Stop material price increases from eating your margin.
You quote in June. You buy material in September. The price moved and the customer already signed, so it comes out of your profit. Two pieces of paperwork stop it.
- Quote expiry wording you can paste onto your template today
- Three versions of a material escalation clause, for different levels of pushback
- A supplier price hold request most contractors never think to send
- A pre-signing checklist and a material cost tracking sheet
Send me the kit
Eight pages. Free. Straight to your inbox.
Where the money actually goes
It isn’t the tariff rate that hurts. It’s the gap between the day you commit to a price and the day you pay for material.
An $80,000 job with $30,000 in materials, quoted in June and bought in September at a 9% increase. You did the work. You paid your crew. You made $2,700 less than you planned, and you found out when the supplier invoice arrived.
Same problem, both sides of the border
Tariffs run in both directions. Whichever side you buy from, something in your material package moved this year.
| Your trade | Buying in the U.S. | Buying in Canada |
|---|---|---|
| Framing, decks, GC | Duties on Canadian softwood have tripled to around 45%, on a market Canada supplies most of | Lumber tariffs layered under everything else, with material costs up roughly 9% |
| Roofing | Imports are a quarter of the shingle market and more than half of them come from Canada | Steel and aluminum flashing caught by the 25% steel-derivative tariff |
| Electrical, plumbing, HVAC | 50% on copper and aluminum, 25% on derivatives. Canada is the largest source of nonferrous metals | Appliances, electronics, and equipment on the September 8 list at 15% to 50% |
| Concrete and finishes | Cement, paint, plywood, and fiber cable added August 22. Cabinets at 25%, rising in 2027 | Plastics, pulp and paper on the September 8 list |
It won’t settle down after this round either. CUSMA wasn’t renewed at its July review, so it now gets renegotiated every year instead of every six. Nobody on either side of the border can price twelve months out with confidence anymore.
What’s in the kit
Eight pages. Real contract language, not a summary of the news.
Where your margin leaks
The gap between quoting and buying, what moved this year, and which trades are most exposed.
Quote expiry wording
The line to paste onto your template, how to pick your window, and how to match it to your supplier’s price hold.
Escalation clause, 3 versions
Standard, named-materials-only, and a shared version that passes savings back to the customer when prices fall.
How to raise it
Word for word, what to say when you present the quote, and the documentation you need to keep to make the clause stick.
Supplier price hold request
A short message that gets your supplier to commit pricing in writing. Most contractors never ask.
Cost tracking sheet
Estimated against actual material cost per job, so a bad job shows up in week three instead of at year end.
Customers don’t object to an escalation clause. They object to a surprise. Nobody argues with something they read and signed before the work started.
Material escalation clauses, answered
What is a material escalation clause?
A material escalation clause is a term in a construction contract that lets the contractor pass through material cost increases above an agreed threshold, usually with supplier documentation attached. It exists because on a fixed-price contract the contractor otherwise carries all the risk between the day the price is agreed and the day the material is bought.
What threshold should I use?
5% is the most common starting point for residential and small commercial work. The contractor absorbs everything below it, so the clause only triggers on increases genuinely outside their control. Some contractors use 10% and limit the clause to named volatile materials such as copper, structural steel, or framing lumber. All three versions are in the kit.
Will customers accept one?
More often than contractors expect, particularly the version that credits savings back to the customer if material prices fall. People object to surprises rather than to clauses they read before signing. Raise it when you present the quote, not at signing.
Do I need a lawyer to use one?
Yes. Contract law varies by province and by state, and how the clause interacts with the rest of your agreement depends on how that agreement is written. The samples in the kit are a starting point so you are not paying a lawyer to draft from scratch.
What is a quote expiry date?
A line on your quote stating how long the price holds, usually 14 or 30 days. Without one, a customer can accept a quote months later at material prices that no longer exist. It also shortens your sales cycle, because a quote with a deadline gets a decision.
Get the kit
Free, eight pages, nothing to fill out beyond your email. Take it to your lawyer this week.
The contract language in this kit is a starting point, not legal advice. Contract law varies by province and by state, and every business is set up differently. Have your own lawyer review anything before you put it in a contract.