The words on your quotes, explained

A price you expect the work to come to, given before anyone has committed to anything.

Also called: Ballpark, Rough price

A price you are offering to hold, which becomes binding when the customer accepts it.

Also called: Firm quote, Proposal, Fixed price

A price submitted in competition with other contractors, usually against a scope that somebody else wrote.

Also called: Tender

The written description of exactly what you are going to do, in enough detail that you and the customer are picturing the same job.

Also called: Scope, Statement of work

The list of things your price does not cover, written down on the same document as the price.

Also called: Not included, Carve-outs

A placeholder amount inside a fixed price for something the customer has not chosen yet — the tile, the taps, the light fittings.

Also called: Provisional sum, PC sum

Measuring the quantities a job needs — square footage, linear feet, fixture counts, cubic yards — off a drawing, a photo or the site itself.

Also called: Quantity takeoff, Material takeoff

A price for one unit of work — a square foot of floor, a linear foot of cabinet, a fixture, a visit — which you multiply by the quantity.

Also called: Unit rate, Rate

Sending one job at three prices so the customer chooses between your options rather than between you and the next contractor.

Also called: Tiered pricing, Option pricing, Three-tier quote

An optional extra offered alongside the main job — the second coat, the gutter clean while the ladder is up, the drain check while the wall is open.

Also called: Upsell, Optional extra, Upgrade

An amount added to a price to cover what you cannot see yet — the rot behind the siding, the second layer of shingles, the floor that is not level.

Also called: Buffer, Allowance for the unknown

Extra material ordered on top of the measured quantity to cover offcuts, breakage and mistakes.

Also called: Waste allowance, Overage, Cut loss

A written record that the job has changed, what the change is, and what it costs — agreed before the extra work starts.

Also called: Variation, Extra work order, CO

Going out to look at the job before pricing it.

Also called: Estimate appointment, Assessment, Survey

What you add on top of your cost to reach your price, given as a percentage of the cost.

Also called: Mark-up

What is left of the price once the cost of doing the work is taken out, given as a percentage of the price.

Also called: Gross margin, Gross profit margin, GP

What the business costs to run whether or not you work today — insurance, the van payment, the phone, the accountant, the software, the storage unit.

Also called: Fixed costs, Running costs, Indirect costs

The true cost of an hour of somebody's time, which is their wage plus everything you pay because they are on your payroll.

Also called: Burden, Fully loaded labour cost, Labor burden

The point at which a day's work has brought in enough to cover what the day cost you, before a cent of profit.

Also called: Break-even point, Minimum price

What you actually earn per hour once the unpaid hours are counted — quoting, driving, buying materials, chasing invoices, doing the books on a Sunday.

Also called: Real hourly rate, Earned rate

Putting the real labour, materials and expenses of a finished job against what you charged for it, so you know what that job made.

Also called: Job cost tracking, Cost tracking

The typical value of one job, worked out across everything you sold in a period.

Also called: Average ticket, Average invoice value

The timing of money coming in and going out, which is a separate question from whether the work is profitable.

Also called: Working capital

What the stuff on the job actually costs you, as opposed to what it cost the last time you bought it.

Also called: Cost of materials, Materials

Money taken before work starts, usually to cover materials and to prove the customer is serious.

Also called: Down payment, Upfront payment

A payment due partway through a job, tied to a stage of the work rather than to a date.

Also called: Draw, Progress draw, Milestone payment, Stage payment

A slice of each payment the customer keeps back until the work is finished and any claim period has passed, then releases.

Also called: Holdback, Statutory holdback, Retention

When payment is due, counted from the invoice date.

Also called: Net 30, Due on receipt, Terms

The document that asks for the money, listing what was done, what it costs, any tax, and when payment is due.

Also called: Bill

The point at which the work is finished enough for the customer to use the property for what it is meant for, even though small items remain.

Also called: Substantially performed, Practical completion

The money that has been invoiced and not yet paid, usually sorted by how long it has been outstanding.

Also called: A/R, Aged receivables, Debtors

When a customer disputes a card payment with their own bank and the money is taken back out of your account while the claim is looked at.

Also called: Payment dispute, Card dispute

Taking payment by credit or debit card rather than by cheque, cash or transfer.

Also called: Pay by card, Online payment

The cut the card networks and your payment processor keep from every card transaction.

