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What a bifold door quote in Cheshire should show
A bifold door price is the price of a counted set of leaves in a named opening, not of a door in the abstract. Compare quotes that count the leaves and name the track and the threshold.
Last reviewed:Leaves, track and the hole in the wall
A bifold is a run of leaves that fold onto each other. The quote is for that run, in that wall, with a threshold somebody has to step over. Count the leaves yourself from the drawing and write the number in the job. Say which way they stack, and whether furniture sits where the stack will rest. A quote that omits the stack is a quote for a different room.
The table below is a list of lines to demand in writing. VAT registration, when taxable turnover for the last 12 months goes over £90,000, is a tax rule and not a door price [S6].
| Line | What to ask the fitter to write |
|---|---|
| Number of leaves and each leaf width | So two quotes describe the same set |
| Overall opening width and height | Measured on your wall, marked approximate |
| Track, threshold and whether the floor needs raising | A trip hazard is a specification, not a style |
| Frame material and glass specification | Name them. "Standard glass" is not a specification |
| Opening left the same size, or made wider | Wider can mean a new support [S4] |
| Making good inside and outside | Plaster, cill, render, flooring |
| Taking the old door and frame away | A missing waste line is not included by silence |
| VAT | Included or not. Registration starts over £90,000 of taxable turnover in the last 12 months [S6] |
Planning permission is about the look and the site
On the Planning Portal doors and windows page, repairs, maintenance and minor improvements usually do not need an application, and nor do new doors of a similar appearance to those used in the construction of the house [S1]. Upper-floor side windows have an obscure-glazing rule and a 1.7 metre rule [S1]. A bifold on a ground-floor rear wall is not that side-window case, but it can still be caught by a listed building, a conservation area, an Article 4 direction or the lease [S1]. Ask the local planning authority if any of those apply [S1]. A new bay window is called out separately as an extension [S1]. Do not borrow the bay rule and paste it onto a flat rear opening.
Building regulations, including when the opening grows
The GOV.UK booklet lists replacement of window and door units among examples to tell a building control body about, unless a relevant competent person scheme installer certifies the work [S2]. FENSA is one of the schemes named there for replacement windows and doors [S2]. You should receive a certificate within 30 days of completion, and the booklet tells you to contact the scheme if you do not [S2]. The lists are examples, not a full catalogue [S2].
The Planning Portal building regulations page for doors and windows says the rules have applied to replacement glazing since 1 April 2002, covering heat loss, safety, air supply, means of escape and ventilation, and that an external door is a controlled fitting [S3]. It says the U-value must not be exceeded and points to Approved Document L for the maximum [S3]. Ask the fitter to write the maximum they will meet, from Approved Document L.
If the brick opening will be wider than the door it replaces, use Lancaster City Council's building control note of 21 January 2013 as a warning from another council, not as your permission [S4]. It says a competent-person installer does not remove the need for a building regulations application where the opening is widened and a new support lintel is installed [S4]. Cheshire East and Cheshire West and Chester are the councils to ask for a house in this county. The leaflet's 2013 heat-loss numbers are not repeated here.
GOV.UK: building regulations approval. QuoteZila is not affiliated with this organisation.
How to compare two fitters
Citizens Advice says a quote is a promise to do the work at an agreed price, and an estimate is a rough guess that can rise [S5]. Get written quotes from at least three traders where you can [S5]. Be wary of a trader who will not write it down, and of a price far below the others, which may not be the same work [S5]. Some traders charge for preparing a quote. Ask before anyone comes.
A quote should show a fixed total, a breakdown, how long the price stays open, and whether VAT is included [S5]. For a long job, Citizens Advice says that if you cannot avoid a deposit, do not agree to more than 25%, get a receipt, and ask whether the deposit is protected if the firm stops trading [S5]. Sometimes an insurance-backed guarantee comes with replacement windows and doors. Check what it covers before you pay for one [S5].
Ask to see public liability insurance and check the policy will not run out before the leaves are in [S5].
Cheshire openings
QuoteZila is starting in Cheshire. Crewe, Nantwich and Sandbach are the first towns, and anyone in the UK can still post a job or register a business [QZ5]. A rear wall in a Crewe terrace may open onto a small yard. A house near the River Weaver in Nantwich may have a different floor level inside and out. Photograph the opening from the garden, standing on the ground, and measure the width in two places because old openings are rarely square.
Honest status: QuoteZila is new. We're starting in Cheshire, beginning with Crewe, Nantwich and Sandbach, and growing area by area. Anyone in the UK can still post a job or register a business. How fast you get quotes depends on how many local businesses have joined near you. Businesses can register and receive jobs straight away. We don't check insurance, qualifications or registrations, so please check these yourself before you hire.
Up to five matched local businesses can send quotes [QZ2]. QuoteZila is free for customers and local businesses [QZ1].
Posting a job is not open yet
The live pages beside this one are glaziers, builders and joiners. Other guides to reading a written price are fencing cost, driveway cost and plumber cost.
This page is general information, not professional or legal advice. QuoteZila does not check Gas Safe, WaterSafe, NFRC, NICEIC or other registrations against the register on your behalf: look them up yourself.
Stack, furniture and the day the leaves arrive
The leaves have to stand somewhere while they fold. Measure that stack on the floor with tape before you accept a drawing, and write the measurement into the job. A sofa, a curtain, or a kitchen unit that occupies the stack is a clash you can see now, and it is cheaper to see it before the frame is ordered. Ask each fitter to mark the stack on a sketch of your room, not on a showroom plan.
