AI for quoting jobs UK: how to write a quote in 5 minutes (with prompts)

A quote does not take five minutes because the job is simple. It takes five minutes when the notes are already in your head, or on a scrap of paper in the van, and you only need them turned into something a customer can read. That is the job for a chat tool. The price is still yours.

Shaun, 20+ years in UK construction, uses the same rule on every quote: the tool does not know the state of the walls, what you promised on site, or what you need to earn. You type those in. It tidies the words. We search the AI world every week so you don't have to.

What to have in front of you

Open the app only after you can answer these. If you cannot, you are not ready to send a price, with or without a tool.

• What the customer asked for, in their words and in yours.
• The address, or enough of it that you will not mix this job up with another.
• Measurements you took, or a clear note that the price is provisional until you measure.
• Materials you expect to use, and who is buying them.
• How many people, and roughly how long.
• What is included, and what is not. Making good, moving furniture, skips, parking, and working around other trades are the usual arguments later.
• The price you have already decided, or the rates you are willing to use. A day rate, a metre rate, or a lump sum. Write the number down before you ask for sentences.
• When you want paying. A deposit before you order materials is common. Say the amount.
• Whether you are VAT registered. If you are not, do not let the draft add VAT.

If a figure is a guess, label it as a guess in the notes. "About 40 square metres, to be confirmed" is honest. "40 square metres" is a promise.

What the tool must not invent

Tell it, in the prompt, not to invent measurements, prices, product names, or guarantees. If a line is missing, it should leave a blank in square brackets, like [how many days], instead of filling one in.

Read the draft against your notes before it goes anywhere. A tidy paragraph that says "all making good included" is a problem if you never said that. So is a completion date you did not agree.

You are allowed to hate the first draft. Ask for a shorter one. Ask it to put the price at the top. Ask it to take out any sentence you would not say out loud.

Turn the site notes into a scope

This first prompt does not write the email. It only sorts the notes into a scope a customer can follow. Paste your rough notes where it says. Keep the price out of this step if you want to check the work list before you attach money to it.

You are helping a UK tradesperson write a scope of works. Use UK English. Use pounds.

Here are my site notes. Do not add rooms, measurements, materials, dates, or prices that are not in the notes. If something important is missing, add a line that says "Still to confirm:" and list the gap in square brackets.

Notes:
[paste your notes]

Write:
1. A short job title.
2. A scope of works as bullet points, in the order the work happens.
3. A separate list headed "Not included", using only exclusions I mentioned. If I mentioned none, write "None stated in the notes."
4. A list of assumptions I would need the customer to agree before the price is fixed.

Check the bullets against what you saw. Delete anything that sounds like a brochure. Add the exclusion you forgot, such as "decoration after the plaster has dried is not included".

Write the quote the customer actually gets

When the scope is right, ask for the message you will send. A homeowner and a business customer do not need the same email. A householder wants plain words and a clear total. A builder or a main contractor often wants the price broken down, and a date you will invoice.

Use this for a homeowner. Put your real total in the prompt. Do not ask the tool to "suggest a fair price".

Write a quote email I can send to a UK homeowner. UK English. Short sentences. No jargon.

Details I have already decided. Do not change any number:
- Customer name: [name]
- Address: [address]
- Job: [one line]
- Scope: [paste the scope you have checked]
- Not included: [paste exclusions]
- Price: £[amount], including materials and labour unless I say otherwise
- VAT: [I am not VAT registered / VAT at 20% is included in this price / VAT at 20% will be added]
- How long I expect it to take: [time]
- When I can start: [date or "to be agreed"]
- Deposit before I start: £[amount or "none"]
- Balance due: [when, for example on completion]

Write one email. Put the price near the top. End by asking them to reply "yes" if they want me to book it. Do not invent guarantees, insurance claims, or building regulations sign-off.

If you are VAT registered, the words in that VAT line have to match how you actually invoice. GOV.UK explains what an invoice must include (opens in a new tab), including VAT where it applies. The quote should not promise a VAT treatment you do not use.

For a business customer, payment terms matter more than a friendly sign-off. This prompt keeps the price you set, and asks for a breakdown without changing the total.

Write a quote for a UK business customer, from a sole trader. UK English. Plain and direct.

Do not change any figure. Do not add a discount. If a figure is in square brackets, leave it blank.

- My trading name: [name]
- Customer: [company and contact]
- Site: [address]
- Scope: [paste checked scope]
- Not included: [exclusions]
- Labour: £[amount]
- Materials: £[amount]
- Total: £[amount]
- VAT: [not registered / extra at 20% / included]
- Start: [date]
- Payment: [for example 50% before materials are ordered, balance within 14 days of invoice]
- Quote valid until: [date]

Format it so I can paste it into an email or a document. Put the total in the first few lines. Add a line that this price is for the scope above, and that extra work is a separate price.

A prompt for when the draft is too long

The first email is often too wordy. Do not start again from the notes. Hand the draft back and tell it what to cut.

Shorten this quote so a customer can read it on a phone. Keep every price, date, exclusion, and measurement exactly as written. Do not add new promises. Take out filler. Use UK English.

Quote:
[paste the draft]

If it drops an exclusion, put the exclusion back yourself. That line is worth more than a neat paragraph.

The two-minute check before you send

Read it once as the customer, not as the person who did the work.

• Is the address the right job?
• Does every number match what you decided, including the deposit?
• Are materials and labour either inside the total or listed apart, but not both by accident?
• Would you be happy to do the exclusions for free? If not, they have to be written down.
• Is there a start date you cannot keep? Take it out, or write "to be agreed".
• If something on site was wet, rotten, or buried, does the quote say the price changes if that is worse than it looked?

Then send it from your own email or your usual text thread. Keep a copy. When they say yes, that message plus the quote is what you both agreed.

What this will not do

It will not measure a room, price a bag of multifinish, or know that the customer wants you gone before a family party. Those stay with you. Five minutes is for the writing, after the looking and the pricing.

If you want a folder of prompts for quotes, chasing payment, tax admin, and customers, the UK Trades AI Prompt Pack comes free when you sign up to the weekly email. The signup is on the home page.