Most homeowners compare quotes on a single number: the total at the bottom. That is exactly how people end up paying for a cheap quote twice. The gap between two tradies is almost never the same job at a different markup — it is a different scope of work, and the cheaper one has usually left something out.
This guide shows you how to read what is actually inside each quote, how to line them up so the comparison is fair, the red flags that should make you walk away, and a simple step-by-step you can follow this afternoon.
Get three quotes — not one, not two
One quote gives you nothing to compare against. Two can be misleading: if they happen to be close you assume both are right, and if they are far apart you have no way to tell which is the outlier. Three is the number that shows you the true middle of the market and makes any quote that is suspiciously cheap or unusually dear stand out straight away.
Try to get all three from licensed, insured tradies working to the same written scope. If each tradie is quietly pricing a slightly different job, three numbers tell you nothing — which is the whole problem we are about to fix.
Why two quotes for the same job look nothing alike
When a quote is just a job title and a price — “Bathroom reno — $18,000” — you have no way to know what it includes. One tradie may have priced waterproofing, rubbish removal and a new exhaust fan; the next assumed you would handle all of that. Same words, very different jobs.
Most of the gap between two honest quotes comes down to a handful of things:
- What is in and what is out. Demolition, rubbish removal, making good, painting and clean-up are the items most often left off a cheap quote.
- Provisional sums and allowances. A “$2,000 allowance for tiles” in one quote and a “$4,500 allowance” in another can make the cheaper-looking quote the dearer job once you choose your actual tiles.
- Who supplies the fixtures. Whether the tapware, vanity, oven or tiles are supplied by the tradie or by you (PC items) moves the total a lot.
- Materials grade. One coat versus two, builder’s-grade versus premium, laminate versus stone — the labour can be identical while the materials line is double.
- Site access and the unknowns. A tradie who has clocked the tricky access, the asbestos risk or the rotten subfloor prices it in; the one who missed it quotes lower and finds it later.
The fix is to force every quote onto the same line items so you can see, row by row, where the money goes and what each tradie did or did not include.
A worked example: two bathroom quotes side by side
Say you get two quotes for the same bathroom. On the face of it, Quote A wins by $6,500:
- Quote A — $18,000. “Supply and install new bathroom.” That is the whole quote.
- Quote B — $24,500. Itemised: strip-out and demolition, rubbish removal, waterproofing to AS 3740, wall and floor tiling, new vanity, toilet, shower screen and tapware (PC sum $3,200), plumbing and electrical, exhaust fan, then paint and make good.
Now ask Quote A what is not included and the picture flips. The strip-out, the skip, the waterproofing certificate, the fixtures and the painting were all excluded — you were expected to arrange them. Add those back at fair rates and Quote A lands around $24,000. The two jobs are within a few hundred dollars of each other; one tradie simply told you the whole price and the other told you the headline. The itemised quote was the honest one all along.
What every quote should spell out
- Scope of work: a plain-English description of exactly what will be done, room by room or item by item.
- Inclusions and exclusions: the most important section. What is explicitly not in the price — demolition, rubbish, making good, painting, fixtures you supply.
- Materials vs labour: whether materials are included, and whether they are a fixed amount or a provisional sum that can move.
- Provisional sums and allowances: placeholder figures (for example “$2,000 allowance for tiles”) that get trued-up later. Two quotes can look different purely because of different allowances.
- Timeline and start date: when they can start and roughly how long it takes.
- Payment schedule: deposit, progress payments and the final payment, ideally tied to milestones.
- Variations: how changes are priced once work starts, and whether you sign off in writing before any extra work is done.
- ABN, licence and insurance: the business ABN, the relevant trade licence number, and proof of public liability (plus home warranty insurance where the job value requires it).
The red flags of a dodgy quote
- No ABN or licence number. For licensed trades — electrical, plumbing, gas, and structural work over a state threshold — an unlicensed quote is an instant no. Check the ABN free on the national ABN Lookup and the licence on your state’s public register.
- A verbal scope only. “She’ll be right, I’ll sort it out” is not a contract. If it is not written down, it is not included.
