When everything costs more, your quotes have to keep up

Diesel has hit around two pounds a litre.

The RAC says the average price reached 199.18 pence a litre on 28 September, beating the previous record from June 2022.

Business energy bills are up around 25 per cent since February, according to Cornwall Insight.

And Brent crude is trading above 104 dollars a barrel, driven by attacks on shipping in the Gulf.

Now the Office for National Statistics says almost one in three construction businesses expects to raise the prices it charges this month.

Thirty two per cent is the highest figure recorded since February 2023.

Construction also tops every other industry in that survey.

Across the wider economy the figure is seventeen per cent.

Why small firms feel this first

Big companies can spread a cost increase across hundreds of jobs.

You cannot.

If you drive to jobs all day, fuel is your second biggest bill after labour.

A van that costs thirty pounds more a week to fill takes more than a thousand pounds a year out of your pocket.

Materials are moving too.

Oil shows up first in fuel and energy, then works its way into haulage, plant hire and the price of the products you buy.

So the quote you wrote in June can be wrong by October.

The Construction Products Association warns that smaller specialist contractors are most exposed.

They sit furthest down the supply chain and have the least power to push back on prices.

The same analysis notes subcontractors already make up most construction insolvencies.

The honest mistake: pricing from memory

Most of us price a job from memory.

You did the same job last year.

You remember what it cost.

You add a bit and send the quote.

When costs are flat, that works.

When costs jump in a few months, memory lies.

Here is how it happens.

You quote a full bathroom fit in September based on June material prices.

The job starts in October.

The boiler, the tiles and the copper pipe all cost more now.

Your day rate has not changed.

So your margin pays the difference.

The client did not ask for a discount.

You gave one by accident.

Three habits that keep quotes honest

You do not need a finance degree for this.

You need three habits.

1. Cost every job at today's prices, not last year's. Check the big items before you quote. Materials, fuel, hire. A five minute check beats a week of regret.

2. Put a line in the quote for travel and fuel. Name it plainly. Clients understand that diesel is at two pounds a litre because they fill their own cars. A named line is easier to accept than a padded day rate.

3. Give quotes a short expiry. Thirty days is fair. If the client takes three months to say yes, prices have moved and you get to quote again. Put the expiry date on the quote in writing.

One more habit sits behind all three.

Review your prices every month while costs are rising.

The ONS survey shows nearly a third of construction firms are putting prices up in October.

You are not being greedy.

You are doing what the whole industry is doing.

Get the money in, not just the work

Raising prices only helps if the money actually arrives.

The Credit Protection Association flagged this week that overdue invoices are getting harder to ignore as costs rise.

Every late payer borrows from your cash flow for free.

Invoice the day the job finishes.

Put your payment terms on the quote and on the invoice.

Chase the first reminder the day after it is due.

A firm that invoices fast can survive a cost shock.

A firm that invoices slow gets hit twice: once by rising costs, once by late payers.

Where PlusWise fits

PlusWise keeps your quotes, invoices and clients in one place on your phone.

So you can price a job at today's prices from site, not from memory on Sunday night.

Your payment terms sit on every quote and every invoice automatically.

And you can see at a glance who owes you what, so nothing waits three months to be chased.

When everything costs more, the paperwork has to keep up too.