The essentials in 30 seconds
- The quote (devis) is the contractor's offer: once accepted by the client, it becomes their works contract, between the two of them.
- The DPGF (itemised lump-sum price breakdown) is your template: trade packages, numbered items, units, quantities, blank prices. On its own, it has no contractual value.
- From two contractors consulted, impose the DPGF: without a common template, nothing can be compared.
- A single trusted contractor on a small scope: a quote drawn up on your specification, numbering kept, is enough.
- One becomes the other: the contractor fills in the DPGF and submits its quote, the client approves the bid, then signs with the contractor. Never with you.
DPGF or contractor quote: what to request, in short?
The quote is the contractor's price offer: once accepted by the client, it becomes their works contract. The DPGF (itemised lump-sum price breakdown) is the template you write without prices and that each contractor fills in. From two contractors consulted, send a DPGF. With a single trusted contractor, a quote drawn up on your specification is enough.
The two documents are not rivals: one frames, the other binds. On a private renovation, you are not a general contractor; each company contracts with the client. Your mission contract entrusts you, at the AMT stage (assistance aux marchés de travaux, works contract assistance, in the vocabulary of the CFAI contract), with the tender and the analysis of the bids.
What is a contractor's quote, legally?
A quote is an offer of contract. Until the client has accepted it, only the contractor is bound by its price, for the validity period stated. Dated and signed by the client, it forms the works contract between them: scope, price, lead time. You are not a party to it, even after rereading it line by line.
Service-public.fr sums it up on its page about the mandatory quote: the quote binds the professional as soon as the client has accepted it, and only binds the client from the moment they sign it. The content of the contract is free within the limits set by law (Article 1102 of the Civil Code); four texts nevertheless frame practice when the client is a private individual.
- Pre-contractual information. Before binding a consumer, the professional must communicate the essential characteristics of the service, the price, the lead time, its identity and the legal guarantees (Article L111-1 of the Consumer Code). A detailed quote covers these points; a single line "bathroom, lump sum" does not.
- The prior written quote. For troubleshooting, repair and maintenance in the building and home equipment sector, the arrêté of 24 January 2017 requires a detailed quote before any service: nature of the works, breakdown by quantity and price, VAT, validity period. A full renovation falls outside this scope; custom, and your interest, remain the detailed written quote.
- The right of withdrawal. A quote signed at the client's home, in the contractor's presence, is an off-premises contract: the client has fourteen days to withdraw (Article L221-18). Only urgent maintenance or repair works, expressly requested by the client, escape it (Article L221-28, 8°): a renovation is never urgent within the meaning of this text. Starting before the end of the period requires the client's express request (Article L221-25).
- VAT. The quote states the applicable rate, 10 or 20 % depending on the works and the age of the home (see our article on VAT on renovation works). A DPGF is compared excluding VAT; the quote binds including VAT.
Before acceptance, also check the company itself: ten-year liability insurance, certificates, company registration.
This section summarises public texts, checked on October 18, 2026 on Legifrance and service-public.fr. It is not legal advice: for a given contract, have the quote reviewed by a legal adviser.
What is a DPGF on a private renovation?
The DPGF (décomposition du prix global et forfaitaire) is a table written by the interior designer: trade packages, chapters, numbered items, each with a designation, a unit, a quantity and a blank price column. On its own, it has no contractual value; it acquires one once filled in, accepted and appended to the contract signed between contractor and client.
The name says the essential: the contractor's total is a lump sum, and the breakdown serves to read it, compare it and monitor it. The quantities are yours, taken off your drawings; the contractor checks them and flags a discrepancy before submitting its bid, not after. Each item bears the number of the CCTP item that describes it: the DPGF says how much, the CCTP says how.
It lives three times: as a tender template, sent without prices and identical to each contractor; as a contract document, filled in, accepted by the client and appended to the quote with the CCTP and the drawings; as a monitoring reference for additional works and progress statements. A free-form quote does not allow this third life: without reference unit prices, every additional work is negotiated blind.
DPGF or quote: what are the differences, point by point?
The quote is written by the contractor, in its format, with its quantities; the DPGF is written by you, with yours. The first binds once accepted, the second only once appended to the contract. The first compares poorly from one contractor to the next; the second is made for that, and stays useful throughout the works.
| Criterion | Contractor's quote (free-form) | DPGF |
|---|---|---|
| Who writes it | The contractor, in its own format | You; the contractor fills in the prices |
| When | At any time, at the client's or the designer's request | At AMT, once the CCTP and the drawings are settled |
| Who sets the quantities | The contractor, from its own take-off | You; the contractor flags a discrepancy before bidding |
| Comparability between contractors | Low: different scopes, units and groupings | High: same items, same units, same quantities |
| Legal value | Offer of contract; a contract once accepted by the client | None on its own; a contract document once appended to the accepted quote |
| Monitoring during the works | Difficult: no reference price for additional works | Each additional work is priced on the unit prices retained |
| What the client reads | A total, and lines they cannot compare | One table per package, the same for every contractor, with your opinion |
Key point: the DPGF does not replace the quote, it precedes it and structures it. The client signs the chosen contractor's quote, drawn up on the template, not the template itself.
