Builder Subbie Quote Comparison Before a Renovation

Two subbie quotes land for the same renovation. The cheaper one excludes access gear, protection and waste, so a builder subbie quote comparison based on totals alone will put those costs back on your crew.

Set one builder-controlled scope. Map every quote against it. Price the gaps, compare the programme and write the final deal into the award before anyone starts.

Lock down one package before you compare prices

Choose the work first. Two totals are not comparable when they cover different work.

Build the package from the site inspection, current drawings, specifications and finish selections. Do not let the first subbie quote become your scope. Your business controls the package.

Give every subbie the same job information

Send each subbie the same documents and site facts:

• Plain description of the work
• Drawing numbers and revision dates
• Products, materials and finishes
• Quantities or measurement method
• Existing surfaces and services
• Delivery route, parking and access hours
• Occupied rooms and protection needed
• Planned start window and completion point
• Work that must happen before each visit
• Tests, photographs, certificates and handover documents
• Quote return date and format

Remove old drawings from the issue set. Mark revised drawings clearly. A price against an old layout is a price for different work.

Inspect before asking for a firm price when the drawings do not show the whole job. Walk the route from unloading to installation. Look at finished floors, lined ceilings, occupied rooms, existing services and waste access.

Write down every answer given during a site walk. Send the same note to every subbie. Do not give one bidder information that the others never saw.

Split subbie work from builder-retained work

Draw a hard boundary around the package. Name who supplies each part of the job:

• Labour and materials
• Delivery and unloading
• Scaffolds, lifts and other access gear
• Temporary power and water
• Floor, wall and furniture protection
• Openings, penetrations and chasing
• Patching and finished-surface restoration
• Packaging, demolition waste and final clean-up
• Testing, certification and handover records

An exclusion transfers the task. It does not make the task disappear.

If the quote excludes access equipment, your business must provide it or obtain another price. If the subbie expects a clear room, name who clears it. If your crew will unload materials, put that labour into the project cost.

The owner should never have to settle a dispute between packages. Put one name beside each task before you compare money.

Build the builder subbie quote comparison line by line

Use your scope order, not the order used in each quote. One subbie may quote by room. Another may quote by stage. A third may give one total followed by exclusions.

Map each offer to the same rows. That turns the paperwork into a subcontractor scope comparison rather than a price ranking exercise.

Mark every row as included, excluded, allowance or unanswered. A blank is unanswered. Do not treat silence as an inclusion.

Copy-ready subcontractor scope comparison sheet

Start each builder subbie quote comparison with the document details. Then give every scope row a stated amount, confirmed adjustment and final owner.

Build a short cost summary after the detailed sheet:

Keep confirmed costs separate from unanswered exposure. A guessed allowance can make the columns line up while hiding the problem.

Turn exclusions and assumptions into price questions

Read exclusions before comparing totals. Circle wording such as “by builder”, “existing services suitable”, “clear access”, “single visit”, “standard installation” and “making good excluded”.

Turn each phrase into a question about the physical job:

• What existing condition does your price assume?
• Which access equipment must the builder provide?
• How many visits does the price include?
• Which openings must be ready before arrival?
• Who protects finished floors and occupied rooms?
• Who removes packaging and waste?
• Who patches the opening after the installation?
• What changes in the price if the assumption is wrong?

Ask the subbie for the price effect. Do not invent a number for work the subbie has not priced.

Keep allowances separate from fixed inclusions. Record what the allowance covers, what quantity or selection it assumes, and what happens when the actual requirement is known. An allowance is not a confirmed fixed price.

Worked example: the lined ceiling at Oak Street

The house example is electrical. Quote Q-1847 for R. Chen at 14 Oak Street covered a 150mm bathroom exhaust fan ducted through the roof and four LED downlights. The quote total was 1,105 sample currency units.

The ceiling was lined, and chasing was excluded. Extra cable and chasing were approved on site as a 160 variation. Invoice INV-1847 was 1,265.

The missing task was the problem. Before award, chasing needed to sit inside the electrical package, another package or the builder-retained work column.

The costs of the variation are not supplied. Do not compare the 1,265 invoice with the original job cost or calculate profit from it. If the gap appears after work starts, use a written variation process such as the Australian electrician variation process before the changed work continues.

Run Australian checks against the exact package

A builder subbie quote comparison needs the right business behind the price. Name the legal entity. Match its ABN. Record its GST treatment. Then check that its licence covers the package in the state or territory where the job sits.

Match the quote to the registered entity

Compare the legal name on the quote with the proposed subcontract, ABN record, insurance evidence and payment details. Search company and registered business name records through ASIC (opens in a new tab).

Record the legal entity behind the trading name. If the quote names one entity but the subcontract or bank details name another, stop and get corrected documents before award.

Check the ABN and GST treatment

Search ABN Lookup (opens in a new tab), the public service maintained by the Australian Business Register. Match the ABN to the entity named on the quote and read the GST registration status shown for that entity.

