I write them every week, and I see plenty of others go by when my clients compare. Here is what a quote, the French devis, must contain, the traps that come up again and again, and the method for comparing two quotes that are not talking about the same thing.
A devis is not a piece of sales paperwork: once signed, it is a contract. It binds the craftsman on the content and the price, and you on the payment. Anything not written in it does not exist. That is why a good quote is long, and why a short quote should worry you.
French law imposes a base: the full identity of the business with its SIRET (company registration number), the date of the quote and how long it stays valid, the detail of each service with quantities and unit prices, the VAT rate applied, totals excluding and including tax (HT and TTC on the document), and payment terms. And for any building tradesman, mentioning the with the insurer's name and the geographical cover has been compulsory since the law of 18 June 2014. No décennale mention = the first alarm bell, before you even look at the price.
Check the vocabulary of money paid up front too: an commits you definitively, arrhes do not. This is not notary small print: if things go wrong, everything turns on that one word.
The gold-underlined words are explained on hover. All definitions are in the joinery glossary.
| The trap | What it hides | What to demand |
|---|---|---|
| 'Lot non compris' (item not included) | Rubble removal, plastering repairs, paint touch-ups billed on top, after signature | A written list of what is NOT included |
| Vague materials | 'PVC window' with no brand, range or Uw value: entry-level goods at mid-range prices | Brand, model, dimensions, quantified performance |
| A deposit out of line with the quote | A percentage that matches neither common practice (20-30%) nor the real weight of materials in the quote | A deposit consistent with what the craftsman has to order: 20 to 30% in general, more if materials dominate (windows, for example) |
| A global lump sum with no detail | Impossible to check quantities or to compare | The detail item by item, in quantities and unit prices |
It is the most common case, and the most misleading. An example seen recently: two bathroom quotes, €9,800 against €13,900. The client was leaning towards the first, logically. Except that reading line by line, the first included neither the rubble removal, nor the plastering repairs after strip-out, nor the final connections. Added back at their real price, the two quotes were within €400 of each other. The 'cheaper' one was not cheaper: it was less complete.
But the scope is only the visible part: if that were all, anyone could compare. The real difference often hides in the grades of materials. An entry-level shower screen and tray with budget taps, against the same set in mid-range with quality rectified tiling: on a complete bathroom, the gap runs to thousands of euros. In the end, there will indeed be two bathrooms. Just not the same one.
And one point that personally makes me wince: if you did not explicitly ask for entry-level everywhere, be wary of the craftsman who offers only that without saying so clearly. It is not a fault in itself, but it raises questions about how serious the proposal is, and it certainly gives you another lens for comparing.
The method, simple and unbeatable: take the most detailed quote as your reference, and for each line, look for its equivalent in the other, the item AND the grade. For every line that is missing or vague, ask in writing: 'is this included, and in what quality?'. Within ten minutes you will know whether you are comparing two identical projects or a complete project against a half-costed one.
One last thing people forget: a craftsman can simply make a mistake. It has happened to me, at a client's where I had another part of the project, to reread a colleague's quote and warn them: do not sign it as it stands, you will have problems, because what was written was impossible to deliver at that price. The client talked it over with the craftsman, who admitted he had completely forgotten to cost the hours for part of the work. In that case, I strongly advise against holding the craftsman to his mistake, however great the temptation: someone losing money on your project will be less committed, will look to rush, and the result will show it. A quote that is genuinely too low is never good news, not for him, and not for you.
When I cost a project, every line is a promise I will have to keep. That is why my quotes specify the brands, the glazing coefficients, who removes the rubble and who redoes the making-good. Not out of administrative zeal: because a vague quote is an argument scheduled for the end of the project, and I have no desire to fall out with my clients.
My honest opinion: a one-page quote for a full renovation goes in the bin, whatever the price. You do not sum up three months of work in six lines. And in the other direction, be wary of the quote spectacularly cheaper than the others: 9 times out of 10, it is not a bargain, it is an amputated scope. The craftsman who has planned for everything always looks more expensive than the one who will discover the problems at your expense.
If your project involves grants, the quote must also state the required performance levels: I explain it all in the grants for replacing windows. And for a project still taking shape, the best value remains a pre-works advice visit: we define the scope before costing, the exact opposite of a blind quote. See also how I work on a full renovation, or ask me for a quote directly: you will know how to read it, now.
Nothing in French law requires it: a craftsman is entitled to charge for the study, provided he says so beforehand. In practice, a simple quote is free with most of us, and with me too. When a project calls for a real technical study on site, that is discussed frankly beforehand, never sprung on you.
Yes. Signed with the words bon pour accord (agreed and approved), the devis becomes a contract binding both parties: the craftsman on the content and the price, you on the payment. That is exactly why it must be detailed: anything not in it is not owed, in either direction.
For most everyday work, 20 to 30% on ordering is the norm: on a building quote, materials represent roughly 30% of the total. But when the supply side weighs much more, an order of windows, for example, it is legitimate for the deposit to exceed 50%: it covers the materials order, so the craftsman is not fronting them alone if the client defaults. The right question is not the percentage: it is whether the deposit matches what the craftsman genuinely has to order to start your project.
Brands, quantities, performance figures, who does what: my quotes detail everything, line by line. And I take the time to walk you through them. I speak English, so feel free to call or write in English.
+33 6 03 57 45 47Reply within 48 hours, or in writing: contact@agencementklein.fr
