Quote validity is the period during which your quoted price is open for the customer to accept. After it ends, you are free to re-price the job before agreeing to do it. The period is written on the quote, usually as a number of days from the date it was sent: valid for 14 days, valid for 30 days. Its purpose is to protect you from accepting a price months later that was set on costs that have since moved, such as timber, copper, steel, fuel or your own wages.
A validity period works only if it is written down. A quote with no period can be produced months later by a customer who reasonably believes the price stands, and refusing to honour it then is awkward even when you are entitled to.
In practice
The right period depends on how fast your costs move and how long your customers take to decide. Materials-heavy quotes, where the supplier price can change within weeks, suit 14 days. Labour-heavy work with stable materials can run to 30 days or longer. Renovation customers who need finance or a partner's agreement may need more time than the period you would like to give, and it can be better to state a short period with an offer to re-confirm than a long one you regret.
A fabricator quotes $6,200 for a balustrade, valid for 14 days, with steel making up $2,480 of it. The customer comes back on day 40, after the supplier has put steel up 8 per cent. Re-pricing the steel adds about $198, and the fabricator sends a new quote for $6,398 with a short note saying why. Had there been no validity period on the first quote, the fabricator would be choosing between absorbing the rise and an awkward conversation. The guide on how long a quote should stay valid goes through choosing a period.
In Quote Desk
The accept link does not expire, so a customer can press Accept this quote long after your period has run out. Write the validity in the note, and if an acceptance arrives after it, ring the customer and send a fresh quote at current prices. The accept link page covers what the customer sees.