Updated on 21 September 2026 by the Proposal Expert editorial team
Quote building and renovation projects with clear line-item breakdowns
Template for contractors, installers and building consultancies. Material and labour specification, drawing references, permit overview and phased payments.
A construction proposal template is a building quote that a contractor, installer or building consultancy uses to offer a new build or renovation project to a client. You use it when a homeowner, property owner or housing association wants a concrete price per building element, with material choices, a schedule and permits. This template includes a project description, works per building element, a material specification with quality grades, labour hours and day rates, a permit overview, a schedule with handover, a payment schedule per construction phase and warranties and insurance.
The template opens with the project description and a reference to the drawings, followed by the works per building element such as foundation, shell, services and finishing. The weight sits in the material specification and the labour hours, because that is where disputes about extra work arise later. The permit overview, the schedule with handover date, the payment schedule by construction phase and the warranties and insurance make the quote complete and legally solid.
This template is meant for contractors, installation companies, carpentry firms and building consultancies quoting projects from a few thousand to several hundred thousand euros or dollars. The reader is a homeowner, property manager, housing association board or developer who lays several quotes side by side and compares price, schedule and warranty. Self-employed tradespeople also use it for smaller renovations.
Fill in the works per building element first and link each line to the right drawing, because those lines set the price. Then choose the quality grade per material and note whether the client supplies any materials themselves. Adjust the payment schedule to the construction phases, for example at start, at weathertight and at handover. Check which permits are needed and who applies for them, and state the warranty period and construction insurance.
This construction proposal example shows how a contractor proposes an office renovation to a law firm in Manchester, priced in pounds with 20 percent VAT. The work is split per phase, from strip-out to fit-out, and the document separates fixed prices from provisional sums and variations, the three kinds of amounts that cause most disputes at final account. It names who handles building control, how a variation is approved and what happens when material prices move. Payments follow the phases, so the contractor does not fund the job and the client pays for what stands.
This proposal can be downloaded as a Word document (.docx) on this page.
From: Pennine Build Ltd, Manchester
To: Harcourt & Vane Solicitors LLP, Manchester
Date: 15 September 2026
Reference: PRO-2026-088
Valid until: 15 October 2026
Harcourt & Vane occupies two floors of a 1960s office building on Deansgate and wants to turn the second floor, 420 square metres of cellular offices, into an open-plan floor with six meeting rooms and a client lounge. During our site visit on 9 September we inspected the existing partitions, the ceiling void, the electrical distribution and the fire escape routes. You need the floor in use by 8 January 2027 and the first floor must remain in operation throughout.
A fully finished second floor that meets Building Regulations, with completed strip-out, new partitions and glazing for six meeting rooms, new ceilings and lighting, upgraded power and data to 48 workstations and finishes ready for your furniture on 6 January 2027, with the first floor working normally during the works and noise limited to agreed hours.
We carry out the work in four phases. Preparation: building control application, asbestos survey of the ceiling void, protection of the stairwell and lift, and a noise plan agreed with your office manager. Strip-out: removal of partitions, ceilings, floor coverings and redundant services, with waste removed daily by a licensed carrier. Construction: new metal stud partitions with acoustic insulation, glazed fronts to the six meeting rooms, suspended ceilings, LED lighting with presence detection, new power and data to 48 positions and a small kitchen for the client lounge. Finishes: decoration throughout, carpet tiles to the open floor and timber flooring to the lounge. Furniture, IT equipment, the fire alarm upgrade by your landlord's contractor and any structural alterations are outside this proposal.
After your approval the building control application goes in on 22 September and the asbestos survey takes place on 29 September. Strip-out runs from 26 October to 6 November, construction from 9 November to 18 December, finishes from 4 to 6 January 2027 after the holiday shutdown. Handover with a snagging walk-round is on 6 January. Noisy work is limited to before 9 am and after 5 pm on working days.
The amounts in the table below exclude 20 percent VAT. Floor finishes are included as a provisional sum of 14,000 pounds based on carpet tiles at 28 pounds per square metre and engineered oak at 65 pounds per square metre, to be adjusted to your final choice. Variations are carried out only after your written instruction and are priced at 48 pounds per hour plus materials. Should the price of steel stud, plasterboard or copper cable rise by more than five percent after 30 days from this date, we will present the invoice evidence and agree the difference before ordering. We invoice in four stages: 25 percent on approval, 25 percent on completion of strip-out, 35 percent on completion of construction and 15 percent on handover.
This proposal is valid until 15 October 2026. The work is carried out under our standard terms for building works, with a twelve-month defects period from handover during which we correct any defects listed at the snagging walk-round or reported later within 14 days of the report. We hold public liability insurance of 5 million pounds and employer's liability of 10 million pounds; certificates are available on request. Building control fees are included; any fees for structural alterations, should they prove necessary, are not.
Sign at the bottom of this document to instruct the work. We will then submit the building control application, book the asbestos survey and hold a start-up meeting with your office manager to agree the protection and noise plan in the week of 28 September.
| Description | Amount |
|---|---|
| Preparation: building control, asbestos survey, protection and noise plan | £4,800.00 |
| Strip-out and licensed waste removal | £11,200.00 |
| Partitions, glazed meeting room fronts and ceilings | £38,500.00 |
| Lighting, power and data to 48 workstations | £27,400.00 |
| Client lounge kitchen and decoration throughout | £12,900.00 |
| Provisional sum: floor finishes (carpet tiles and engineered oak) | £14,000.00 |
| Subtotal excl. VAT | £108,800.00 |
| VAT 20% | £21,760.00 |
| Total incl. VAT | £130,560.00 |
Agreed on behalf of Harcourt & Vane Solicitors LLP
A provisional sum is an allowance for work the client has not yet specified, such as floor finishes the client still has to choose. Show it as its own line, name the basis it rests on, in the example carpet tiles at 28 pounds per square metre, and state that it is adjusted to the final choice. Clients accept a provisional sum when they can see the assumption behind it; they dispute a total that hides one.
Write the rule before the first one arrives: variations are carried out only after the client's written instruction, priced at a stated hourly rate plus materials, and added to the next stage invoice. That single sentence prevents most arguments at final account. Keep a running variation list that both sides can see, and mention it in the proposal so the client knows it exists from day one.
Yes, for any job that starts more than a month after the date of the proposal. Name the materials it covers, the threshold, in the example five percent after 30 days, and how you prove the difference, with the supplier invoice. Without the clause you carry the whole risk of a delayed start; with a vague clause the client cannot compare your price with others. A precise clause protects both sides and is standard since 2021.