Also called: Merchant fee, Card fee, Surcharge

Tax added to what you charge and passed on to the government.

Also called: GST, HST, PST, QST, VAT, State and local sales tax

Letting a customer pay for a job in instalments through a lender, while you are paid in full.

Also called: Pay over time, Instalment plan, Buy now pay later

A standing arrangement where a customer pays regularly for scheduled work — a seasonal tune-up, a quarterly clean, a spring and autumn visit.

Also called: Service agreement, Service plan, Recurring billing

The agreement between you and the customer about what will be done, for how much, and on what terms.

Also called: Agreement, Home improvement contract

A window after signing during which a customer may cancel and walk away without penalty, typically for contracts signed at their door rather than at your premises.

Also called: Right to cancel, Right of rescission, Cancellation period

A claim registered against the property you worked on, which makes it difficult for the owner to sell or refinance until you are paid.

Also called: Mechanic's lien, Construction lien, Builder's lien, Materialman's lien

A signed document in which you give up your right to lien for work you have been paid for.

Also called: Release of lien, Waiver of lien, Statutory declaration

Your promise to put right defects in your own work for a stated period after the job.

Also called: Guarantee, Workmanship warranty

The list of small items left to fix before a job is accepted as finished — the missed touch-up, the door that binds, the cover plate nobody fitted.

Also called: Punch list, Snag list, Punch-out

Whether someone who works for you counts in law as your employee or as an independent business you hired.

Also called: Worker classification, Independent contractor status

Another business you hire to do part of a job you are responsible for — the electrician on your renovation, the crane on your tree removal.

Also called: Sub, Trade partner

Cover for damage or injury you cause to someone else or their property while working — the dropped tool through the skylight, the flood in the flat downstairs.

Also called: GL, CGL, Public liability

A one-page summary issued by your insurer showing what cover you hold, for how much, and until when.

Also called: COI, Proof of insurance

A request to have your customer, or the contractor who hired you, added to your liability policy so that your cover also answers a claim brought against them arising out of your work.

Also called: Named as additional insured

No-fault cover that pays a worker who is injured on the job, funded by premiums on your payroll.

Also called: Workers' comp, WCB, WSIB, CNESST, Workplace insurance

A guarantee from a third party that you will do what you promised, which pays the customer if you do not.

Also called: Bond, Licence bond, Performance bond, Bonded

Official permission to carry out a trade, or to carry it out unsupervised.

Also called: Contractor licence, Certificate of qualification, Ticket, Trade license

Permission from the local authority to carry out work before you start it, usually followed by one or more inspections.

Also called: Building permit, Trade permit, Electrical permit

A visit from the authority that issued the permit to confirm the work meets code before it is covered up or put into use.

Also called: Rough-in inspection, Final inspection, Sign-off

The rules setting out how work must be built for safety.

Also called: Code, Electrical code, Plumbing code

The stage where pipe, wire or duct is run through the framing before anything is closed up.

Also called: First fix

Deciding who goes where, and telling them.

Also called: Assigning, Scheduling

The span of time you give the customer for your arrival, rather than a single time you will miss.

Also called: Appointment window, Time window

A return trip to put right something that was wrong with a finished job.

Also called: Return visit, Warranty call, Go-back

The instruction for one piece of work: the address, what is to be done, who is doing it, and what they need to know before they get there.

Also called: Job ticket, Job sheet

The fixed list of steps a particular kind of job always needs, ticked off by whoever is doing it.

Also called: Job checklist, Standard steps

The person responsible for a crew on site — the standard of the work, the order of the day, and the call to the office when something is not as quoted.

Also called: Foreman, Lead hand, Charge hand

How far ahead you are booked, or how long a material takes to arrive.

Also called: Wait time, Booking lead time

The work you have sold and not yet done.

Also called: Booked work, Work in hand

Charging for the hours worked and the materials used, plus an agreed markup, instead of a fixed price.

Also called: T&M, Cost-plus, Day rate work

The record of who worked how long on what.

Also called: Hours, Time entry, Clock in and out

Walking the finished job with the customer, agreeing that it is done, and writing down anything that is not.

Also called: Final walkthrough, Handover, Sign-off walk

Arriving to find nobody home and no way in.

