How Long Is an Estimate Valid? 15 to 30 Days, and Why

2026-08-25·4 min read·Updated 2026-09-22·Leer en español

A woman calls in October about a quote you sent in July. Same kitchen, same scope, and she is ready to book. You look at the number and your stomach drops, because plywood moved, your helper got a raise, and that price belonged to a different summer.

Now you are choosing between eating the difference and starting the relationship with an awkward conversation. Both are avoidable with one line on the document.

The standard window

Fifteen to thirty days is the norm across the trades, and thirty is the friendliest version of it. It gives a homeowner time to talk to her husband, collect one more price, and think, without giving the market time to move under you.

Anything longer than sixty days is a promise you cannot really keep. Anything shorter than a week reads as pressure, and pressure makes people go get a third quote.

The window is not a sales tactic. It is a statement about materials, your schedule, and the fact that money in June is not money in October.

When to shorten it

When materials are moving. Lumber, copper, anything imported. If your supplier is quoting you weekly, you should not be quoting a client monthly. Ten to fifteen days is fair.

When the job is mostly material. A deck is plywood, joists and fasteners. A repaint is mostly your labour. The higher the material share, the shorter the window.

When your calendar is the scarce part. In peak season your dates are worth more than your prices. A shorter window is an honest way of saying these dates will not sit here waiting.

When it is a big job. On something large, a small percentage swing is real money. Tighten it and say why.

The one line to add

Put it near the total, in plain language, where nobody can miss it.

Valid for 30 days from the date above. After that, prices may be updated for material and scheduling changes.

Notice what it does not say. It does not say the price expires or that she loses anything. It says prices may be updated, which is true, and it quietly puts a clock on the decision without ever mentioning urgency. Clients respond to that far better than to a countdown.

In Spanish, the same line reads: Vigencia de 30 días a partir de la fecha. Después de ese plazo, el precio puede ajustarse por cambios de material o de calendario.

If you are itemizing properly, this line lives right under the total, next to your deposit terms. The painting estimate guide shows where it sits in a full document.

What to do when a client returns after expiry

Do not treat it as a problem. Somebody who kept your estimate for three months and called you anyway is close to the best lead you will get all year. She already chose you, and she is not shopping.

Requote it properly and fast. Same scope, current numbers, new date. Same day if you can, because the moment she called is the moment she was ready.

Say the reason in one sentence. "The scope is the same, materials are up about six percent since July, so the new number is X." Contractors are terrified of that sentence and clients barely blink at it. What they react badly to is a new number with no explanation.

Keep the same document style. If it looks like the July one with fresh numbers, it reads as a business that runs on a system rather than on mood.

And if it moved a lot, offer the honest options. Trim a section, change a material, split it into phases. Giving her a way to say yes at a number she can live with beats defending a price she cannot.

One more thing worth knowing: the difference between a number that can move and a number you are committed to has a name, and it matters legally as well as practically. Estimate, quote and invoice do three different jobs, and using the right word on the document is half of this problem solved.

The short version

Thirty days by default. Fifteen when materials are jumpy or the job is material heavy. One plain sentence under the total. And when somebody comes back late, treat it as a warm lead rather than an inconvenience, requote it the same day, and say why in one line.

That is the entire discipline, and it takes about eight seconds per estimate once the line is part of your template.

Boceto puts the validity line on every estimate for you, in English or Spanish, and turns the old one into a fresh document without retyping it. Free to try on your next job.

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