Your First Paid Trade Job: Quote-to-Handover Record Pack

Start with work you are competent and authorised to undertake. Confirm the requested scope, job address, customer, who can agree changes, access and timing. Where the person arranging work is different from the payer or property owner, ask who holds each responsibility.

• Job: reference ___; requested work ___; site and access contact ___.
• Agreement: customer and person authorised to accept ___; billing details confirmed ___; ownership/permission questions ___.
• Delivery: competence/registration needed for this work ___; insurance check ___; survey or information still needed ___.
• Boundaries: included work ___; exclusions ___; assumptions needing confirmation ___; who resolves them ___.

Use the electrician startup checklist or plumber startup checklist for business setup. A tax number, downloaded form or customer acceptance does not grant permission to undertake regulated work.

The free job-quote page delivers a blank printable PDF. Its fields include business details and qualifications/scheme membership; customer and site address; quote reference, date and validity; scope; description/labour/materials/total rows; subtotal, VAT and fixed total; start/completion dates; deposit, staged payment and balance; exclusions/assumptions; warranty/cancellation fields; acceptance signature/date.

Fill those fields with the actual agreement. If billing and site addresses differ, retain the confirmed billing details alongside the quote; the PDF does not provide a separate labelled billing-address box. Review its preprinted exclusions and assumptions, marking only what actually applies. Unknown site conditions need an assessment, not an assumed answer.

Enter the amounts and totals from your own calculation, using the applicable VAT treatment and your own costs. Before early-start or deposit terms, use the consumer-contract record sheet. Accepted terms and required cancellation information need their own evidence.

Fictional paperwork example, not a completed customer job or market price. A joiner quotes to supply and fit three shelves in one room after checking the site. The agreed scope records dimensions, finish, what is included, access and the customer’s chosen specification. The joiner sets the labour and materials amounts from their own costs; this example supplies no price recommendation.

On the materials take-off PDF, enter the job reference and drawing/revision, then use the timber/sheet materials/mouldings/ironmongery/fixings tables as relevant. Their quantity, supplier, unit-cost and line-total fields feed the cost summary. Put a selling unit in the description where needed. The cutting list and waste-basis notes keep the ordered stock tied to the drawing.

• Quote scope: three shelves; drawing revision ___; finish ___; making good/waste removal included or excluded ___.
• Take-off: revision ___; material/specification ___; supplier selling unit ___; quantity ___; cutting/waste basis ___.
• Price record: supplier price/date ___; applicable VAT treatment ___; delivery/labour/overheads allowed for ___; fixed quote total ___.
• Change: customer later requests another shelf; revised scope/reference ___; revised price and timing ___; acceptance before extra work ___.

Keep the revision used for the order and the revision accepted by the customer. If they differ, resolve the difference before ordering.

Use the quoting workflow to record the proposed scope and your rates; agree what needs your approval. Customer acceptance answers the commercial agreement. Site access, permits, project safety roles and technical decisions remain separate questions.

During work, keep the approved changes, relevant photographs taken with permission and the actual progress record. The job sheet and job record provide places to organise that paperwork. For construction project roles, use the CDM and safety record map.

For electrical work, choose the appropriate record: EIC for installation work it covers, Minor Works where eligible, or EICR for inspection of an existing installation. Gas work and its records require the appropriately registered, competent worker for the actual category. Do not fill results or signatures from an example.

• Agreed work: final quote/scope revision ___; accepted changes ___; where the copies are held ___.
• Work actually completed: completion date ___; relevant evidence ___; outstanding items and agreed owner/date ___.
• Documents required for this job: issued certificate/report reference ___; separate notification/approval evidence if required ___; manufacturer/maintenance information ___.
• Delivery: documents sent to whom ___; date ___; confirmation or missing item ___.
• Money: invoice reference ___; deposits/staged payments credited ___; remaining balance ___; actual payment date ___.
• Next contact: customer’s agreed follow-up ___; optional neutral review request ___; future work requested ___.

Record the issued documents, actual completion and received payment as separate stages. Use the lead ledger to count those stages separately. Before promotional contact, check the email-permission cases. Use the dated rules board when a coming change affects the planned job.