Curtain installer quote template South Africa

A flat fee for “install curtains house” collapses the moment one bay is concrete lintel and another is lightweight bulkhead. Split your offer so the client sees what they are buying:

• Site measure or confirmation of dimensions — separate fee if you measure before manufacture, or state that pricing assumes signed-off sizes supplied by the client / workroom. Mis-measure is the most expensive argument in this trade — name who owns the risk.
• Hardware per opening — track type (standard, wave, corded, hand-draw), length brackets, ceiling vs wall fix, extendable vs cut-to-size poles, passing brackets for wide spans, finials, and any ceiling mount adapters. If the quote is install-only, list “client-supplied hardware” and exclude suitability guarantees for cheap rails.
• Installation labour — per window / sliding door / per linear metre of track, or per room package. Call out double-height voids, stairwells, or ladder work above 2.4 m where you need a second installer or more time.
• Take-down, patch, and disposal — removing old curtains, blinds, or twisted tracks; filling small drill holes if included; removal to landfill or recycling. If excluded, say “strip-out by others.”
• Stack, clearance, and stacking space — note if stacking depth or furniture placement limits how far curtains can draw back — saves you from being blamed for “blocking the view.”
• Optional extras — tie-backs, holdbacks, pelmets, sheer plus blockout double tracks, safety devices on corded systems where relevant, and smart / motorised operators (often with a line that electrical supply or commissioning by a registered electrician is excluded unless itemised).

If you supply fabric and make up, your quote should separate fabric meterage and making from installation, with lead time from deposit and approved sample. If you install only, list the client's responsibility: hardware arrived complete, brackets match substrate, curtains labelled per room. Fit-only jobs go wrong when components are wrong — your quote is where you say you are not the warranty for someone else's purchase.

Registered installers charge 15% VAT on labour and on hardware you supply. Show subtotal, VAT, and total. Interior decorators and homeowners comparing quotes need the same basis — especially off invoices for body corporates that reconcile VAT.

Below the VAT threshold, quote an all-in ZAR figure with no VAT line and state non-registration clearly if corporate clients ask.

Many installs are in complexes with inductions, noise hours, lift protection, and parking vouchers. Either absorb a small admin line or exclude “estate-specific costs” and pass them through — but mention it before you absorb R600 in levies.

Making good — specify whether you touch up drill dust only, fill holes from old brackets, or leave plaster / paint reinstatement to others. Tiled or stone reveals need a note on specialist drill bits and who accepts crack risk.

Common structures for custom work:

• Deposit on order — often 40–60% when fabric or imported tracks are committed.
• Balance on installation or snag completion — state when the balance is due (same day vs 7 days).
• Labour-only — payment on completion unless you extend credit to trade accounts — put it in writing.

State a workmanship period on fixing brackets and operation of installed hardware you supplied. Manufacturer warranty on motors or tracks follows supplier terms — say so.

Typical exclusions worth listing:

• Structural adequacy of ceiling or wall fixings you did not design
• Damage from concealed pipes, cables, or steel in reveals discovered while drilling
• Fading, shrinkage, or cleaning of client-supplied fabric
• Coordination with scaffolding or other trades unless itemised
• Re-hang after painters or tilers disturb brackets — price as a variation

• No photo or signed sketch of each opening — the client remembers a different stack side.
• Quoting motorised blinds without power and switch position confirmed — commissioning delays become your fault.
• Accepting WhatsApp sizes from the client's cousin — then eating remake costs.
• Omitting validity on imported component pricing — exchange moves and you are stuck.
• Free take-down on twelve windows — your labour day vanishes.