What a quote
should contain
A quotation for custom metalwork is not a price. It is a description of what you are buying, and the price is the last line of it.
Drawn from jobs run in 304 and 316L on our own factory floor in Foshan, not from a style guide.
- Reading time
- ~6 min
- Lines expected
- 11
- Usual omission
- Exclusion list
- Validity
- 30 days
The eleven lines
- What is included, by elevation and part count
- What is excluded, named
- Material grade and thickness
- Finish and the reference sample
- The tolerance you are buying
- Trial assembly: yes or no
- Drawings: included, and how many review rounds
- Schedule in days from drawing receipt, not from order
- What triggers a variation
- Packing and documents included
- Validity, and what happens if it expires
Why exclusions matter more than inclusions
Two quotes that look 20 per cent apart are usually not 20 per cent apart. One of them excludes freight, or setting out, or trial assembly, or the second review round.
A quote with a clear exclusion list can be compared. A quote without one cannot, and the difference is discovered in the last month of the project.
The schedule should start at the drawing
"30 days" is ambiguous. Thirty days from what — order, deposit, or an approved drawing? On custom work the clock can only start when the drawing is approved, because before that the parts do not exist even on paper.
We quote in days after drawing receipt, which is why our schedule is comparable across suppliers and why it looks longer than some.
Validity is not a formality
Stainless sheet and PVD line capacity both move. A quote held for 30 days is a real commitment; a quote with no validity is either an oversight or a number that will be renegotiated.
Ask what the price is indexed to. If the answer is "nothing", the quote is either padded or will not hold.
Got a drawing
that contradicts
one of these notes?
Send it. We will tell you what we would do with it, whether you order or not. The 48-hour question list is free.