Estimate vs quote: Estimate Quote Binding Rules
The Estimate Quote Binding Rules carries 1 published figure read from 2 sources' own pages, from 20 to 20 day, read 26 September 2026.
Scopedly sells its own paid plan in this category (our pricing). It is not counted here: every figure in this index is another provider's own published price, read from its own page.
2 of the 7 named sources read in full publish a figure; 4 publish none, read 26 September 2026.
By state
| Breakdown | Median | Range | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| stateFederal (FTC) | 20day | 20 to 20day | 1 |
| stateCalifornia | 750USD | 750 to 750USD | 1 |
Every figure, with its source
One row per source: the figure the source's own page publishes, the page, and the day it was read. A figure that is not on a page we read is not on this one.
| Source | Figure | Breakdown | Read |
|---|---|---|---|
| cslb.ca.gov | 1,000USD | California | 2026-09-12 |
| cslb.ca.gov | 500USD | California | 2026-09-12 |
| FTC cooling-off rule, 16 CFR 429.1 (eCFR) | 20day | Federal (FTC) | 2026-09-26 |
The sentence each figure was read from (3)
- cslb.ca.gov, read 2026-09-12:
REMEMBER The down payment cannot be more than $1,000 or 10 percent of the contract price, whichever is less, for a home improvement job or swimming pool, excluding finance charges.
- cslb.ca.gov, read 2026-09-12:
A thorough contract tells how the work will be done, when it will be done, what materials will be used, and how much it will cost. In California, a written contract is required for all home improvement projects over $500.
- FTC cooling-off rule, 16 CFR 429.1 (eCFR), read 2026-09-26:
If you do make the goods available to the seller and the seller does not pick them up within 20 days of the date of your Notice of Cancellation, you may retain or dispose of the goods without any further obligation.
Read in full, publishes no figure
4 named sources were read in full on the dates shown and print no usable figure. They are counted, never filled in.
- Mass.gov: home improvement contract requirements, details and sample language, read 2026-09-12: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- Mass.gov: home improvement contract sample language, read 2026-09-12: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- Maryland Home Improvement Commission: home improvement contracts, read 2026-09-12: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- FTC cooling-off rule, 16 CFR Part 429 (eCFR, whole part), read 2026-09-26: every candidate on the page was refused
Methodology
Every row is a verbatim sentence read from the named source's own page through our fetch service on the date shown, hash-pinned to the stored read (the sha of the page's visible text; the raw page is mirrored to R2).
2 of the 7 named sources that could be read published a usable figure; 4 published none and are recorded as not published, never filled in; 0 could not be read (blocked, dead or unreachable) and count nowhere.
The headline figures (median, minimum, maximum, quartiles) are over ONE figure per source in day (a source's median where its page yielded several accepted sentences), so N counts sources, never sentences; 4 candidate sentence(s) were refused by a reviewer with the reason recorded.
The fuller derivation this dataset is chartered to grow into (not yet what the figures above are; they are each source's own published figure as read): one row per state per rule: the contract value above which the document must be in writing, the elements the statute names on the estimate itself, the deposit cap, the cancellation window, and whether the state treats a signed estimate as the contract.
The derivation is the CROSS-STATE table, California requiring a written home-improvement contract above $500 with a deposit capped at the lesser of $1,000 or 10%, Massachusetts above $1,000 with fourteen named items, Maryland capping the deposit at a third, beside the federal three-day cancellation right that applies on top wherever the sale was made at the buyer's home.
No authority publishes that comparison; each publishes only its own state, which is exactly why 'estimate vs quote' is answered everywhere in opinion and nowhere in law.
4 candidate sentences on these pages were refused by a reviewer; each refusal and its reason is recorded in the review ledger.
Sources (7)
- California Contractors State License Board: what a home improvement contract must include(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- Mass.gov: home improvement contract requirements, details and sample language(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- Mass.gov: home improvement contract sample language(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- Maryland Home Improvement Commission: home improvement contracts(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- FTC cooling-off rule, 16 CFR 429.1 (eCFR)(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- FTC cooling-off rule, 16 CFR Part 429 (eCFR, whole part)(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- cslb.ca.gov(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
Cite or embed this figure
Cite or embed this figure
The Estimate Quote Binding Rules carries 1 published figure read from 2 sources' own pages, from 20 to 20 day, read 26 September 2026.
2 of the 7 named sources read in full publish a figure; 4 publish none, read 26 September 2026.
Estimate Quote Binding Rules, state Federal (FTC): median 20 day across 1 source, read 26 September 2026.
Estimate Quote Binding Rules, state California: median 750 USD across 1 source, read 26 September 2026.
Cite as: "Scopedly Estimate Quote Binding Rules", updated 2026-10-05, https://scopedly.com/datasets/estimate-quote-binding-rules/.
Download the CSV (3 rows, computed 2026-10-05)