Trades · free template

Estimate Approval Form

Customer sign-off on a quoted total, deposit terms and change-order handling before trades work begins.

A ready-to-use home services & trades form for builders, electricians, plumbers and contractors: 18 questions, 4 pages, 4 conditional rules.

Questions
18
Pages
4
Layouts
classic · card
Conditional rules
4
Typical time
4 min
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Live preview and test console

This is the real form. Answer it to test the 4 conditional rules — nothing is sent or stored.

Page 1 of 4Job and estimate

Estimate approval

Describe or attach the scope this estimate covers.

Every question on this page is currently visible.

What happens after submit: nothing is stored in this preview. On your own copy, every response triggers an instant email notification and lands in your response dashboard, ready to export or forward.

Happy with it? Take a copy into your workspace — every question, rule and setting comes with it.

Who this template is for

Estimate Approval Form is built for builders, electricians, plumbers and contractors who need to scope a job and price it without a site visit for every enquiry.

  • Builders, electricians, plumbers and contractors working in home services & trades.
  • Teams who need to scope a job and price it without a site visit for every enquiry without writing code or paying for a custom build.
  • Anyone replacing quoting blind and travelling out for work that never lands with one structured record per enquiry.
  • Respondents are homeowners and site managers — the form asks them 18 questions across 4 screens.
  • Mobile-heavy audiences, thanks to the one-question-per-screen card layout.

Why this form is useful

It removes the cost of quoting blind and travelling out for work that never lands and turns each submission into a record your team can act on immediately.

  • 11 questions are required, so submissions arrive complete instead of needing a follow-up email.
  • It records a signature you can keep as proof of agreement.
  • It pins the request to a specific date.
  • It captures a full postal address.
  • It captures a numeric value you can filter and sort on.
  • Conditional logic hides 4 questions until they are relevant — shorter forms convert better than long ones.
  • Splitting the form across 4 pages keeps each screen short and shows respondents how much is left.
  • Every response is stored, searchable and exportable, so nothing depends on one person's inbox.

How to use this template

From copy to live form is a few minutes of work, and every step is reversible.

  1. 1Press “Use this template” — a fresh copy of Estimate Approval Form lands in your workspace, ready to edit.
  2. 2Rename or delete any question, and change what is required. Nothing here is fixed.
  3. 3Open Notifications and add the email addresses that should be alerted on each submission; add an auto-reply to the respondent if the form collects an email address.
  4. 4Publish it, then either share the link directly or paste the embed snippet into your site — the embedded form resizes to fit and loads no marketing or advertising trackers.
  5. 5Watch responses land in Submissions, where you can filter, label and export them to CSV or PDF.

Logic and conditions blueprint

Exactly how this form behaves as it is answered — 4 conditional rules ship with it.

  • Features advanced show logic: if “Is a deposit required before work starts?” is Yes, the form dynamically exposes “Deposit amount”. Otherwise that question never appears.
  • Features advanced show logic: if “Is a deposit required before work starts?” is Yes, the form dynamically exposes “Deposit due date”. Otherwise that question never appears.
  • Features conditional hiding: if “Do you agree to the scope of work as described?” is No — I have questions first, “Signature” is removed from the form and is never submitted.
  • Features advanced show logic: if “Do you agree to the scope of work as described?” is No — I have questions first, the form dynamically exposes “What questions do you have before approving?”. Otherwise that question never appears.
  • All 4 rules are editable in the Logic tab, and the built-in checker warns about rules that contradict each other.

About this template

Work should start once a customer has actually agreed to a number, not once an estimate has simply been emailed over, and this form is built to capture that agreement in writing. It opens with the job reference and the quoted total broken into labor and materials, since customers frequently want to see that split rather than a single lump figure. Deposit terms are asked explicitly — whether a deposit is required before work starts, how much, and when the balance is due — because payment disputes are far more common when those terms were only ever discussed verbally. A change-order acknowledgement follows, making clear that the approved total covers only the scope described and that anything discovered once work is underway will be quoted and approved separately before it's carried out; this protects both the contractor's margin and the customer from surprise charges. The customer confirms they've reviewed the scope of work attached or described, agrees to the total and deposit terms, and signs. A final section captures the estimated start and completion dates so both sides have the same expectation on file before the crew shows up.

What this form asks

Every question is editable — rename it, make it optional, or delete it entirely.

Page 1 — Job and estimate

  • Job or project referencerequired
  • Customer namerequired
  • Job site address
  • Scope of work
  • Labor costrequired
  • Materials costrequired
  • Total quoted amountrequired

Page 2 — Payment terms

  • Is a deposit required before work starts?required
  • Deposit amount
  • Deposit due date
  • Balance duerequired

Page 3 — Schedule and change orders

  • Estimated start date
  • Estimated completion date
  • Agreementrequired

Page 4 — Approval

  • Do you agree to the scope of work as described?required
  • What questions do you have before approving?
  • Customer signaturerequired
  • Date signedrequired

18 questions in total.

