Guide
How to quote a concrete pumping job properly
A price over the phone isn't a quote. It's a hope. Here's how to quote a pumping job line by line so the ugly surprises land on their invoice, not your margin.
Most operators don't quote a job. They answer the phone, hear "house slab, forty cube, Thursday," say a number and hope. Then Thursday arrives with seventy metres of line, a locked gate and a batch plant running two hours behind. Learning how to quote a concrete pumping job properly is the difference between pricing work and gambling on it.
The job is never what they tell you it is. Quote like that's true.
Ask before you price
Before a number leaves your mouth, get the facts. How many cube. What mix. Boom or line. How far from the setup to the pour. Access, ground conditions, power lines. Start time. Is there washout on site. Who's supplying the hoseman. Is it one pour or staged. Every one of those answers moves money.
A harsh mix eats rubbers. Sixty extra metres of line is an hour of setup and another hour of pack-up. Bad ground means timber, plates and time. If you don't ask, you're pricing someone else's version of the job — the easy version that doesn't exist.
Build the quote line by line
A quote is a list, not a number. Mobilisation or travel. Minimum hours. Hourly rate. Per-cube rate. Extra line over your standard allowance. Washout. Waiting time after a stated grace period. Cancellation fee if they scrub the job late. Payment terms. Each item named, each item priced.
When the quote is one number, every surprise on the day comes out of your pocket. When it's line items, surprises land where they belong — on the bloke who caused them. The builder who ordered concrete two hours apart pays waiting time. The site with no washout pays for washout. That's not being difficult. That's being a business.
Put it in writing before the boom goes up
Confirm by text or email, even for regulars. Terms before the job, not after. Cash on completion for new builders until they've proven they pay. Waiting time starts when you arrive, not when the agi does — and they know that before you leave the yard. It's the same reason bookings through PumpXchange put the job details up front, cube and access and timing, before anyone commits. Facts first, price second, paper always.
Some builders will grumble at the paperwork. Good. The ones who respect your quote usually respect your invoice. The ones who don't were always going to make you chase it.
Quote every job like the phone call was only half true. Because it usually was.
