The tiled opening looks square until you put a level on it. A glazier shower screen quote must follow the finished bathroom, not an old plan or dimensions sent by the client.
Set the work boundary first. Measure the surfaces that will remain. Turn the survey into an approved glass and hardware schedule. Price the full job, then hold the order until every critical detail agrees.
Confirm the work before booking the final survey
Decide what you are selling before you measure it. Supply only is not the same job as measure and supply. Supply and install is different again. Removal and replacement adds handling, disposal and the risk of finding damaged surfaces behind the old screen.
Record the client, site address, bathroom, opening reference and person authorised to approve the work. Describe the proposed layout in plain terms: fixed panel, hinged door, return panel, bath screen or another arrangement.
Name who chooses the visible hardware finish. Name who approves the enclosure layout. The client may select the finish while you choose compatible hinges, clamps, channels and supports.
Before accepting the work, record the state or territory. Ask the applicable licensing regulator whether your business entity and proposed scope meet its trade, contractor licence and home building contract requirements. For a job in New South Wales, put that question to NSW Fair Trading (opens in a new tab). Write down the body checked and its answer.
Check whether the opening is ready
Before booking the final shower glass survey, ask whether the shower base or hob, wall lining, tile, flooring and nearby fixtures are complete. Confirm that those surfaces are in their final positions and will remain there.
Measure finished surfaces. Do not use framing dimensions, an unfinished tile edge or a temporary floor level as the basis for custom glass.
If the opening is unfinished, issue an estimate rather than a fixed quote. State that the layout, fabrication dimensions and final price depend on a survey after the bathroom is complete. A planning range is useful. A guessed fabrication size is not.
Ask who controls site readiness when a builder or bathroom tradie is running the wider job. Do not arrive for a final measure while tile, fixtures or cabinetry can still move.
Draw a hard line around the scope
State whether the quote includes removal of the existing enclosure. State who carries it out and who disposes of the waste.
List work outside the glazing scope. That may include tile repair, waterproofing, wall repair, painting, plumbing work and cleaning beyond the immediate installation area. Include another trade's work only when you have deliberately priced it and the right person will perform it.
Write down access assumptions as well. A clear ground-floor bathroom is a different job from an apartment requiring a lift booking, common-area protection and a long carry from the loading point.
Build one controlled shower glass survey
Keep one survey record for each enclosure. Loose measurements in text messages separate the dimensions from the wall, panel and measuring point they describe.
Start with a sketch. Mark a datum, wet side, dry side, inside and outside. Show the door handing and opening direction. Give every panel a stable fixed-panel or door label.
Use those labels on the sketch, approved drawing, quote, supplier order and installation record. The label is the link between the room and the piece of glass.
Take shower screen measurements at the controlling points
Record the dimensions that control the selected system:
- Widths at the glass and hardware planes.
- Heights at both edges of each panel.
- Angles or diagonals used to confirm the opening.
- Shower base, hob or bath profile.
- Falls, bows and out-of-square surfaces.
- Proposed hinge, clamp and channel positions.
- Clearances around fixtures and fittings.
- Limits on door movement.
Put millimetres beside the survey dimensions. Mark exactly where each one was taken.
If the opening is narrower at the top than at the shower base, keep both measurements. Do not average the problem away. The drawing must show the actual geometry so the glass and hardware can be selected around it.
Keep field and fabrication dimensions separate
The site record tells you what you measured. The fabrication schedule tells the supplier what to make. Do not overwrite one with the other.
For each panel, record:
- Panel label and datum.
- Original field measurements.
- Deduction or clearance source for the selected system.
- Fabrication dimensions.
- Edge descriptions.
- Hole, notch and cut-out positions.
- Wet-side or dry-side orientation.
- Drawing revision.
- Supplier confirmation or query.
Do not carry an old deduction into a new hardware system. Check the selected product information and supplier fabrication limits for the actual job.
Attach photographs to the drawing
Take a wide photo of the whole opening. Add close photos of each wall, corner, fixing line, shower base edge, obstruction and unusual measuring point.
Put the photo reference on the sketch. A folder full of unlabelled bathroom photos is not a survey record.
