Emergency work gets priced in a rush and billed at a loss
You boarded up at eleven at night and quoted the reglaze off the top of your head. The toughened pane cost more than you remembered and the return visit was never in the number.
For glaziers
Glazing estimates written from the pavement
Half your work is urgent and the other half is a landlord waiting on a price for four blown units. Neither is worth driving home to type up. Dictate the sizes and the specification on site and send the estimate before you have loaded the van.
Why estimating is the worst part of the week
Nobody understands why glass takes a week
Toughened and laminated units are made to order, and a customer with a hole in their shopfront hears 'five days' as an excuse rather than a manufacturing lead time.
Insurance jobs need paperwork you do not enjoy writing
A loss adjuster wants sizes, specifications and a breakdown, not a total scribbled on a job sheet, and without it the claim sits unpaid for a month.
A real example
Shopfront board-up and sealed unit replacements
On the left is what you would actually write down. On the right is what your customer receives.
Your notes
shopfront, front pane smashed overnight, 2100 x 1400, looks like 10mm toughened, measure it properly before ordering. board up tonight, 18mm ply screwed to the frame. reglaze once it comes in, 3 to 5 days from the toughener. also 4 blown units in the flat above - 2 with georgian bar, one is the fire escape window so that has to be safety glass, its low level. beads are internal on two of them, external on the others. back office is still single glazed timber with old putty, replace like for like in 4mm float. shop pane is a two man lift, hire the glass sucker for the day. sweep the pavement properly, its a bakery next door
The estimate
| Item | Qty | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Emergency attendance and board-up in 18mm ply | 1 job | £280.00 |
| 10mm toughened shopfront pane, made to size | 1 each | £620.00 |
| Install shopfront pane, two-man lift with glass suction lifter | 1 job | £340.00 |
| Sealed unit, 4-20-4 low-E argon filled, supplied and fitted | 3 each | £435.00 |
| Sealed unit with Georgian bar, supplied and fitted | 1 each | £195.00 |
| Toughened safety unit to low-level escape window | 1 each | £210.00 |
| Reglaze single-glazed timber sash in 4mm float, including putty | 1 each | £165.00 |
| Glass suction lifter hire | 1 day | £95.00 |
| Safe removal and disposal of broken glass | 1 job | £110.00 |
| Return visit to fit shopfront glass on delivery | 1 job | £180.00 |
| Total before VAT | £2,630.00 | |
An illustration using typical UK rates, not a price list. TradeScribe prices from the rates in your own notes and your saved day rate.
What we know about glazing estimates
These are the lines that come up again and again on a glazier's estimate. Mention any of them in your notes, however briefly, and they come out properly worded.
- Emergency board-up and make safe
- Sealed unit replacement, 4-20-4 low-E
- Toughened safety glass to critical locations
- Laminated glass for security or overhead glazing
- Georgian bar or leaded unit, made to size
- Single-glazed reglaze in timber frame
- Mirror or splashback, cut and fitted
- Glass suction lifter or access hire
- Safe removal and disposal of broken glass
- Return visit on delivery of made-to-order glass
Glazing estimating questions
How do I price an emergency glazing call-out?
Charge the attendance and the make-safe as one fixed figure, separate from the reglaze, and say what hours it covers. A board-up at eleven at night is a different product from a Tuesday morning unit swap, and combining them means you either look expensive by day or work nights for nothing. Note that the boarding is temporary and will be removed and credited or charged on the return visit.
Should I quote for glass before I have measured the aperture?
Give an indicative price and make it explicitly subject to a site measure. Made-to-order glass is not returnable, so a pane cut from a customer's phone measurement is money you will never see again. Put 'all sizes subject to site survey; glass is made to order and non-returnable' on every estimate that includes cut glass.
Does my estimate need to reference safety glazing regulations?
It is worth a line whenever the glass is in a critical location: doors, side panels, anything below 800mm, or below 1500mm in a door zone. Those need toughened or laminated glass to satisfy Approved Document K. Stating it explains why one unit in the list costs more than the others, and it protects you if the customer wants you to fit cheaper glass.
How do I handle lead times for toughened or laminated glass?
Put the lead time on the estimate as a range, and separate the return fitting visit as its own line so the customer can see there are two visits being paid for. Toughening is a manufacturing process with a queue, and a customer who was told 'a few days' verbally will assume you forgot them on day four.
Do I charge VAT on an insurance job?
You charge VAT on your work as normal if you are registered, but who bears it depends on the policyholder. A VAT-registered business customer can usually reclaim it, so insurers often settle claims net of VAT and the customer recovers it themselves. Invoice the policyholder rather than the insurer unless you have a written instruction otherwise, and show the VAT clearly either way.
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