Delivery is its own line. A bifold set is long. Say whether the garden is the only way in, whether there is a side gate, and whether a neighbour's path would be needed. Citizens Advice wants the breakdown in the quote, so a delivery that is assumed rather than written is a gap [S5]. If the leaves will sit in a garage overnight, ask who insures them until they are fixed into the wall [S5].
Also ask what "making good" covers on the day after installation: the plaster line inside, the mastic outside, and the floor where the old threshold sat. A quote that ends when the leaves swing is a quote for a different stage of the job. Put a date on how long the price stays open, because a made-to-measure frame that is delayed is the situation Citizens Advice wants the validity line for [S5]. If the fitter offers a fabric sample and a frame colour as the whole specification, send it back. Colour is not the leaf count, and it is not the threshold.
When the quotes come back, lay them side by side and read the leaf count first. If one drawing stacks the leaves to the left and another stacks them to the right, the furniture in the room may fit only one of those drawings. Ask for the threshold as a measurement, not as the word low, and ask whether the floor inside has to be raised to meet it. A missing line for taking the old frame away, or for making good the plaster, means that part is still unpriced. Send the same photos and the same approximate width to every fitter so the replies describe one opening.
Jobs you might post
These are examples, not taken from real job posts.
- "Rear opening in Crewe, about the width of the current patio door. I want a leaf count, a threshold detail and a statement on whether the brick opening stays the same."
- "Nantwich kitchen. Existing French doors. Please price a bifold only if you also price building control for any widening, as a separate line."
- "Sandbach extension already has the opening formed. I need supply and fit of the leaves only, and I will say who formed the opening."
Questions about bifold quotes
How many leaves should the quote count?
As many as will actually be made and hung, with the widths written down. A three-leaf set and a five-leaf set are different frames, different tracks and different stacking spaces inside the room. If the quote says only "bifold" with a width, ask for the leaf count before you compare it with anyone else. Ask the fitter to price that leaf count in writing, rather than a bare width.
Do bifold doors need planning permission?
The Planning Portal says you do not usually need planning permission to repair or to put in new doors of a similar appearance to those used when the house was built. A new bay is the item it treats as an extension, which is a different project. Listed buildings, conservation areas, an Article 4 direction and a lease can still restrict you. If the bifold changes the look of the rear wall a great deal, ask the planning authority rather than guessing from a brochure.
Are they building regulations work?
Replacement of door units is an example GOV.UK gives of work to tell a building control body about, unless a competent person scheme installer certifies it. The Planning Portal says an external door is a controlled fitting and that replacement glazing has been covered since 1 April 2002. If the opening gets wider, Lancaster's 2013 note says a scheme installer does not remove the need for a building regulations application where a new support lintel is required. That note is Lancashire guidance, not a Cheshire decision.
What should I do about a deposit?
Citizens Advice says some traders charge for a quote, so ask before they visit, and that if a deposit cannot be avoided you should not agree to more than 25%. Get a receipt. A bifold set is a large material order. Offer to understand who owns the frames if you pay before they arrive, and ask whether any deposit insurance or an escrow arrangement is in place.
Will VAT be on the quote?
Only if the business is VAT-registered, or chooses to be. GOV.UK says you must register when taxable turnover for the last 12 months goes over £90,000. Citizens Advice says the quote should state whether VAT is included. Ask for one total. A labour-only line and a supply-and-fit line are not comparable until both say the same thing about tax.
Does QuoteZila check the businesses?
No. We don't check insurance, qualifications or registrations, so please check these yourself before you hire. You can report a quote or a business from your job page.
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Related pages
- Conservatory Cost: What Changes the Price. What goes into a conservatory quote in Cheshire: style, size, base, roof, glazing, heating and electrics, plus the planning and building regulations checks.
- French Doors: What a Quote Should Name. A French door quote in Cheshire should name the pair of leaves, the threshold and the glass in the critical zone. Ask whether the opening stays the same size.
Sources
- QZ1: QuoteZila product fact. QuoteZila public pricing line.
- QZ2: QuoteZila product fact. QuoteZila terms, customers.
- QZ5: QuoteZila product fact. QuoteZila coverage wording.
- S1: Planning permission: doors and windows, Planning Portal. Accessed 2026-10-25. https://www.planningportal.co.uk/permission/common-projects/doors-and-windows/planning-permission
- S2: Building work, replacements and repairs to your home, GOV.UK. Accessed 2026-10-25. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/building-work-replacements-and-repairs-to-your-home/building-work-replacements-and-repairs-to-your-home
- S3: Building regulations: doors and windows, Planning Portal. Accessed 2026-10-25. https://www.planningportal.co.uk/permission/common-projects/doors-and-windows/building-regulations
- S4: Building Control Guidance Note 05, Lancaster City Council. Accessed 2026-10-25. https://www.lancaster.gov.uk/assets/attach/1344/Leaflet-5-Replacement-Windows-to-Dwellings.pdf
- S5: Before you get work done on your home, Citizens Advice. Accessed 2026-10-25. https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/getting-home-improvements-done/before-you-get-building-work-done/
- S6: Register for VAT, GOV.UK. Accessed 2026-10-25. https://www.gov.uk/register-for-vat