Short answer: when you supply the tiles, the quote is the only document that says who counts them, who orders the extras, who receives them, who grouts what colour and what happens if the wall is not flat. This guide lists twelve items to see in writing. It gives no figures: what a tiler charges is between you and the tiler, and forum threads asking whether a rate is fair are asking a question no article can answer. What an article can do is make sure two quotes describe the same job.
| # | Item | What to see written |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Surfaces and areas | Each wall and floor named, with its square metres |
| 2 | Removal and disposal | What comes off, who takes it away |
| 3 | Substrate and levelling | Who checks flatness, who fixes it, how a change is recorded |
| 4 | Waterproofing | Who does it, what certificate is handed over |
| 5 | Tiles | Supplied by you; the quantity written; who confirmed it |
| 6 | Cutting allowance and spares | The percentage or count, who orders any top-up, in what batch |
| 7 | Adhesive, grout, silicone, trims | Who supplies each; grout name and colour code written |
| 8 | Layout | Pattern named; set-out point; where the field stops |
| 9 | Edges, corners, niches | Trim type or mitred; who supplies trims |
| 10 | Arrival and checking | Who is there when the tiles arrive; who compares them with the sample |
| 11 | Standard and tolerances | Whether AS 3958 is named in the agreement; what lippage tolerance applies |
| 12 | Exclusions, stages, defects | What is not included; payment stages; the defects period |
1. Surfaces and areas, one line each
A quote for "bathroom tiling" and a quote for "floor 3.2 m², walls 15.6 m², niche 0.4 m²" are not comparable, and the second is the one that can be checked against your own measurement. How to measure a tiling project gives the method; ask that the quote's areas and yours agree before anything else is compared.
2. Removal and disposal
If old tiles come off, the quote should say who removes them, who removes the adhesive bed under them, and who takes the waste away. A quote that is silent on the bed is a quote that has not looked at the wall.
3. Substrate and levelling
Tiles show the wall under them. A large format shows it most: the wider the tile, the more a wave in the wall turns into a lip between two tiles. Ask who checks flatness before tiling starts, who is responsible for correcting it, and how that correction is added to the quote and recorded if it turns out to be needed. AS 3958 is not law: six things to confirm with your tiler sets out how to make that a written answer.
4. Waterproofing: who, and what certificate
In a wet area the quote should name who does the waterproofing and what document you receive for it. Whether that is the tiler or a separate licensed trade depends on where you are. Wet areas: which documents to ask your waterproofer for lists the papers.
5. Tiles: supplied by you, quantity written
Write the product names, the size chosen where the page lists two, the face chosen where the page lists two, and the quantity in tiles or sheets. Then write who confirmed that quantity. If the tiler gave the number, the tiler owns the shortfall; if you did, you do. Neither is wrong, but the quote should say which.
6. Cutting allowance and spares
The quote should state the allowance as a percentage or a count, and say who orders any top-up and from which batch. The product pages here say shade varies between batches; a top-up bought later can be a different batch. Spares from the original order are the simplest insurance, and the quote is where their number is agreed.
7. Adhesive, grout, silicone and trims
Four materials, four "who supplies it" answers. The grout line should carry the brand, range and colour code, and the decision should be made from a dried sample joint, which Grout colour: why a dried sample joint beats the chart explains. A quote that says "grout" and nothing else has left the second colour of your wall to be chosen on the day.
8. Layout named
Brick bond, third offset, stacked, vertical stack, herringbone: name it. Then the set-out point, which decides where the cuts land, and where the field stops, which decides the last row. Subway tile layouts: 8 patterns gives the names and what each does to the cuts.
9. Edges, corners and niches
Every exposed edge is finished somehow: a trim, a mitre, a bullnose or a bare edge. The quote should say which, and who supplies the trim. A niche is several edges at once and is usually a separate line.
10. Who is there when the tiles arrive
Tiles that arrive wrong, short or damaged are easiest to deal with on the day they arrive, before they are on a wall. The quote should say who receives them, who counts them and who compares them with the sample. Your rights when tiles arrive wrong is the guide for that day.
11. Standard and tolerances
AS 3958 is not law; it becomes binding only if the agreement names it. Ask whether the quote does, and what lippage and level tolerances will be used to judge the finished surface. The forum threads that ask "am I being too picky" are threads where nobody wrote this down first.
12. Exclusions, stages and the defects period
What is not included is the most useful line in the quote. Then the payment stages, and how long after completion a defect can be raised and by what route. None of these is a tiling question; all of them decide what the tiling question costs you later.
Questions people ask
If I supply the tiles, who is responsible for the quantity?
Whoever the quote says. Make it say. Write the count, the allowance and the name of the person who confirmed it.
The quote is "per square metre". Is that enough?
Only if it says which square metres count, what the rate includes, and what is extra: niches, edges, patterns, levelling. Two per-square-metre rates are not comparable until both answer those.
Should the quote name a standard?
If you want the surface judged against AS 3958, the agreement has to say so; otherwise it is a reference, not a term. Ask, and read the checklist.
Where this list comes from
The twelve items are the points at which supplied-tile jobs go wrong in the public forum threads read for this guide on 5 September 2026: quantity, batch, grout colour, flatness, who received the tiles and what tolerance applied. The product-page facts referred to, the batch line and the size and face rows, were read the same day. This guide is not legal advice and does not describe how any tiling work should be carried out.