How the form changes as it's filled in

This template ships with 4 conditional rules, grouped into 3 behaviours driven by 2 questions. Everything below is already set up — edit or delete any rule once the template is in your workspace.

Driven by “Is a deposit required before work starts?

  • Reveals questions

    If “Is a deposit required before work starts?” is Yes, the form reveals “Deposit amount” and “Deposit due date”.

Driven by “Do you agree to the scope of work as described?

  • Hides questions

    If “Do you agree to the scope of work as described?” is No — I have questions first, the form hides “Signature”, so nobody answers questions that don't apply.

  • Reveals questions

    If “Do you agree to the scope of work as described?” is No — I have questions first, the form reveals “What questions do you have before approving?”.

Set it up step by step

  1. 1

    Show the labor/materials split

    Breaking the total into two numbers instead of one reduces back-and-forth about what's included.

  2. 2

    Put deposit terms in writing every time

    Even for repeat customers, use the deposit fields rather than relying on a verbal agreement from a previous job.

  3. 3

    Treat the change-order line as a hard rule

    Don't let the acknowledgement text become optional — it's what protects you when the scope grows mid-job.

  4. 4

    Don't accept a signature next to unresolved questions

    The logic hides the signature field until the customer confirms they approve, so a 'yes, but' response can't be misread as a full approval.

Mistakes to avoid

  • Starting work on a verbal 'looks good' instead of a signed approval of the actual total.
  • Leaving deposit terms out of the written estimate and only mentioning them on the invoice.
  • Treating scope creep as included in the original quote instead of routing it through a change order.

What it pairs with

Most teams don't run this form on its own. These are the forms and systems it sits next to.

  • Service Request Form
  • Job Estimate Request Form
  • Work Order Form

What to do with the responses

File the signed approval with the job record, schedule the crew against the confirmed start date, and use the change-order acknowledgement as the reference point if the scope needs to expand.

Works in both layouts

These pages cover the same subject ground as the estimate approval form, matched on the words people actually search for.

Privacy & compliance

This form takes money. Card details are handled by the payment provider and never stored in your response data — you keep the order details, not the card number.

Frequently asked questions

What if the customer wants changes to the scope before approving?

The 'No — I have questions first' option routes them to explain what needs to change rather than forcing a yes/no on an estimate they haven't fully accepted.

Can we use this for verbal-only small jobs?

It's designed for jobs substantial enough to warrant a deposit and a documented approval; very small jobs may not need the full form.

How do we handle work that comes up mid-job?

Send a separate, short change-order form referencing this approval, so the customer signs off on the addition before it's carried out.

Should the total on this form match the invoice exactly?

Yes — any difference between the approved total here and the final invoice should map to a signed change order, not an unexplained adjustment.

Is the Estimate Approval Form template free to use?

Yes. You can preview and test Estimate Approval Form on this page without an account, and take a copy into your own HelloForms workspace on the free plan. There is nothing to install and no card required to publish it.

What does the Estimate Approval Form template ask for?

It asks 18 questions across 4 pages, 11 of which are required. Every question is listed in full further down this page, and each one can be renamed, reordered, made optional or deleted after you copy the template.

Can I edit the Estimate Approval Form form after copying it?

Yes — the copy is entirely yours. Change wording, add or remove questions, switch between the classic and card layouts, restyle it to match your brand, and set who gets notified on each submission.

How does the conditional logic in this home services & trades form work?

4 conditional rules ship with the template: Features advanced show logic: if “Is a deposit required before work starts?” is Yes, the form dynamically exposes “Deposit amount”. Otherwise that question never appears. Features advanced show logic: if “Is a deposit required before work starts?” is Yes, the form dynamically exposes “Deposit due date”. Otherwise that question never appears. Features conditional hiding: if “Do you agree to the scope of work as described?” is No — I have questions first, “Signature” is removed from the form and is never submitted. All rules are editable in the Logic tab.

Where do responses to the Estimate Approval Form form go?

Submissions land in your workspace under Submissions, where you can search, filter, label and export them to CSV or PDF. You can also email a notification to your team on every submission and send the respondent an auto-reply.

Can I embed the Estimate Approval Form form on my own website?

Yes. Publish the form and paste the embed snippet into any page or share the direct link. The embedded form resizes to fit its container and loads no advertising or marketing trackers inside the iframe.

Is the signature on this form legally usable?

The template captures a drawn signature and stores it with the submission, along with the timestamp, so you keep evidence of who agreed and when. Whether that is sufficient depends on your jurisdiction and the agreement itself.

More forms teams pair with the estimate approval form.

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