Cost overruns don’t always start with big problems. Often, they start with small oversights.
Project margins are shrinking. Whether you’re supplying custom IGUs, fire-rated glazing, or oversized architectural glass, your quote needs to be airtight—not just on materials, but on all the hidden costs: delivery constraints, crating, storage, and risk buffers.
A distributor supplying an arts center in downtown Boston recently learned this the hard way. The order involved oversized low-iron laminated glass with backpainted ceramic frit. The quote assumed standard transport and local handling. But after final fabrication, the weight and crate size triggered special permitting, union-only handling at the site, and short-notice weekend delivery—none of which had been scoped into the original quote.
Total cost overrun? $112,000. Margin on the job? Gone.
The root cause? Assumptions. Not verifying install conditions. Not anticipating site constraints. Not building freight variability into the pricing model.
To avoid this:
Involve operations early in the bid process—not just sales
Use historical data to model freight, labor, and crating for custom units
Confirm site access, crane rentals, and union rules before final quoting
A quote that looks tight on paper can unravel fast if it doesn’t reflect real-world variables. In a time when project owners expect fixed costs and flawless execution, the room for error is gone.