Three real situations: what to request in each case?
Three cases come up in studios: a trusted contractor on a small scope, two or three contractors consulted on a full project, a client who imposes their own tradespeople. The first calls for a quote on the specification, the second for a DPGF identical for all, the third for a lighter DPGF that keeps a basis for comparison and monitoring.
1. A trusted contractor, a small scope
2. Two or three contractors consulted
Key point: from two contractors, the DPGF is no longer optional: without it, you compare different scopes. Complete method in our guide to tendering to contractors.
3. The client imposes their own tradespeople
How do you go from the DPGF to the signed quote?
The contractor fills in the DPGF, then submits its quote on that template, same item numbers. You compare item by item and propose a reasoned award per package. The client approves the chosen bid. The quote is then signed between contractor and client, never by you, and the retained DPGF becomes a contract document with the CCTP and drawings.
- The contractor fills in the template. One price per item, one total per package; a disputed quantity is written next to the line, before the bid.
- It submits its quote on the template. On its letterhead, DPGF numbering kept; otherwise, ask for an aligned version.
- You compare item by item. Lowest bidder per line, unpriced items, discrepancies against your estimate. A low total with a missing item is not a good price (see our method for comparing contractor quotes).
- The client approves. You present your analysis and a proposed award per package; the client approves the chosen bid, in writing, on a given date. The decision is theirs.
- The contractor and the client sign. The accepted quote forms the contract, with the filled-in DPGF, the CCTP and the drawings appended, and an order-of-precedence clause. You are not a signatory.
- Quantity discrepancies are written down before signing. The signed version carries the quantity retained and the payment rule: lump sum on the DPGF quantities, or remeasurement for the items designated.
BPU, DQE, DCE: why are these public procurement acronyms of no use to you on a private job?
The BPU (schedule of unit rates) lists prices without quantities; the DQE (estimated bill of quantities) applies those prices to estimated quantities, in a contract paid on measured quantities; the DCE (dossier de consultation des entreprises) is the complete tender file of a public contract. On a private renovation, none of these is required: DPGF, CCTP and drawings are enough.
These documents answer the French public procurement code, which applies neither to a private individual nor to a shopkeeper renovating their shop. Your tender file holds four elements: CCTP, DPGF, drawings with their revision index, and a letter setting the reply date and the site visits. No acte d'engagement (formal bid form): the accepted quote plays that role. DPGF and DQE are compared in our DPGF example.
What are the most common mistakes between DPGF and quote?
- Comparing a free-form quote and a DPGF line by line. A "complete bathroom" quote and a twelve-item DPGF do not describe the same thing: transfer the quote into the template first.
- Letting the contractor alter the template. One line deleted, two lines merged, one unit changed, and the comparison collapses; the contractor fills in and comments, it does not rewrite.
- Overlooking the "not included" items. The item missing from a quote is not a gift, it comes back as additional works: read the exclusions before the totals.
- Having the designer carry the DPGF as a contracting party. A quote drawn up in your name, or signed by you, makes you a party to the works contract; the quote is in the client's name, signed by the client.
- No reply deadline. Without a date, the first bids have expired by the time the last arrives: set a date, and remind everyone of it.
So, what about Nodal?
In Nodal, the DPGF and the CCTP are the same document: a tree of trade packages, chapters and items, a switch between "DPGF (priced)" and "Technical description", and a derived item number (01.2.3) printed everywhere, from the PDF of the description to the contractor's reply page. The template goes out without prices to at least two contractors, with a deadline; each contractor confirms it has read the descriptions before replying, enters its prices in the template and may adjust a quantity (a discrepancy above 15 % is flagged, never judged).
The replies are compared item by item, the award is made per package, and the client approves the chosen bid with a time-stamped approval. The package is then frozen; additional works are tracked on the same template. Tendering, comparison and client approval are available depending on the plan.
Article published on October 18, 2026. Legal references checked on October 18, 2026 on Legifrance (Civil Code, Consumer Code, arrêté of 24 January 2017) and service-public.fr. A professional synthesis that does not constitute legal advice: each contract should be reread with the contractor's terms and, in case of doubt, with a legal adviser.