Supply and Fix
A contracting arrangement in which the contractor both supplies all required materials and carries out the installation, taking full responsibility for material costs, sourcing, and quality under a single combined price.
Supply and fix is the standard contracting arrangement in most construction and trade work. Under a supply-and-fix contract, the contractor quotes for, purchases, and installs all required materials as a single scope of work. The client receives one price covering both elements, and the contractor carries full responsibility for material sourcing, pricing, and quality throughout the project.
The key distinction is where the risk sits. On a supply-and-fix contract, any increase in material costs after the quote is agreed comes out of the contractor's margin. If quantities are underestimated, if a supplier increases prices between quote and start on site, or if waste runs higher than expected, the contractor absorbs the difference. This makes accurate take-off and up-to-date supplier pricing essential before any quote goes out.
Contrast With Labour-Only Contracts
The alternative to supply and fix is a labour-only arrangement, where the client or main contractor supplies all materials and the subcontractor provides only the workforce. Labour-only shifts the material cost and procurement risk back to whoever is supplying the goods. For subcontractors, labour-only contracts remove the margin opportunity on materials but also remove the exposure to material price movements and procurement delays.
Many businesses operate both models simultaneously - supply and fix for some clients or project types, labour-only for others. Keeping these distinct in your quoting and job management system prevents material costs being tracked against the wrong contract type.
Confirm material prices before the quote leaves
On supply-and-fix jobs with more than three or four weeks between quotation and start on site, request written price confirmations from your suppliers. A price from memory or from an out-of-date price list is not reliable protection if costs move between the quote date and the order date.
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