Check fixings, door movement and the carrying route
A panel can fit the opening and still be impossible to install. Check what will hold it, where the door will move and how the glass will reach the bathroom.
Record the wall construction you can establish. Note masonry, framing, board, tile backing and any known reinforcement. Mark unknown fixing conditions as unknown rather than pricing them as a standard wall.
If the hinge line falls over finished tile and nobody can confirm the wall build-up, backing or concealed services, stop the design there. Ask the person controlling the bathroom for available construction records. State whether investigation is included and how extra work will be handled.
Draw the complete door arc
Show the full door movement on the survey sketch. Check it against the vanity, taps, toilet, towel rails, shower fittings, ceiling and raised edges.
Check the handle on both sides. Check the bottom edge against the shower base and floor fall. Add support bars and seals to the clearance check.
The door may clear the hob but hit the vanity handle before opening fully. Find that clash before holes and notches are ordered.
Walk the largest panel to the opening
Start at the unloading point. Walk through every external door, corridor, lift, stair, landing and turn. Check whether there is enough room to rotate and safely handle the largest panel.
A panel can fit the shower but fail to turn through an apartment corridor. Change the layout before quoting if access controls the panel size.
Ask the strata manager or building manager about lift bookings, loading areas, parking, common-area protection and permitted access. Add required handling, protection, access equipment and waiting time to the cost sheet. Do not leave them as an install-day surprise.
Turn the survey into an order-ready specification
The survey records the room. The specification records the enclosure you intend to supply. Keep both documents.
Give every panel a label, position and orientation. Mark the wall edge, meeting edge, exposed edge and bottom edge. Put all processing against the panel it belongs to.
Specify the glass and processing
Build a glass schedule for every panel. Record the glass type, nominal thickness, appearance, orientation, edge finish, panel dimensions, holes, notches, cut-outs and required compliance evidence. The specification behind the glazier shower screen quote is not complete until each field is settled.
Do not publish one glass thickness, fixing method, clearance or hardware capacity as a rule for every enclosure. Match the glass, panel dimensions, support, hardware and fixing conditions as one system. Check the project requirements, product information and fabrication limits before ordering.
Give each processing dimension a clear origin. Mark whether orientation is viewed from the wet side or dry side. Order-critical information must not depend on the installer guessing which face the drawing shows.
Build the hardware schedule panel by panel
For every hinge, clamp, channel, support, handle, seal and fixing, record the quantity, product identifier, finish, handing or orientation and panel reference. Confirm that each component is compatible with the selected glass, processing and enclosure layout before releasing the order.
Record where sealant is included. Sealant does not fix a poor fixing line, an unworkable door arc or an unmeasured gap.
Mark unresolved details as holds. A hold means no order. It is not a note for somebody to sort out after the glass arrives.
Use a glazier hardware allowance only after setting the layout
A glazier hardware allowance can keep a client selection open when the enclosure design is already settled. It cannot stand in for an unfinished design.
Name the component schedule, finish and processing basis assumed in the allowance. Build it from your current supplier cost for that selection. Show the allowance as a separate line included in the quote.
Explain what happens if the client changes the selection. A different hinge or handle may alter holes, notches, glass dimensions, delivery or installation labour. Reprice every affected item rather than adjusting the hardware line alone.
Replace the allowance with the approved selection before releasing the order. Update the drawing, cost sheet and quoted scope when the choice changes the job.
Build the glazier shower screen quote from full job cost
Cost every labour task
Include the time needed to:
- Review the enquiry and book the survey.
- Travel and complete the survey.
- Prepare the drawing and panel schedule.
- Resolve client and supplier questions.
- Check and release the order.
- Arrange collection or delivery.
- Carry the glass and protect the site.
- Install, adjust, seal and clean the work area.
- Complete the handover and invoice records.
Use your own labour cost. Base it on the people assigned to the job and what their time costs the business. Do not copy another glazier's selling price.
Cost materials and direct expenses
Include fabricated glass, edge work, holes, notches and cut-outs. Add hardware, channel, supports, seals, fixings, sealant and consumables.
Add delivery, collection, parking, access bookings, protection, access equipment, waste and extra handling. Put site investigation on the cost sheet when you have agreed to perform it.