- A large upfront deposit. In most states the deposit on domestic building work is capped (commonly around 10 per cent). A demand for 40 to 50 per cent before any work starts is a warning sign — see how much deposit to pay a tradie.
- Cash-only, no invoice. No paper trail means no warranty, no proof of payment and no recourse if the work is defective.
- The extreme low bid. If one quote is 30 to 40 per cent below the others, it is almost always missing scope, planning one coat where two are needed, or pricing to win the job and recover it through variations later.
- Pressure to sign today. “This price is only good if you commit now” exists to stop you comparing. A fair quote is still fair next week.
- No references, reviews or recent work. A professional can point to similar jobs and a couple of contactable referees without hesitation.
How to compare quotes, step by step
- Write the scope once. List every task and every fixture in one document, room by room. This is the brief every tradie prices against.
- Send the identical scope to at least three tradies. Same words, same fixtures, same finishes. Now any price difference is about them, not about who guessed your job differently.
- Put the quotes on the same rows. Line them up item by item in a simple table or note. Where a quote has a blank row, that is an exclusion — flag it.
- Add the exclusions back. Price the missing items and add them to the cheaper quote so every quote represents the same finished job. This is the step that catches the “cheap” quote that is not.
- Check the licence, ABN and insurance. Verify the licence number on your state register and the ABN on ABN Lookup before money is discussed.
- Compare on total cost to complete — not the headline. The right number is what it will cost you to walk away from a finished, compliant job, including the bits you would otherwise have to arrange yourself.
The cheapest quote is rarely the cheapest job
Once every quote covers the same scope, the lowest fair price is genuinely useful leverage. You can go back to a tradie you preferred and ask them to match the scope or the number — that is a fair conversation. What you should never do is ask a tradie to “sharpen the pencil” with no change to the work: the price comes down by quietly removing scope, and you are right back where you started. If a quote is far below the rest, treat it as a question rather than a bargain — ask what is included until you understand why.
Know the going rate before you start
It is much easier to spot an outlier when you already know the ballpark. These guides have current 2026 AUD ranges for common jobs:
- Bathroom renovation cost
- Kitchen renovation cost
- House painting cost
- Fencing cost per metre
- Concrete driveway cost
- Ducted air conditioning cost
Before you sign
Two more things worth getting right before you pick a tradie: the questions that separate a professional from a cowboy, and what a fair deposit actually looks like.
- 10 questions to ask a tradie before you hire them
- How much deposit should you pay a tradie in Australia?
Frequently asked questions
How many quotes should I get for a job?
Three is the standard. One gives you no comparison, two can be misleading, and three usually shows you the true middle of the market and flags any outlier that is too cheap or too dear.
Why is one quote so much cheaper than the others?
Almost always because it includes less work. The cheap quote often leaves out prep, rubbish removal, making good or materials, or prices the minimum and recovers the rest through variations once work starts. Add the missing items back and the gap usually disappears.
Should I always choose the cheapest quote?
No. Compare on the total cost to finish the same scope, not the headline number. Once every quote covers identical work the lowest fair price is useful, but a quote far below the rest is usually missing scope rather than offering a genuine saving.
Do tradies charge for a quote in Australia?
A standard quote is normally free. A tradie may charge a call-out or assessment fee for a detailed measured quote or a specialist report, so agree any fee before they attend.
How big a deposit is normal for a tradie?
In most Australian states a deposit on domestic building work is capped, commonly around 10 per cent. A demand for 40 to 50 per cent upfront is a red flag — see our tradie deposit guide for the rules by state.
How do I check a tradie is licensed and legitimate?
Ask for the business ABN and the trade licence number, then search the ABN free on the national ABN Lookup and the licence on your state or territory building or fair-trading register. Do this before you pay a deposit.
Build your own itemised quote first
The hardest part of a fair comparison is writing the scope. With Quotefor.au you can get an instant itemised quote from a quick camera walkthrough of the job — a line-by-line estimate you can hand to every tradie, so they all price the same scope and you can compare like for like.