Keep the amount before GST, GST treatment, GST amount shown and total payable in separate fields. Ask the subbie to correct an unclear quote before comparing it with the others.

Check that the licence covers the awarded work

Use the official licence lookup or contact page for the state or territory where the renovation sits. Search the licence holder name and number. Check the licence class, the work covered, the current status and any conditions shown.

For a NSW job, the NSW Fair Trading licence check (opens in a new tab) is the official lookup. Other states and territories use their own licensing or building regulator. Stop the award if the licence holder does not match the quoted entity or responsible person, the class does not cover the package, or a condition conflicts with the work.

Home building contract responsibility also differs by location. Ask the official building or consumer affairs authority for the job state or territory which contract rules apply. Do not assume the trade licensing body administers that question.

Check WHS and workers’ compensation records

Use the Safe Work Australia regulator directory (opens in a new tab) to find the WHS regulator and workers’ compensation authority for the job location. Send workplace safety questions to the WHS regulator. Send workers’ compensation questions to the workers’ compensation insurer or regulator.

Ask the workers’ compensation authority what evidence applies to the subbie’s workers and package. Check the employer or insured entity, status and period shown on that evidence. Stop the award if the entity does not match or the evidence does not cover the intended work period.

Read the insurance evidence against the contract

Start with the contract, client requirements and advice obtained for that package. These decide the policy type, cover, limits and evidence you need. Do not treat one insurance document as mandatory for every subbie or every renovation.

Request the evidence named by those requirements. It may include a certificate of currency, policy schedule, endorsement or written confirmation from the insurer or broker. Check the insured legal entity, insured work, policy period and any wording that limits the locations or operations covered.

Stop the award if the insured entity differs from the entity taking the subcontract, the awarded work is outside the described operations, the policy period misses the planned work, or a required condition remains unanswered. A certificate with the right date but the wrong entity does not clear the package.

Compare the programme and site visits

A complete scope can still fail the renovation if the subbie cannot work inside the programme. Record the start window, duration, crew plan and number of visits against each offer.

One subbie may allow for one uninterrupted visit. Your renovation may need rough-in, fit-off and a return for defects. Ask for the programme and price effect before choosing the quote.

Put a dependency beside every visit. The plasterer may need clear rooms and completed rough-in, while plumbing and electrical packages remain open in the same area. Move the start or change the sequence before crews block each other.

Record each visit like this:

• Work area released by: [Name]
• Work that must be complete: [Task]
• Subbie arrival window: [Date or agreed window]
• Work completed on visit: [Task]
• Inspection or test required: [Record]
• Following trade released by: [Name]
• Return visit required: [Reason and timing]

Assign the photographs, tests, certificates and handover records to a person. State when each item is due. Keep the accepted programme with the quote and record what happened on site in a builder site diary.

Level GST, deposits, stages and variation terms

Show these figures separately:

• Accepted package price before GST
• GST treatment stated by the subbie
• GST amount shown
• Total payable shown
• Deposit and what it buys
• Payment stages and the work tied to each one
• Allowances not yet fixed
• Approved variations

Before award, ask the building or consumer affairs authority for the job state or territory what requirements control deposits, payment stages and contract wording. Put the answer into the subcontract rather than carrying terms across from another job.

Do not compare one GST-inclusive total with another quote shown before GST. Put both onto the same basis without changing the subbie’s source documents.

Tie each payment stage to visible work, identified materials or a required handover record. If a deposit buys materials, name the materials, record where they will be held and connect them to the job. Do not use invented percentages.

Name who may approve a variation. Require a description of the changed work, its price or agreed pricing basis, the programme effect and written approval before the work proceeds. Carry approved changes into the site record and invoice.

Add retained costs before applying subcontractor cost markup

A subbie total is not the builder’s package cost when your crew still supplies work around it. Add the retained items that remain after clarification:

• Builder labour
• Builder-supplied materials
• Delivery, unloading and storage
• Access equipment
• Protection and temporary works
• Openings, chasing and making good
• Waste handling and cleaning
• Extra supervision or return access created by the package

Use your actual supplier prices, labour cost and site plan. Do not insert a market rate. Keep open exposure outside the comparable total until someone gives you a written price or accepts responsibility.

Apply subcontractor cost markup only after the package has been levelled. Markup is added to cost to form the selling price. Margin is profit as a share of the selling price. They are not the same calculation.

The permitted Oak Street figures show the difference against the original quote only. Job cost was 850 and profit was 255 because 1,105 − 850 = 255. Markup was 255 ÷ 850 = 30%. Margin was 255 ÷ 1,105, or about 23%.

Those figures do not include the unknown cost of the 160 variation. Do not mix the 1,265 invoice with the 850 original job cost. Use the profit margin calculator with your own levelled package cost and selling price.

Write the award before booking the start

The award package is the output of the comparison. A spreadsheet ranking totals is not enough.

Once the builder subbie quote comparison is signed off, use the building job tools to set up the awarded work and book the agreed start.