How do you write a heat pump quote that wins the job and meets SEAI rules?

A heat pump quote has three jobs. It tells the customer what they are buying, it shows what they pay once the SEAI grant is counted, and it sits alongside the written contract SEAI requires of Better Energy Homes contractors.

What does SEAI require before work starts?

SEAI's contractor registration page says Better Energy Homes contractors must have a written contract with the homeowner before starting any works. The same page lists Renewable Installer Registration, a declaration of insurance and a tax clearance certificate.

This guide does not set out what that contract must contain. SEAI's minimum requirements for the contract (version 2.3, March 2026) do, and they say it must be in place before any grant application as well as before works. Read them rather than copying a template, and never call any template, including the lists on this page, approved by SEAI. Decide whether a signed quote doubles as the contract or a separate contract follows; either way, the grant wording in both must match.

Before you price anything, check the facts that decide whether the grant applies. The home needs an MPRN and must have been built and occupied before 2021. A home built before 2007 needs a technical assessment unless a valid BER shows a Heat Loss Indicator of 2.3 W/(K·m²) or less. The first-call questions are in qualifying heat pump leads.

What should a heat pump quote contain?

A quote should show eight things, enough for a customer to compare it with another one line by line.

• Your details. Company name, SEAI registration and, if you install or service heat pumps that contain F-gas, your F-Gas Company Certificate (see the F-Gas certificate guide).
• The property. Address, MPRN and build year, which the grant depends on, and the survey date.
• The scope. Make and model, indoor and outdoor units, cylinder if there is one, controls, pipework, electrical work, radiators or underfloor heating if included, commissioning and handover. List exclusions too.
• The price. Itemised, with one total and VAT stated as included or not.
• The grant lines. Each SEAI part as its own dated "up to" line, as set out next.
• The timeline. Survey, technical assessment where needed, installation and commissioning, and what each step depends on.
• The conditions. Validity date, what would change the price and what the customer must provide.
• The next step. How the customer accepts, and what follows in writing.

How do you show the grant so the customer sees the real price?

Show each part of the grant as its own dated "up to" line under the full price, then give the net price twice: with every part that applies and without Boiler Scrappage. The customer then sees the price they are likely to pay and what changes if one part does not apply.

Source: SEAI, heat pump systems grant page, as of November 2026.

These are maximums. Apartments, air-to-air systems and replacements have lower ones, so never reuse a house quote's total. The sums are in selling with the SEAI heat pump grant, and replacements are in heat pump replacement and service.

Date every grant figure and name the SEAI page it came from. SEAI's heat pump grant blog puts the maximum at up to €12,500 from 3 February 2026, and its enhanced grants announcement of 29 September 2026 adds Boiler Scrappage. SEAI's heat pump systems grant page shows up to €14,500 as of November 2026.

Say who applies for the grant and when the customer pays what. SEAI's Homeowner Application Guide says grant approval must be in place before works start, and its heat pump systems grant page says that when the customer applies alone, the grant is paid to the applicant or contractor once the works are completed. With a One Stop Shop, the same page says the One Stop Shop applies for the grant and deducts it upfront from the cost, so ask the One Stop Shop how the quote should look. See working with SEAI One Stop Shops.

How do you explain the survey findings in plain language?

Write each finding in three short parts: what you found, what it means for the customer and what it does to the quote.

• Radiators. "The radiators in [rooms] are too small to heat those rooms with this system, so we have quoted larger ones." As of November 2026, SEAI's grant has a separate line of up to €2,000 for radiators or underfloor heating, so show it.
• Where the equipment goes. Say where the outdoor unit and any cylinder will sit, and why.
• Technical assessment. For a home built before 2007, say that SEAI requires one unless a valid BER shows a Heat Loss Indicator of 2.3 W/(K·m²) or less. Explain the indicator as a measure SEAI uses to judge how much heat the home loses, and say who arranges the assessment and what it adds to the timeline.
• The existing system. Name what heats the home today and what you will remove. The Boiler Scrappage part depends on SEAI's conditions, so state whether you have checked them for this home.
• What you could not see. Say what is unknown and what would change the price, so it is a condition and not a surprise.

Add survey photos with a one-line caption each.

How do you follow up after the quote is sent?

Follow up on a date you agreed at the survey, and make each contact answer a question rather than ask whether the quote arrived. The research on speed of response is in how fast to respond to a new customer, so it is not repeated here.

1. At the survey, agree when the quote will arrive and when you will call.
2. Send it with a short cover note: what is included, the net price with and without Boiler Scrappage and the date the price is valid until.
3. Offer to talk it through.
4. On the agreed date, ask what is unclear. If a rival quote shows a different grant sum, point the customer to SEAI's page rather than arguing figures.
5. Record the outcome and, if you lost the job, ask once why.
6. When the customer accepts, have the signed contract in place before the grant application and any work, then follow the grant steps on SEAI's page.

Keep follow-up within data protection law. The Data Protection Commission says electronic direct marketing by phone, SMS and email is regulated by S.I. 336/2011 on top of GDPR, and contacting leads legally covers what that means in practice. Track quotes sent against jobs won; the method for working out what a won job costs you is in cost to win a heat pump customer.

Quote checklist: what should you check before sending?

Check that the quote matches the contract, that the grant lines fit this home and that the customer can repeat every survey finding. All eight items in the list above should be on the quote; these checks go beyond them. This is a working checklist, not an SEAI document.

Typical quote mistakes that lose heat pump jobs

A quote loses the job when the customer cannot see the real price or cannot tell what is included.

• A single lump sum. The customer cannot compare it line by line, so they compare the total.
• The grant as a fixed promise. It is an "up to" figure with conditions. Say so in writing.
• An old grant figure. The sums changed in February and again in autumn 2026. Check SEAI's page in the week you quote.
• A first-install total on a replacement. Replacements have a lower maximum and no scrappage or central heating part.
• Survey findings in trade language. If the customer cannot repeat the reason for a line, it reads as padding.
• No validity date or next step. The quote then has no reason to be answered this week.
• A template presented as SEAI-approved. Nothing here is, and yours should not claim it.

For the wider picture of winning heat pump customers, start from the heat pump installer guide.