Seven Questions That Separate a Real Job From a Wasted Quote

Every builder we speak to has the same complaint in 2026: plenty of enquiries, not enough jobs. Enquiries are not the bottleneck any more. The bottleneck is the three hours you spend measuring up a kitchen extension for somebody who was never going to spend the money.

A free quotation is the most expensive product most small building firms make. You produce it with skilled labour, you often produce it in the evening, and roughly a third of the time it goes into a void. Tightening up who gets one is the fastest margin improvement available to a contractor that does not want to grow headcount.

So here is a scorecard. Seven questions, asked politely, ideally on the first phone call or in a short site visit. Score each one out of two.

Why qualification beats more marketing

There is a tempting instinct to answer a slow month by spending on lead generation. But if one in five of your enquiries converts, doubling the enquiries doubles your quoting workload as well as your turnover. Fixing conversion first means every extra lead you buy later is worth more.

Qualification is not about being precious or sniffy. It is about matching your time to the likelihood of getting paid. A quick, well-phrased set of questions actually makes you look more professional — clients who have never commissioned building work often read a rigorous builder as a safer pair of hands.

The scorecard at a glance

Two points for a clear, credible answer. One point for vague but plausible. Zero for no answer, or an answer that tells you the job is not real. Fourteen is a perfect score. In our experience anything at nine or above is worth a full quote, six to eight deserves a second conversation before you commit time, and below six you should send a polite holding reply and move on.

1. Is there an actual budget figure?

Not 'we'll see what it comes to'. Not 'we've been told it should be about that'. A number, or at least a range with reasoning behind it.

Ask it gently: 'Have you had a chance to set a budget for the work, or are you still testing the water?' Clients who have spoken to a mortgage lender, an architect or a previous builder will usually give you a figure. Clients who go quiet, or say 'just tell me what it costs', are asking you to do their feasibility study for free.

2. Who actually signs the cheque?

You would be surprised how often the person answering the door is not the person making the decision. A grown-up son who 'handles the money'. A landlord who lives abroad. A facilities manager whose head office controls capital spend.

Ask: 'Will you be the one making the final decision, or is there anyone else who needs to be comfortable with the plans?' Get the decision-maker on the call or in the room before you price anything.

3. Where is the job with planning?

This one is binary, and it kills more enquiries than any other. If a domestic extension needs planning permission and has none, you are not quoting for a job — you are quoting for a possibility that may never happen.

Check the planning portal yourself before you visit. Ask whether listed building consent, building regulations approval or party wall awards are in place or in progress. If they are at an early stage, the honest answer is usually 'come back to me when you have consent' — and offering that advice earns you a call later.

4. Can you actually get to the site?

Access is where underestimated jobs come from. No rear access for a skip. A shared driveway with a neighbour who is not on speaking terms with the client. A basement flat with a communal hallway and a strict management company.

Ask about materials deliveries, welfare facilities, parking and where the skip goes. On larger schemes, ask who is providing welfare and whether there is a site compound. If the answer is 'we'll sort something out', price it as a risk, or pass.

5. When do they want you — and when do they actually need you?

A client who wants to start in three weeks is either highly organised or completely unrealistic. A client who says 'sometime next year' is not buying anything today.

Ask what is driving the date. School holidays, a rental ending, a wedding, a mortgage condition — these are real deadlines and they usually mean the client is serious. 'No particular rush' is a signal that there is no urgency, no decision and probably no budget.

6. What are their payment expectations?

This is the question most builders leave until after the price is agreed, which is exactly backwards. Ask how they intend to fund the works and what payment terms they expect.

For domestic work, a deposit on order and staged payments against progress are normal. For commercial clients, ask about payment terms and whether retention applies. Listen for phrases like 'we'll settle up at the end' or 'can you start before the funds come through'. Those are cash-flow traps dressed as opportunities.

7. Is the scope written down anywhere?

Drawings, a specification, a schedule of works, a designer's pack. Anything in writing that you can price against and, importantly, vary against later.

If the client has none, you have a choice: walk away, or charge for a scope-building exercise. Offering a paid design-and-spec stage is a legitimate service and it filters out anyone who was only ever after a free consultation. If they have plans but they are two revisions old and the client wants 'something similar but different', assume the scope will move and price accordingly.

Doing the scoring without being precious

Keep the scorecard to yourself. Nobody wants to be graded on a doorstep. Ask the questions as ordinary conversation, note the answers afterwards, and use the score to decide how much of your week that enquiry deserves.

It also helps to review scores monthly. If most of your enquiries are scoring four, your message is reaching the wrong audience — usually because the website or the ad is talking about cheapness rather than quality. If plenty score ten and you are still losing them, the problem has shifted to your pricing or your presentation, which is a much better problem to have.

How to say no without burning the bridge

You do not owe anybody a free estimate, but you also do not need to be blunt. Three approaches that work:

• The honest capacity line: 'I don't think I'm the right fit for this one — we're booked through to spring and I'd rather say so now than hold you up.'
• The referral: 'This sounds more like a design-led project. [Local architect] would be a better first call, and I'm happy to price it once there are drawings.'
• The paid route: 'I can put together a detailed scope and budget for a fixed fee, which you can then take to tender. Would that be useful?'

All three keep your reputation intact, and the last one occasionally turns a time-waster into a paying client.

The point of all this

Qualification is not about turning work away. It is about making sure the hours you put into quotations land on jobs that actually start, actually pay, and actually leave you with a margin at the end. Seven questions on the first call will tell you more than two hours in somebody's back garden ever will.