supply and fit or fit only, then survey the space in person. Itemise the quote by element, units or suite, worktop, appliances, tiling, plumbing, electrics, and labour, and state your deposit policy and payment stages clearly. Never quote based purely on matching a competitor’s price without knowing exactly what their quote includes.
Generally no, not without first understanding exactly what their quote includes. A cheaper price often excludes tiling, electrics, removal of the old kitchen, or proper waterproofing in a bathroom. If your quote is priced correctly for the full scope, holding your price and losing the occasional price-sensitive customer is usually more profitable than racing every quote to the bottom.
Supply and fit means you sell the customer the kitchen or bathroom suite as well as fitting it, so your quote includes a materials markup. Fit only means the customer has already bought the units or suite elsewhere, commonly from Howdens, Wren, or Magnet, and your quote covers labour and any additional trades only. Being clear on which applies avoids the most common underpricing mistake in this trade.
Price tanking as its own line item rather than folding it into general labour, it typically adds several hundred pounds to a bathroom job depending on the size of the wet area and the tanking system used. This is not an area to cut corners on price, a failed waterproofing job leading to a leak is one of the most expensive and reputation-damaging comebacks a bathroom fitter can face.
Worth considering on higher-ticket jobs. Some fitters have lost work purely because a competitor offered a finance option and they did not, even when their price was competitive. If you can arrange finance through a partner, mention it directly in your quote rather than only bringing it up if asked.
Tradify is the most widely used quoting app among UK kitchen and bathroom fitters. It lets you save standard labour rates and materials templates, then generate a professional itemised PDF quote in minutes. When the client accepts, the quote becomes a live job with staged invoicing built in automatically.
Related Guides for Kitchen and Bathroom Fitters
- UK Kitchen and Bathroom Fitters Hub, all our guides and reviews in one place
- Best Apps for Kitchen and Bathroom Fitters UK
- Best Job Management Software for Kitchen and Bathroom Fitters UK
- Best Invoicing Software for Kitchen and Bathroom Fitters UK
- Tradify Review for Kitchen and Bathroom Fitters UK
Affiliate Disclosure: Some links on this page are affiliate links. If you sign up to a tool through a link on TradeStack HQ, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. We only recommend tools we believe are genuinely useful for UK tradespeople.