Writing a quotation for facility management services

In short

Split a facility management quote into per-site planned maintenance, reactive rates and consumables, with written response times and exclusions. Then state annual and monthly totals in GBP so buyers can compare it and you can bill it.

A quotation for facility management services needs six things: a scope per site, planned maintenance priced as a fixed line, reactive call-outs priced as rates, consumables priced separately, written response times and exclusions, and totals stated per year and per month in pounds sterling. Price each part on its own line for each site. The customer can then compare your quote with others like for like, and you can see exactly where your margin sits over the contract term. A single lump sum hides all of that, and it is where disputes and write-offs begin.

Why one lump sum loses on both sides

Facility management work behaves in three different ways. Planned visits are predictable, so you can fix the price. Call-outs are unpredictable in volume, so you can only fix the rate. Consumables follow usage and supplier prices, so they move. A single annual figure forces you to guess all three, and the guess has to be padded to be safe.

Padding makes you look expensive against a competitor who itemizes. It also gives the buyer nothing to hold you to. When a reactive visit happens in month four, nobody can say whether it was inside the price or extra. The argument that follows costs more goodwill than the visit was worth.

Pricing models in this sector fall broadly into fixed price, cost-plus and managed service structures. One UK industry guide puts typical cost-plus management margins at 8 to 15 percent of direct costs, which is a useful sanity check on the margin you build into each line. Treat it as a benchmark from one source, not a rule.

Start with one block per site

Price each site separately, even when the customer is signing one contract. Sites differ in floor area, plant, access, travel time and compliance duties, and a blended price means your best-run site quietly subsidizes your worst. Per-site blocks also let the customer drop, add or re-tender a site without rewriting the whole quote.

Each site block should list the address, the assets or systems covered (for example air handling units, fire alarm panel, emergency lighting, water systems), and the services included. If you quote a mixed contract, such as fire detection testing alongside general building maintenance, keep the specialist lines clearly labeled. Our fire and security industry page covers how inspection and testing contractors structure those recurring visits.

Price planned maintenance as a fixed line

Planned preventive maintenance is the part you can price with confidence. For each site, list the visits by frequency: monthly, quarterly, six-monthly, annual. Cost each visit as labor hours, travel, and any parts that are routinely replaced, then add your overhead and margin.

Show the visit count and the price per visit, then the annual total for the line. A buyer comparing three quotes can see in seconds that you have allowed twelve visits where another bidder allowed four. That transparency is what protects you from being undercut by an incomplete scope.

Price reactive call-outs as rates, not guesses

Do not try to predict how many breakdowns a site will have. Quote a rate card instead: a call-out charge, an hourly labor rate for normal hours, a higher rate for out-of-hours, and a mark-up on parts. Out-of-hours rates are commonly set as a multiple of the normal rate. One published schedule-of-rates example uses 1.5 times normal hours, but use your own cost base rather than copying a multiplier.

Decide in advance what the call-out charge covers. Does it include the first hour? Does it include travel? State it. If you want to give the customer budget certainty, offer a capped allowance of call-outs per year and a stated rate beyond the cap. Where a customer wants a choice, a tiered quote lets you present, say, a basic option with rates only and a premium option with an allowance included, side by side.

Keep consumables on their own line

Filters, lamps, batteries, sanitary supplies and similar items belong on a separate priced line per site. Either list the expected quantities at unit prices, or state a mark-up on cost with a monthly statement. Mixing them into the visit price makes planned maintenance look more expensive than it is and leaves you absorbing price rises on parts you can no longer see.

Add a price review clause for consumables and labor. A yearly uplift linked to a published index or to agreed supplier price changes is normal on multi-year contracts. Without it, your margin shrinks a little each year of the term.

Put response times and exclusions in writing

A response time is a promise with a price attached, so write it down by priority. For example: emergency, attend within a set number of hours; urgent, attend within a working day; routine, attend within an agreed number of days. Say when the clock starts, which hours count, and what happens when you miss it.

Exclusions matter just as much. List what the price does not cover: damage caused by misuse, work on plant you have not surveyed, structural repairs, asbestos, specialist statutory testing delivered by others, and anything needing access equipment above a stated height. Anything not covered is quoted separately, with your rates.

State annual and monthly totals in GBP

Finish with a summary table per site and for the whole contract. Show the annual total for planned maintenance, the annual allowance for reactive work if you offer one, the annual consumables estimate, and the grand total. Then show the monthly figure the customer will be invoiced. Quote in pounds sterling, say whether VAT is included, and state the contract term and the review date.

Monthly billing is where fixed lines pay off. Planned maintenance and any allowance invoice as the same sum each month. Call-outs and consumables are billed in arrears against the rate card. Once the quote is accepted, the same lines can carry straight through to your contract set-up and recurring invoices, and each reactive visit becomes a job costed against the site. Building the quote in quoting software means the lines you priced are the lines you bill.

Check the quote before it goes out

Before sending, check six points. Every site has its own block. Planned visits show frequency, count and price. Call-out rates cover normal and out-of-hours work. Consumables sit on their own line. Response times and exclusions are written by priority and by system. The annual and monthly totals add up and match the line items. If any check fails, fix it before the customer finds it.

Review actual margin at the first quarter of the contract. Compare the hours you quoted for planned visits with the hours your engineers booked, and compare call-outs against your rate card. Adjust the next quote, or negotiate a change at the review date, using that evidence.

Sources

• Facilities Management Pricing Models UK: 2026 GuidePriority First · accessed 2026-10-29
• Schedule of Rates in Facility Management: A Complete 2026 GuideCryotos · accessed 2026-10-29