Quotation Validity Period and Terms and Conditions: What to Include

Quick answer: A typical quotation validity period in Nigeria is 14–30 days, depending on how exposed your pricing is to material cost volatility. Standard terms and conditions should cover: what happens after the validity period expires, deposit and payment schedule, what is excluded from the scope, how variations are priced, and what happens if the client cancels after accepting.

Why a Validity Period Is Essential

Without a stated validity period, a quotation can technically be treated as open-ended — meaning a client could return months later expecting the same price, even after cement, steel, fuel, or transport costs have moved significantly. Given how quickly Nigerian material prices and the naira exchange rate can shift, an undated or open-ended quotation is a real financial risk, not just a formality.

How Long Should a Quotation Stay Valid?

What Happens When a Quotation Expires

State clearly what happens if a client tries to accept your quotation after the validity period has passed — typically, that you reserve the right to revise pricing before confirming the job. A simple line covers this: "This quotation is valid for 21 days from the date above. Acceptance after this period is subject to re-confirmation of pricing." This protects you from being locked into stale pricing while still allowing flexibility to honour the same price if nothing has actually changed.

Core Terms and Conditions to Include

• Validity period — as covered above, stated explicitly with a date or day count
• Deposit requirement — e.g. "A 40% deposit is required to confirm this order and commence work"
• Payment schedule — how the balance is staged (see our guide on invoicing construction work for typical staging)
• Scope exclusions — explicitly state what is NOT included, e.g. "Excludes electrical wiring, plumbing fixtures, and gate automation unless separately quoted"
• Variation/change order policy — e.g. "Any changes to scope requested after acceptance will be quoted and agreed separately before proceeding"
• Material substitution clause — e.g. "Where a specified material becomes unavailable, an equivalent alternative will be used and the client informed"
• Cancellation terms — what happens to a paid deposit if the client cancels after accepting, particularly if materials have already been purchased
• Warranty/defects period — for construction work, a standard defects liability period (commonly 3–6 months) during which workmanship issues will be corrected free of charge

Sample Terms and Conditions Wording

TERMS AND CONDITIONS
1. This quotation is valid for 21 days from the date above. Acceptance after this period is subject to re-confirmation of pricing.
2. A deposit of 40% is required to confirm this order before work commences.
3. Balance payment is due in stages as outlined in the payment schedule above.
4. This quotation excludes [list exclusions]. Any additional work will be quoted and agreed separately.
5. Where a specified material is unavailable, an equivalent alternative will be used and the client informed in advance.
6. Workmanship is guaranteed for [X months] from completion, covering defects arising from installation, excluding damage from misuse.

Why This Protects Both Parties

Clear terms are not just protection for the contractor — they protect the client too, by setting honest expectations upfront rather than surprises mid-project. A client who knows exactly what is excluded from a quote is far less likely to feel misled when an additional cost for excluded work arises later. Disputes in Nigerian construction and service work overwhelmingly trace back to unclear scope and unstated terms, not deliberate dishonesty on either side.

Adapting Terms by Job Size

For very small jobs, lengthy formal terms can feel excessive and may even make a client wary. Scale your terms and conditions to the job: a short validity note and payment term may be enough for a small repair, while a full written terms section — potentially reviewed by both parties in writing — is appropriate for a substantial construction contract.

Where to Place Terms on Your Quotation

Terms and conditions are most effective when placed directly beneath the pricing table, immediately visible before the client signs or replies to accept — not buried on a second page or in tiny footer text they are unlikely to read closely. For quotations sent digitally, consider requiring an explicit "I accept these terms" confirmation as part of the acceptance action itself, whether that is a signed reply, a click-to-accept on an online quotation tool, or a countersigned printed copy. This small step meaningfully reduces later disputes about whether the client was aware of, and agreed to, the stated terms.

What Happens If Terms Are Left Out Entirely

Omitting terms and conditions doesn't make the underlying issues disappear — it just means they surface as disputes later, when they are far harder to resolve fairly. Without a stated validity period, you may feel obligated to honour a stale price. Without a documented deposit requirement, a client may expect to pay only on completion, straining your cash flow through the project. Without stated exclusions, "I thought that was included" becomes a recurring argument at handover. The few extra minutes spent writing clear terms upfront are consistently cheaper, in time and goodwill, than resolving the same issues after a disagreement has already started.

Reviewing and Updating Your Standard Terms

Treat your standard terms and conditions as a living document, not something written once and forgotten. If you notice the same dispute or misunderstanding recurring across several jobs — clients repeatedly assuming a certain material or task was included, for instance — that is a signal to add an explicit clause addressing it directly in your standard terms, rather than relitigating the same explanation informally on every future quotation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I extend a quotation's validity if a client asks after it expires?
Yes, at your discretion — if material prices haven't moved significantly, you may choose to honour the original price as a gesture of goodwill, while still reserving the right not to.

Are quotation terms and conditions legally binding in Nigeria?
Once a client formally accepts a quotation containing clear terms, those terms generally form part of the resulting contract between both parties, which is why writing them clearly upfront matters.

Do I need a lawyer to write my terms and conditions?
For most small and medium-sized jobs, clear plain-language terms like the sample above are sufficient. For very large contracts, having a lawyer review your standard terms once is a worthwhile one-time investment.

Should terms and conditions differ between a quotation and the resulting invoice?
The core commercial terms (payment schedule, exclusions) should stay consistent between the two — the invoice simply formalises what the accepted quotation already established, rather than introducing new conditions the client hasn't previously agreed to.

Should I ask the client to sign the quotation as formal acceptance?
Where practical, yes — a signed or explicitly written acceptance ("Confirmed, please proceed") removes any ambiguity later about whether the client actually agreed to the price, scope, and terms as stated.

Should validity period and payment terms be in the same section?
They can sit together under a single "Terms" heading for simplicity, as long as each point remains clearly separated and easy to scan rather than merged into a single dense paragraph the client is unlikely to read carefully.