Enquiries, quotations and tenders

Quoting software that knows
which version went out.

Every enquiry logged, priced from a structured build-up, and issued as a branded PDF on your letterhead. With a record of what went out, to whom, and when.

A hard hat, rolled drawings, a scale rule and a tape on the desk where a job gets priced
In plain terms

Construction quoting software turns an enquiry into a priced, branded document and keeps the record of it: what was sent, to whom, on what date, at what price, and what happened next. The hard part is not the arithmetic. It is the version control.

Unibuild logs every enquiry that arrives, prices it from a structured build-up of materials, labour, testing, strip out, preliminaries and other charges, issues it as a PDF on your letterhead, keeps every revision, and either converts it into a live project carrying the same reference or closes it out with a reason you can report on.

How quoting usually works

One estimator built the workbook. Nobody else fully understands it.

It has hidden columns, a broken link to a rate sheet on somebody's desktop, and a total that only works if you tab out of the right cell.

Version control
Quote v2 FINAL, then FINAL revised, then FINAL revised NEW. Which one went?
Nobody can say
The labour rate
Three years old. It has gone up twice. Noticed halfway through the job.
Margin eaten
Enquiries
They arrive by email and stay in an inbox. Some get priced. Some do not.
Quoted after the deadline
Sent from Outlook
As an attachment, by one person. No central record of what, to whom, when.
Chasing is a memory
The win rate
Not overall, not by client, not by type of work. Nobody knows it.
The same losses, repeated
Tender documents
In a shared drive folder named by whoever made it. Half cannot be found again.
Re-priced from nothing
The underlying issue A quotation is a contract document held in a file anybody can overwrite Until it is a record
What the module does

Six things a workbook and an inbox cannot do together.

Every enquiry
logged

An enquiry becomes a record the moment it arrives, with its client, its date, its documents attached and its own reference, rather than an email somebody has flagged.

  • You can say how many came in last month
  • How many were quoted, and how many were quoted late
  • The tender documents stay with the enquiry that carried them
  • Nothing depends on one inbox being searched
Counted, not rememberedLive

Priced from a
structured build-up

Sections for materials, labour, testing, strip out, preliminaries and other charges, priced from your own catalogues and rate cards rather than from a cell somebody typed over.

  • The labour rate is the one your library holds today
  • Materials come from the price list, not a supplier email
  • The build-up is visible, so a total can be defended
  • Preliminaries get their own section instead of a percentage
A number with a reason behind itLive

Every revision
kept

Revisions are versions of the same quotation rather than new files. What was issued, when, and at what price stays on the record after it has been superseded.

  • Which answers the strip out argument six months later
  • An activity log records what was edited and by whom
  • No filename convention to maintain or to break
  • The client's copy and your copy are the same document
Provable, not recalledLive

A document worth
putting your name to

The quotation leaves as a typeset PDF on your letterhead, carrying your logo, your address, your numbering and your terms, rather than a workbook printed to PDF and attached by hand.

  • The build-up laid out in sections a client can read
  • It looks the same whoever in the office sends it
  • Numbering runs in sequence, so gaps are visible
  • Sent from the record, so the record knows it went
The only part the client seesLive

Chased, and
closed out

A quotation sits in a state rather than in somebody's head. Outstanding, successful or unsuccessful, with a reason recorded when it goes the wrong way.

  • You can see what is sitting with a client unanswered
  • A loss with a reason is worth more than a loss without one
  • Which is how a win rate becomes a number you can act on
  • By client, and by the kind of work
Followed up, not forgottenLive

Converted, keeping
its reference

A won quotation becomes a live project carrying the same reference, so the priced build-up that won the work is the thing the job is later measured against.

  • Nothing is retyped, so nothing is mistyped
  • The estimate and the actual share a number
  • Which is what makes estimate against actual meaningful
  • And what makes the next quote better than the last
Priced once, carried throughLive

Bring last month's enquiries. All of them, including the ones nobody priced.

The gap between what arrived and what went out is usually the most expensive number in the business, and almost nobody can produce it on request.
Book a demo → 30 minutes. The demo runs on our own data.
Two people working through a marked up drawing while pricing a job
411Enquiries logged and accounted for
409Quotations priced and issued
1,088Activity log entries behind them

Counted in the live system, July 2026. 173 of those quotations are marked successful and 245 are linked to a project, which is the point: the number you quoted and the number you are measured against are the same number.

The detail estimators ask about

Six things worth knowing before you move a quoting process.

These are the questions that come up in the second conversation, so they are answered here instead.

