How Long Should a Quote Be Valid For? A UK Guide

Every quote you send has a shelf life, whether you state it or not. Material prices move, your availability changes, and a price you were happy with three months ago might now lose you money. Putting a clear validity period on your quotes is one of the simplest ways to protect yourself, yet many tradespeople leave it off and end up honouring stale prices or arguing with customers. This guide explains how long a quote should be valid for, what drives that decision, and how to word it.

It is written for UK tradespeople who want their quotes to protect their margin rather than tie them to a number they can no longer afford to stand behind.

What a Validity Period Actually Means

A validity period is the window in which the customer can accept your quote at the price stated. Accept within it, and you honour the price. Come back after it has expired, and you are able to re-price based on current costs and your availability. Without a stated period, the position is murky, and a customer who accepts months later may reasonably expect the old price, which is exactly the situation you want to avoid.

Typical Validity Periods

There is no legal standard, but common practice gives you a sensible starting point.

• 30 days is the most common default and suits most domestic work.
• 14 days is sensible when material prices are moving or your diary is filling fast.
• 7 days suits volatile situations, such as sharp swings in timber, metal or fuel costs.
• 60 to 90 days can work for larger, well-planned projects where costs are locked in, but only if you are confident your suppliers will hold their prices.

What Should Drive Your Choice

Pick the period to match the risk in the job, not just a habit. Weigh up the following.

• Material price volatility. The more your key materials move in price, the shorter the window should be.
• Your availability. If your diary is filling, a shorter period stops old quotes committing you months ahead at yesterday supplier prices.
• Job size and lead time. Big jobs with long lead times need more thought, and often a note that material prices are confirmed at order.
• Seasonality. In busy seasons a shorter validity protects your rates when demand is high.

Why Not to Leave It Open-Ended

An open quote is a standing offer you may be held to. If a customer accepts an old price after your costs have risen, you either absorb the difference or have an awkward conversation you could have avoided. A clear expiry date removes the argument entirely: the price was valid for a set period, that period has passed, here is a current quote. It is cleaner for you and clearer for the customer.

How to Word It on a Quote

Keep it simple and put it where the customer will see it, near the total and in your terms. A line such as this is enough:

• This quote is valid for 30 days from the date above.
• Prices are subject to confirmation of material costs at the time of order.

The second line is useful on larger jobs where you cannot fully control supplier pricing. Together they set a fair, clear expectation without sounding heavy-handed.

What to Do When a Quote Expires

When a customer comes back after the validity period, you have three clean options: honour the original price if your costs have not moved and you want the work, re-quote at current prices, or adjust specific lines that have changed while keeping the rest. Because you set an expiry date, any of these is straightforward and expected rather than a source of friction.

Tie Validity to Clear Terms and Deposits

Validity works best as part of a tidy set of terms: the price, what is included, the validity period, payment stages and any deposit. A customer who sees clear, professional terms is more likely to accept quickly, which is the real point of a validity period. The faster a good customer says yes, the less your expiry date ever needs to bite.

The Bottom Line

Thirty days is a sensible default, shorter when materials or your diary are moving, longer only when costs are genuinely locked in. State it clearly near the total, add a note about material costs on bigger jobs, and you turn quote validity from an afterthought into simple protection for your margin. The tradespeople who get held to stale prices are almost always the ones who never set an expiry date in the first place.