Guide

Domestic versus commercial: what changes in the way you quote

Last reviewed 12 September 2026

The same work, priced the same way, sits under two different sets of rules depending on who is paying. Using the wrong paperwork for the wrong customer is a costly habit.

A householder and a commercial client are not the same customer in law, and the protections run in opposite directions. Consumers get statutory protection you cannot contract out of. Businesses get the Construction Act, which protects you as much as them.

Consumer work: what applies

The Consumer Rights Act 2015 requires services to be performed with reasonable care and skill, within a reasonable time and, where no price was fixed, for a reasonable price. Terms that are unfair are not binding, and unclear terms are read in the consumer's favour.
The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 require you to give specified information before the contract is made, and give a 14-day cancellation right on contracts agreed away from your business premises.
The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 prohibit misleading claims and aggressive practices, including pressure selling on the doorstep.
The Construction Act does not apply to a contract with a residential occupier for work on their own home, so there is no statutory right to stage payments, to suspend for non-payment, or to adjudicate. Your own written terms are all you have.

What that means in practice on domestic work

Your terms have to do the work the statute does elsewhere. Set out the payment stages, the period for payment, what happens on late payment, and how variations are agreed, in plain language on the quotation itself. And give the cancellation information properly, because failing to do so extends the cancellation period by up to twelve months and can leave a finished job unpayable.

Commercial work: what applies

The Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 as amended gives instalment payments on contracts of 45 days or more, a payment notice and pay less notice regime, a right to suspend after seven days' written notice, and a right to adjudicate at any time.
The Scheme for Construction Contracts fills any gaps where the contract's own payment terms fall short of the Act.
The Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 gives statutory interest at 8 per cent over base rate, plus fixed compensation, on overdue business debts.
There is no cooling-off period, no consumer protection, and no reading of unclear terms in your favour. What you signed is what you get.

Read the contract you are being handed

Commercial clients often send their own terms or a standard form with amendments. The clauses worth finding before you sign are the payment period and the notice dates, retention and its release, liquidated damages for delay, the variation procedure and who may instruct one, and any obligation to accept design responsibility. An unnoticed pay-when-paid style provision or a 60 day payment period changes the economics of the job entirely.

Practical differences that affect the price

Commercial sites bring induction, method statements, risk assessments, permits and supervision, and all of that is chargeable time that domestic work does not carry.
Working hours may be restricted, which lengthens the programme.
Payment periods are longer, so you fund the work for longer and should price the cost of that.
Retention holds part of your money for months after you finish.
Domestic work carries more disruption and more communication, which is also chargeable time, and is the thing most often left out of a domestic price.

Two sets of paperwork, not one

The most reliable fix is to keep two versions of your quotation template: a consumer version carrying the cancellation notice, the plain-language payment terms and the guarantee, and a commercial version carrying your payment application dates, your interest clause and your variation procedure. Choosing between two ready templates takes a second. Editing the wrong one under pressure is how the cancellation notice gets left out.

One rule that covers both

Whoever the customer is, write down the scope, the exclusions, the price, the payment dates and what happens when something changes, and get their agreement to it before you start. Everything above is detail on top of that.

More guides

Write the quote itself in a couple of minutes

BidReady turns the answers to a short set of questions into a professional quotation with the scope, the exclusions and the terms already in it. Write your first quote free, or see how it works.

This guide is general information for UK trades, written by the BidReady team. It is not legal, tax or financial advice. Rules change and individual circumstances differ, so take professional advice before acting on anything that matters.