The fence contractor quote, line by line, with example pricing

What to take away

Why the quote is a numbered record

A quote is not a price. It is a record of what you agreed to build, on what assumption, at what number, and what happens when the assumption fails.

Number every quote, including revisions. Quote 2141 rev A and rev B are two documents, and the customer signed one of them. When a dispute arrives eight months later, the revision history is the evidence.

Keep the series inside your ordinary bookkeeping. The Internal Revenue Service: What kind of records should I keep? guidance describes a system that clearly shows income and expenses with the documents behind purchases, sales and payroll. A numbered quote series belongs inside it.

The template, field by field

Header

Business name, registration or license reference where your jurisdiction requires it displayed, quote number, date issued, date it expires. Material prices move, so an open-ended quote is an open-ended risk.

Customer and site

Name, contact, and the site address with the parcel identifier if you have it. The site is often not the customer's mailing address. On boundary work that difference decides the job.

Scope of work

Write operations, not a product. Length of run, post count, material and height, gate count and size:

If there is a return visit after cure, say so. A customer expecting one continuous visit will call you on day two.

Boundary source

The most useful line in the document. State what the line was taken from: a survey you have seen, pins located on site, an existing fence, or the customer's indication.

If it is the customer's indication, say so plainly and state that the fence will be built to it.

Permissions

Who obtains the permit, who obtains association approval, and what happens if either is refused. Confirm height and setback with the local zoning or building department, and follow the post depth standard that department applies. Print no number for either.

Utility locating

State that a locate request goes through the state 811 service before excavation, that work follows the marks, and that unmarked private services are outside your control.

Exclusions and the stop-and-requote rule

List what is not included, then give the rule that governs the unknown:

If the specified post depth cannot be reached by standard augering because of rock, buried structures or unmarked obstructions, work on the affected posts stops. The alternative method and its cost are set out in writing, and no further work on those posts proceeds until you approve it.

Price and payment

The total, what the deposit is and what it funds, when the balance falls due, and what the deposit covers if the job is canceled. Check what your jurisdiction allows a contractor to collect in advance before you set a deposit policy.

Variation process

How a change is requested, who can approve it, and that no variation is carried out until it is recorded. A variation slip a crew will actually use beats a clause nobody reads.

Acceptance

Signature, date, and a line confirming the customer has read the exclusions. Keep the copy.

Worked example one: a straight run, priced

A 120 ft straight run, 6 ft cedar privacy panels, posts at 8 ft centers, two gates.

Post count: 120 divided by 8 is 15 panels, so 16 posts. Add two gate posts. Hole count is 18.

Digging: 18 holes at 2.5 ft in ordinary soil, 0.4 crew hours each, is 7.2 hours. Setting and plumbing, 0.3 hours each, is 5.4 hours.

Panels: 15 panels at 0.5 hours is 7.5 hours. Gates: 2 gates at 3 hours is 6 hours. Mobilization: 2 visits at 2 hours is 4 hours.

Total labor is 30.1 hours. At an illustrative burdened crew rate of $65 an hour, labor is $1,957.

Materials at illustrative cost: 16 posts at $28 is $448. Concrete at $7 a hole is $126. 15 panels at $62 is $930. Two gate kits at $180 is $360. Hardware and fasteners, $140. Removal and disposal of the old fence, $420. Materials total $2,424.

Job cost is $4,381. Add overhead at an illustrative $180 per crew day across 2 days, $360, and margin at 30 percent of cost, $1,422. Quote total is $6,163, or $51.36 a foot.

That last division is a sanity check, never the build.

Worked example two: the same run on a slope

Same 120 ft, ground falling 4 ft across the run. Two things change, and neither is length.

Panels either step or rack. Stepping adds posts: at 8 ft centers with a 6 in step, you add roughly 8 posts, so hole count goes from 18 to 26. Digging rises from 7.2 hours to 10.4, and setting from 5.4 to 7.8.

Racking adds no posts but constrains the material and the panel height tolerance.

The step also leaves a varying gap at grade. That gap is a scope question the quote must answer: what is acceptable, and does the customer want it closed with a gravel board or a skirt?

Stepping adds 8 posts at $28, $224. It adds 8 holes of concrete at $7, $56. It adds 5.6 labor hours at $65, $364. Call it $644 before overhead and margin.

Both effects are invisible in a rate per foot. That is the point of building the number this way.

Worked example three: pricing the gate

A gate is two posts, hardware and geometry. Price it as its own line, because customers accept that and it makes two quotes explainable.

The two posts are usually larger than run posts because they carry a moving load. A 6 in post instead of a 4 in post means a bigger hole and more concrete: illustratively $34 for the post and $11 for the concrete, against $28 and $7.

Hardware is a separate purchase. Hinges, latch, drop rod and a self-closing spring run illustratively $180 to $260 depending on the kit.

Geometry is the labor item no material list contains: the swing arc across ground that may not be level, and the clearance the customer expects under the gate.

What the numbers have to come from

Every quantity above has to come from your own recorded hours. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics Tables publish wage estimates by occupation, industry, state and metropolitan area, which is a check on the pay assumption rather than a substitute for your productivity.

Anything the quote says in a marketing register has to meet the standard in the Federal Trade Commission: Advertising FAQs: A Guide for Small Business guidance: truthful, substantiated, with qualifications presented clearly rather than in small print.

The estimating logic behind these examples is in fence contractor pricing and profit guide. Margin arithmetic is in how to price fence contractor services for a fair margin. The season level check is in fence contractor profit margins and break-even points.

What the crew can deliver against the quote depends on the fence contractor equipment and setup guide. Whether this work exists near you is a counting question covered in the best markets for a fence contractor business.

Common questions

Are the dollar figures in the examples real?

No. They are illustrative, chosen so the arithmetic is visible. Substitute your own burdened crew rate, your current material quotes and your own recorded hours.

How long should a quote stay open?

Long enough for a customer to decide, short enough that material prices have not moved. Put the expiry date on the document rather than negotiating it later.

Should the quote include a drawing?

A simple sketch with the run, the corners and the gate positions marked prevents more arguments than any paragraph. It also records what was discussed about the line.

What if the customer wants the exclusions removed?

Then the job changes and so does the price. Removing an exclusion without changing the number is accepting a risk for free, and it is the exclusion about the ground that will find you.