Most disputes between a customer and a fabricator are not arguments about price. They are arguments about scope — what somebody assumed was included and somebody else assumed was not. A quotation is where that gets settled, and most quotations in this trade are far too short to settle it.
Here is what a quote should tell you, and what to do when it does not.
Why two honest quotes differ by forty percent
Price per square foot or per kilogram is a conclusion, not a specification. The same gate can be built from 1.2 mm or 2 mm box section, finished with one coat of enamel or a zinc-rich primer system, and hung on pressed hinges or machined ones. Each of those is a real difference in cost and in how long the thing lasts, and none of them shows up in a rate.
So when one quote is much lower, the useful question is never "why are you expensive". It is "what is each of you assuming". Nine times out of ten the gap is visible the moment both quotes state their sections and their finish.
The six things a quotation should state
- Material and section sizes. "MS box 40×40×2 mm", not "heavy frame". For stainless, the grade in figures: 202, 304 or 316.
- The finish, by system. "Red oxide primer plus two coats synthetic enamel" or "powder coated, 60 micron". Coating thickness is the number that predicts how it ages.
- The measured quantity and how it was arrived at. Square feet of what, or kilograms calculated how. If billing is by weight, say whether the invoice follows a calculation or an actual weighing.
- Hardware by name. Hinges, locks, rollers, closers, wheels. These are the most commonly omitted items and the most commonly downgraded.
- What is excluded. A quote that lists exclusions is written by somebody who has had the argument before and does not want it again. That is a good sign, not a defensive one.
- Timeline and payment stages. Covered below.
The exclusions that cause most arguments
Ask explicitly about each of these, because their absence from a quote does not mean they are included:
- Removal and disposal of whatever is there now.
- Making good — the plaster, paint and tiling around a new frame. Someone has to repair the wall, and fabricators generally do not.
- Civil work — pillars, foundations, core drilling, chemical anchors.
- Access — scaffolding, rope access or a lift above the second floor. On a tower this can be a significant line of its own.
- Electrical — supply to a gate motor, an intercom, lighting.
- Transport and unloading for heavy structural items.
How payment should be staged
Fabrication needs a material advance; nobody should expect a workshop to buy steel on credit for a stranger. But the advance should buy material, not the whole job. A sane structure for most residential work looks like:
- Around 40–50% on order — covers material procurement.
- A stage payment when fabrication is complete and before installation, or on delivery to site.
- A balance of at least 10–15% after installation and your inspection.
The last point matters more than the percentages. If nothing is held back, nothing brings anyone back to adjust a door that binds or a gate that fouls. Retaining a final slice is normal, reasonable, and most professionals will agree to it without complaint.
Five questions that reveal a great deal, quickly
- What section sizes and wall thickness is this priced on?
- What finish, and to what thickness?
- What is not included that I will have to arrange or pay for separately?
- What happens if the site measurement differs from this quote — who absorbs it?
- What is the warranty, what does it cover, and who honours it?
A fabricator who answers all five without hesitation is telling you something useful about how they work. One who treats the questions as distrust is telling you something too.
A note on the cheapest quote
It is sometimes genuinely the best — a workshop with spare capacity, lower overheads, or material already in stock. The point is not to distrust a low number. It is to know why it is low before you accept it. If the answer is capacity or stock, that is a bargain. If the answer is thinner steel and cheaper hinges, that is not a discount, it is a different product.