Keep estimated costs in the same buckets you will use after installation. Glass against glass. Hardware against hardware. Survey and installation labour against their actual time. The glazier job-costing process for glass, labour, access and remakes shows how to close out those figures without burying a remake in general materials.
Apply markup and check margin
Markup is what you add to cost to produce the selling price. Margin is the profit measured against the selling price. Do not use the terms as if they mean the same thing.
Define the cost base first. Include every cost the markup is meant to cover. Then test the result with the profit margin calculator using your own figures.
Labour cost + materials + direct job costs = cost base. Cost base + markup = quoted price.
> Worked example — sample currency units, not glazing rates > > Oak Street is the house electrical example. Quote Q-1847 was 1,105 and the job cost was 850. Profit measured against the original quote was 255 because 1,105 − 850 = 255. > > Margin was 255 ÷ 1,105, or about 23%. Markup was 255 ÷ 850, or 30%. > > Extra cable and chasing were approved as a 160 variation, taking invoice INV-1847 to 1,265. The variation cost is not supplied, so do not calculate profit from the invoice total or combine 1,265 with the 850 cost.
Write the quote so the installer can follow it
Describe the actual enclosure. Name the panel layout, glass specification, visible hardware finish, included processing and fixing basis. State whether removal, disposal, access protection and sealing are included.
Record the survey date and drawing revision. Name the person who must approve the order. State that custom glass will not be released while dimensions, hardware, finish, access or fixing conditions remain on hold.
List exclusions beside the scope they affect. Do not hide tile repair, waterproofing, wall repair or painting in general terms at the bottom of the page.
Use a written variation when the client changes the finish, layout or hardware after accepting the quote. Use the same process when hidden fixing conditions or access restrictions add work. Stop, describe the change, price it and get written approval before proceeding.
Keep the estimate, accepted quote, approved variation, supplier order and tax invoice as separate records. If the distinction is unclear, use the quote-writing guide before sending the document.
Copy-ready shower screen quote template
Quote number: [quote number] Client: [client name] Site: [address and bathroom reference] Survey date: [date] Drawing revision: [revision] Approver: [name and role] Work type: [supply only / measure and supply / supply and install / removal and replacement] Enclosure layout: [panel labels and arrangement] Glass specification: [approved specification and compliance evidence] Hardware schedule: [quantities, product identifiers, finishes and panel references] Fixing basis: [known construction and stated assumptions] Access basis: [parking, lift, stairs, carrying route and protection] Included labour: [survey, drawing, ordering, carrying, installation and handover] Included materials: [glass, processing, hardware, fixings, seals and consumables] Allowance: [selection, assumed schedule and adjustment method] Exclusions: [work not included] Price: [amount] GST treatment: [business's checked treatment] Acceptance method: [written approval process] Order holds: [unresolved dimensions, selections, access or fixing details] Variation process: [written description, price and approval before extra work]
Use the quote template to turn the approved scope and cost sheet into a client document. Do not copy survey notes straight into the quote without resolving them into a clear inclusion, assumption, exclusion or hold.
Put the state or territory on the glass release sheet
Use the release sheet to keep tax, workplace safety and workers compensation insurance checks with the right bodies. Do not treat a completed glass drawing as approval of those business and site matters.
Check the business's ABN and GST treatment with the Australian Taxation Office (opens in a new tab). Use that checked treatment on the quote and invoice rather than copying a tax line from an old document.
For a NSW installation, put workplace safety questions to SafeWork NSW (opens in a new tab). Use the applicable state or territory WHS regulator elsewhere. Keep that check to access, manual handling, site conditions and other workplace safety matters.
For a NSW business with workers, ask the State Insurance Regulatory Authority (opens in a new tab) about regulatory requirements for workers compensation insurance. Ask your business's insurer about policy administration and claims. Use the applicable workers compensation regulator and insurer in another state or territory.
Add jurisdiction, licensing check, ABN and GST treatment, workplace safety actions and workers compensation insurance actions to the release sheet. Attach it to the glazier shower screen quote and approved specification, then fill every field before you accept the work or release the order.