Two builders quote your extension. One comes in at £62,000. The other at £71,000. The cheaper one looks like the obvious choice — until you notice it doesn’t include skip hire, scaffolding, or making good the garden afterwards, and the £71,000 quote does. Once you add those back in, the “cheaper” quote is actually more expensive. This happens constantly, and it’s the single biggest reason homeowners end up paying more than they expected.

The Full Checklist

A genuinely complete fixed-price quote should specify, in writing, whether each of these is included:

Labour and materials — obviously included, but check whether materials are a specific allowance (which can be exceeded) or a fully fixed amount.

Skip hire and waste removal. A surprisingly common exclusion. Skips aren’t cheap, and “waste removal not included” on a structural job can add £500–£1,500 you weren’t expecting.

Scaffolding. Essential for anything above ground floor level, and it isn’t cheap. If it’s excluded, get a separate quote for it before comparing prices — scaffolding costs vary significantly by access and duration.

Planning permission and Building Control management. Is the builder handling applications and inspections, or is that on you? If it’s excluded, factor in both the cost and the time of managing it yourself.

Structural engineer’s calculations, if the job needs them. These are sometimes quoted separately even by builders who otherwise price everything else as a lump sum.

Making good after the work. Reinstating a garden after groundwork, patching and decorating walls disturbed by new services, matching flooring where it meets existing — “making good” is easy to assume is included and expensive to discover it isn’t.

Project management. Is one person responsible for coordinating trades, ordering materials, and keeping the job on schedule — and is that included in the price, or an add-on?

A written warranty, and its actual length and coverage — not just “we’ll come back if there’s a problem.”

VAT. Always confirm whether the headline figure is inclusive or exclusive of VAT. A 20% difference at the final invoice stage is not a small surprise.

How to Actually Compare Two Quotes

Don’t compare the bottom-line number first. Put both quotes’ inclusion lists side by side and check which one has the wider scope. If one excludes four items the other includes, you’re not comparing two prices for the same job — you’re comparing a full price against a partial one with the difference hidden until later.

A useful habit: ask every builder quoting your job the same direct question — “does this figure include skip hire, scaffolding, planning management, and making good?” — and get the answer in writing before deciding anything based on price alone.

What “Fixed-Price” Should Actually Mean

A genuine fixed-price quote isn’t just a number — it’s a complete, itemised scope that doesn’t change unless you change what you’re asking for. If a “fixed” price still leaves room for significant additions once work starts, it was never really fixed in the first place.

Every quote we provide is itemised in full — materials, labour, skip hire, scaffolding, planning and Building Control management, and a 12-month warranty, all included, agreed before work starts. As a Bath builder, we’d rather our quote looked slightly higher on day one than surprise you with additions on week three. Arrange a free site visit for a genuinely complete quote.