The build-up is the document

Sections for materials, labour, testing, strip out, preliminaries and other charges are not presentation. They are how a quotation is defended when a client asks what a line covers, and how a variation is priced later from the same basis rather than from a fresh guess.

What the client sees is not what you see

Your cost, your markup and your build-up stay yours. What goes out is a typeset document on your letterhead showing exactly what you have decided it should show. That is worth caring about beyond the confidentiality, because on a competitive tender your quotation is sitting on a desk next to two or three others, and it is the one that does not look like a spreadsheet.

Reasons, not just outcomes

A lost quotation with a reason recorded against it is worth something. A pile of unsuccessful ones is worth nothing. This is the single field most firms skip and most regret skipping, because it is what turns a win rate into a decision about which work to stop chasing.

The credit check belongs here

Underwriting a client is part of deciding whether to price the work, not an afterthought once you have won it. Credit checks sit on the client record with the date and the document attached, so the exposure is visible while the decision is still open.

Migration is carried out for you

The quoting side is fast to configure, and Unibuild loads the price library behind it as part of the fee. Your estimators review it with us and fill the gaps the completeness report shows, once and properly.

It has to survive the person who built it

The reason most quoting spreadsheets are dangerous is not that they are wrong. It is that one person understands them. A structured build-up priced from a shared library is legible to somebody who joined last month, which is the whole argument for moving.

The quote is only as good as the rates behind it.

If your price library is still three workbooks and a folder of supplier emails, that is the conversation worth having before this one.
See the price library → Or call the office on UK hours
Questions

Asked by whoever
prices the work.

Can AI check a quotation or a tender before it goes out?
Yes. Unibuild’s AI reviews a quotation, or a tender submission and the quotation inside it, before anything is sent. It flags gaps and inconsistencies, and whoever leads the quote makes the call. AI estimate review covers estimates and quotations, and AI tender review covers tenders.
Can we prove which version of a quotation we sent?
Yes. Revisions are versions of one quotation rather than separate files, so what was issued, when, and at what price stays on the record after it has been superseded. The quotation is sent from the record, and an activity log shows what was edited and by whom. When a client says six months later that the price included the strip out, the answer is a dated document.
Is every quotation priced from our current rates?
Yes. Each quotation is a structured build-up, with sections for materials, labour, testing, strip out, preliminaries and other charges. It is priced from your own catalogues and rate cards, so the labour rate is the one your price library holds today. Every line can be defended when a client asks what it covers.
Will the client see our costs or our margin?
No. Your cost, your markup and your build-up stay on your side. The client receives a typeset PDF on your letterhead, with your logo, address, numbering and terms, showing what you have decided it should show. The build-up is laid out in sections a client can read, and it looks the same whoever in the office sends it.
Can the client approve the quotation online?
Yes. Clients see and approve quotes in the client portal, against their own projects.
Can we see what is waiting on a client, and get a win rate?
Yes. Every quotation sits in a state: outstanding, successful or unsuccessful. You can see what is sitting with a client unanswered, and a loss carries a reason. The win rate then reads by client and by type of work, as well as overall, and the reasons show which work to stop chasing.
What happens when we win one?
It converts into a live project carrying the same reference. Nothing is retyped, so nothing is mistyped, and the priced build-up that won the work is what the job is measured against. Variations are priced later from the same basis rather than from a fresh guess.
Where does the tender paperwork live?
With the enquiry it arrived on. Drawings, specifications and the rest attach to the record rather than to a shared drive folder. When a quotation is revisited a year later, the documents that informed it are still there.
Can we credit check a client before we price the work?
Yes. Credit checks sit on the client record with the date and the document attached. The exposure is visible while the decision to price is still open, rather than after the work is won.
How long does it take to move our quoting onto this?
Most firms go live in about two weeks, in phases. The quoting side configures quickly, and Unibuild migrates the price library behind it as part of the fee. Your estimators then fill the gaps the completeness report shows, at their own pace.
How is the quotations module priced?
It is part of Unibuild’s monthly platform fee, with no separate module fee and no charge per user. The fee covers unlimited users, configuration, training, data migration and support, and is fixed for three years. Everyday AI is in the monthly fee. Heavier AI work is paid as used, at the AI provider’s own rate, with nothing added. How AI is charged, how pricing works, or ask for your firm’s quote.
Next step

Find out what your win rate actually is.

A manager studying drawings on site, working out what a job will take
The point You already price well. What you cannot do is prove what you sent That is the part this fixes
Ask for a quote

Tell us a little about the firm.
We do the rest.

Two minutes. A written figure by email, usually the same working day. Unlimited users, so every estimator pricing work is included.

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