Describe the work behind the finish.

Identify the extent by component

For a room, list the ceiling, walls and particular joinery. For a frontage, identify the door, windows, fascia, masonry and metalwork individually. State whether cupboard interiors, door backs, window reveals or difficult returns belong in the request. An annotated photograph can make those limits clearer than the room’s name or approximate size alone.

Explain the existing condition

Mention failed coatings, repairs already undertaken and any issue whose cause is still unresolved. Supply previous material references if available, and explain whether the intended finish is selected or remains open. Separate a definite instruction from a provisional choice. That distinction helps a proposal show what can be described now and what needs assessment, sampling or approval first.

Give the programme its practical context

Include floor level, entrance arrangements and the route for materials. State whether the home or business will remain occupied, and identify any room or zone that cannot close. Provide the building’s contractor requirements and the contact responsible for them. For exterior work, show the ground below the requested surfaces as well as the elevation.

Read the scope beside the price

Check that the proposed preparation, finish and included components correspond with your brief. Review access equipment, protection, material supply, exclusions and the effect of any outstanding decision. Confirm the intended hours and programme with the project terms. Use the contact page to set out your request; the published phone and WhatsApp details are also available for discussing it.

The boundaries a written quotation is meant to close

Ask the quotation to pin down the work, not merely to name a figure. For every room or elevation it should list the components included: ceilings, walls, particular joinery, glazing bars, fascias, masonry and metalwork, as applicable. It should say what preparation is included, what is excluded, and which products and sheens are proposed, or which choices remain provisional pending a sample or a landlord’s answer. Protection of floors, furniture, stock and routes should be visible in the description, together with any access equipment the price assumes, such as a tower or a pavement arrangement that still needs a licence. Hours and phasing belong there too, especially if the home or the business stays open. Materials supply should say who buys specialist coverings or a specified brand. Provisional items should be marked provisional, so a later decision is not mistaken for something already included. Exclusions are as useful as inclusions. If damp investigation, joinery splicing, electrical removal or a signage change is outside the decorating scope, the quotation should say so in words you can compare with your brief. Read that description before you read the price. A figure without boundaries is not yet a quotation you can accept.

Photographs, plans and the notes worth sending first

The website form takes a written message and has no attachment field, so the first message should still be specific enough to stand alone. Give the full address, the floor, the entrance and the council if you already know it. Describe the surfaces and the condition in plain sentences: sound decoration, flaking coating, recent plaster, unresolved stains, and any finish you intend to keep exposed. If you know the existing product or the landlord’s required range, name it. State whether people will be living or trading in the building, which rooms cannot close, and any house rules for contractors. Mention external work and the ground beneath it if a licence or a suspension might be needed. Then use the published email route to send photographs, a simple plan and any lease clause or previous consent you want considered. Label the pictures with the room or the elevation. Say what is in scope by marking it, rather than relying on a wide shot. A product link or a sample reference can travel the same way. Keep a copy of what you sent. The quotation should be able to point back to those notes so both sides are discussing the same rooms.

Decisions the quotation should leave with the council or the landlord

A decorating quotation describes the work proposed. It does not grant listed-building consent, planning permission, advertisement consent or a landlord’s approval. Where Westminster’s listed-building rules may apply, consent turns on whether the work affects special architectural or historic interest, and the application material includes photographs and heritage information. Camden’s maintenance guidance separates matching repairs from work that uses different materials or different methods. If your brief includes stripping, a first-time coating on masonry, a shopfront alteration or a new sign, the quotation should show those items as subject to the relevant approval rather than as ordinary decoration already cleared. The same honesty applies to the building. If the lease or the managing agent must agree common parts, external faces or a colour standard, the quotation can allow for that agreement and should not pretend it has been given. Access licences and parking arrangements, where the highway is involved, stay conditional until the council process has been followed. Accepting a price does not start those processes. If an approval changes the preparation or the colour, the scope is revised in writing before that part proceeds. The quotation is doing its job when those open decisions are still visible on the page.

Sources: Westminster: listed-building consent; Camden: maintenance of listed buildings