Also called: Missed appointment, Locked out

Work that comes round on a cycle — the weekly cut, the fortnightly clean, the seasonal service — booked once and repeated rather than sold again each time.

Also called: Standing appointment, Route stop, Repeat visit

Somebody who has got in touch and might become a customer.

Also called: Enquiry, Inquiry, Prospect

The share of quotes you send that turn into work.

Also called: Win rate, Conversion rate, Hit rate

What you paid in advertising divided by the number of enquiries it produced.

Also called: CPL

How far you will travel for work, and on what terms.

Also called: Coverage area, Catchment

One hundred square feet of roof area, which is the unit roofing material and labour are counted in.

Also called: Roofing square, SQ

How steep a roof is, given as the rise over a twelve-inch run — a 6/12 roof rises six inches for every twelve it travels across.

Also called: Slope, Roof pitch

Stripping the old roof back to the deck instead of laying new material over it.

Also called: Strip, Rip-off, Removal

Sheet material worked into the joints where a roof meets something else — a wall, a chimney, a valley, a vent pipe.

Also called: Step flashing, Counter flashing

A layer that goes between the structure and the finished surface, and which means two different things depending on the trade.

Also called: Underlay, Felt, Membrane

The structural surface a finished floor is laid on.

Also called: Substrate, Deck

Painting the edges by hand with a brush — along trim, ceilings, corners and anywhere a roller cannot go.

Also called: Cutting in, Brush work

How much surface a litre or a gallon of coating covers at the film thickness it is meant to go on at.

Also called: Coverage rate, Coverage

How much light a dried coating reflects, running from flat through matte, eggshell and satin to semi-gloss and gloss.

Also called: Gloss level, Finish

A thousandth of an inch, which is the unit coatings are specified in.

Also called: Wet film thickness, Dry film thickness, WFT, DFT

A cabinet built with a solid wood frame across the front of the box, which the doors and drawer fronts mount to.

Also called: Framed cabinet, American cabinet

The strip of frame or box left visible around a closed door or drawer front.

Also called: Gap, Frame reveal

Two different jobs that get sold under one heading.

Also called: Cabinet refacing, Refinishing, Resurfacing

A foot measured along a run — of cabinet, countertop, trim, fence or gutter — regardless of how tall or deep the thing is.

Also called: Lineal foot, LF, Running foot

Anything water is delivered to or drained from — sink, toilet, bath, shower, hose bib, laundry standpipe.

Also called: Plumbing fixture, Sanitaryware

A valve that isolates one fixture or one branch so the rest of the building keeps its water.

Also called: Isolation valve, Stop valve, Stop tap

The box where the incoming electrical supply is split into circuits, each with its own breaker.

Also called: Service panel, Breaker panel, Load centre, Distribution board

Increasing the electrical capacity coming into a building, commonly from one hundred amps to two hundred.

Also called: Service change, Panel upgrade

A device that cuts the power when it detects current leaking to ground, which is what protects a person rather than the wiring.

Also called: GFI, Ground-fault circuit interrupter, RCD

The unit air-conditioning capacity is sold in: one ton is 12,000 BTU per hour of cooling.

Also called: Tonnage, Cooling capacity

Working out how much heating or cooling a building actually needs from its size, construction, insulation, windows, orientation and climate — rather than from the size of the unit being replaced or a rule of thumb per square foot.

Also called: Heat loss calculation, Heat gain calculation, Manual J

The built parts of a landscape — patios, walls, paths, steps, decks — as opposed to softscape, which is everything that grows.

Also called: Softscape, Hard landscaping

Shaping the ground so that water runs where you want it to, which normally means away from the building.

Also called: Grade, Fall, Slope

How bulk material is sold — soil, mulch, gravel, sand, concrete.

Also called: Yard, Yd³

Cleaning with a solution and low pressure rather than with force, so the chemistry does the work.

Also called: Low-pressure cleaning

The two numbers that describe a pressure washer: pounds per square inch is the force at the nozzle, gallons per minute is how much water it moves.

Also called: Pressure and flow

Shortening a tree's branches back to suitable growth points to reduce its size while keeping its natural shape and leaving it able to heal.

Also called: Reduction pruning, Crown thinning

Chipping a stump away below ground level with a rotating cutting wheel, rather than digging the root plate out.

Also called: Stump removal