How long should an estimate stay valid?
Someone calls in November. They have your estimate from March, they would like to go ahead, and they are slightly surprised when you explain that the price has changed.
From their side this is unreasonable: you gave them a number. From yours it is obvious: that number was built on supplier pricing from eight months ago.
Both of you are being honest. The document failed.
What an expiry actually does
Three jobs, only one of which is about price.
It protects your costs. Copper, lumber, shingles and equipment all move, and sometimes quickly. An expiry means you are not carrying that risk indefinitely for free.
It protects your schedule. The price you quoted in March assumed March's workload. If you are now booked eight weeks out, the same job costs you more — in overtime, in subcontractors, or in the work you turn away.
It creates a reason to decide. This one is underrated. An estimate that never expires is easy to postpone. A date gives a customer a reason to answer, and it is a legitimate reason rather than manufactured pressure.
How long
There is no universal answer, but there are sensible defaults:
| Situation | Reasonable validity |
|---|---|
| Service and repair work, mostly labour | 30 days |
| Material-heavy work, stable pricing | 30 days |
| Material-heavy work, volatile pricing | 14 days, or price on order |
| Large project with subcontractors | 30 days, with named assumptions |
| Competitive bid to a spec | Whatever the spec demands — read it |
Thirty days is the common default because it is long enough to be reasonable and short enough to be meaningful.
The wording
Keep it plain. A homeowner should understand it without a second read:
This estimate is valid for 30 days from the date above. After that, material prices will be re-checked and the total may change. We will tell you the difference before any work begins.
That last sentence is what makes it fair rather than a trap. You are not threatening to raise the price — you are promising to tell them.
For genuinely volatile materials
When a material is moving fast, carve it out rather than shortening everything:
Labour and installation pricing is held for 30 days. Materials are priced at the date of order and will be confirmed in writing before purchase.
Customers accept this readily when it is explained once, because it is visibly how the world works.
What to do when the old estimate comes back
Someone calls with your March number. The way to handle it costs nothing and earns a lot:
- Thank them, genuinely — they chose you
- Explain what has moved, specifically, not vaguely
- Send the re-priced version promptly
- Hold anything that hasn't actually changed
Specificity is the whole thing. "Material prices have gone up" sounds like an excuse. "The heater itself is $74 more than it was in March, the labour is the same" sounds like an invoice.
Honour your own rule
If your estimate says 30 days, do not quietly honour four-month-old prices whenever someone pushes. You will train your customers that the date means nothing, and the next conversation will be harder.
Where the date comes from
An expiry is only useful if it is on every document, which means it cannot depend on remembering.
In Pro Speak Artisan the date is part of the estimate itself rather than something you add, and the accepted version is what the invoice is issued from — same lines, same totals. So the number the customer agreed to and the number you bill are the same number, on a date you can both point to.
An estimate is a photograph of a moment. The expiry is just the honesty of saying when the photograph was taken.