Straight answers
Do I need to build a materials database first?
No. Your labour rates are the only cost inputs you must enter. Materials are priced from your own price book where you have one, otherwise from BuildLegend's dated catalogue allowances — and every line tells you which.
Are the material prices live supplier prices?
Not unless you have connected or imported them. We do not invent supplier APIs or scrape behind logins. Catalogue allowances are indicative, dated and labelled as such. Your own imported or typed-in prices are labelled verified. A price we cannot find stays visibly unpriced.
Can it size beams or foundations?
No, and it does not pretend to. Structural elements, ground conditions, trusses, bespoke glazing and specialist packages are carried as provisional allowances until an engineer or supplier confirms them. The quote shows them as provisional sums.
How does it handle VAT?
You choose the treatment for your business (standard, reduced, zero or not registered) and can override it per project. Nothing is sent until VAT is resolved, and we never infer tax treatment from a project label. For unusual cases, check current HMRC guidance — BuildLegend is not tax advice.
What is the difference between a budget estimate and a quotation?
A budget estimate helps a customer plan and cannot be accepted online. A quotation passes all readiness checks and can be accepted, with the acceptance recorded against that exact version and its terms.
Will my customer see my cost rates or margins?
No. The customer page, PDF and email are all generated from a separate customer view that carries selling figures by work package, provisional sums, assumptions and exclusions — nothing internal.
Does it work offline?
Saved project drafts can be edited offline in the installed app and sync when you are back online; conflicts are shown, not silently overwritten. Live prices and email need a connection, and nothing is ever shown as sent when it was only queued.
Is the accuracy guaranteed?
No. Every template is marked provisional until validated against real measured quantities and supplier quotations, and a competent person must review each estimate. BuildLegend makes the estimate traceable; it does not make it a promise.
Which countries?
UK only, with nation-aware wording for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.