A request for quote for a floor to ceiling modular system is where the price stops being an estimate and starts being a commitment. Because these units are made to measure, the difference between a vague enquiry and a complete one is usually the difference between a quotation you can sign and a quotation that changes after production has begun. The list below is what we need from buyers, project managers and designers so the first number we return is close to the final one.

Why the enquiry matters more than for standard furniture

Modular living systems are built to the opening they will sit in, not to a fixed catalogue size. Panel widths, bay counts, shelf heights and door types are all set per project. That means we cannot quote from a product code alone. A buyer who sends only a room name and a photograph will receive an indicative range; a buyer who sends dimensions, finish references and a storage brief will receive a priced specification with the same parts list that goes to the factory.

It also matters for comparison. If you are sourcing from more than one supplier, an incomplete enquiry produces quotations that are not like for like — one may include doors and internal fittings while another does not. A written specification removes that problem.

The information to put in your RFQ

1. Measured dimensions of the wall or recess. Give width, height and depth as a set, and state whether heights are finished floor to structural ceiling or to a suspended ceiling. Note skirting, architraves, cornices, radiators, downlights, air grilles and any service run that the carcass has to clear. A single unrecorded bulkhead is enough to change a bay layout.

2. Room, floor level and access route. Tell us the space the unit serves — living room, study, bedroom, office or a hospitality common area — plus the floor level, stair width, lift size and whether the delivery vehicle can reach the entrance. Full-height panels are shipped as tall components; access determines packaging, crate type and how many pieces a bay is broken into.

3. The storage mix you actually need. Open shelving reads well but shows dust; closed units hide clutter but cost more in doors and hardware. Say how the room is used: books and display objects, media equipment, linen, glassware or documents. Our open modular units and closed modular units sit in the same collection, so a layout can mix both without changing the module grid. Where you want both in one elevation, mark which bays are open and which are closed on your drawing.

4. Finish, substrate and edge details. Send a finish name, a RAL or paint code, or a physical sample reference — not a photograph of a mood board. State the substrate you want for the carcass and doors, whether edges are matched or contrasted, and whether the unit butts into a plaster wall, a joinery return or another fitted element. Where the same finish has to carry across wardrobes, media walls and doors in one project, say so in the RFQ; matching is easier to price when it is known from the start.

5. Lighting and services. If shelves are to be lit, specify whether you want shelf-edge lighting, vertical channel lighting or backlighting, where the transformer sits, and who is running the supply on site. Our modular system with lighting is configured as part of the carcass, so the cable routes and switch position belong in the drawings rather than being decided on installation day.

6. Hardware and door type. Hinged, sliding, lift-up, tambour or handleless push-open each needs different clearances and a different price. Give quantities per door type, and note any requirement for soft closing or child-safe fittings.

7. Quantity, site list and phasing. One elevation or forty? A unit count per floor level lets us price consistently across a villa, an apartment block or a hotel floor, and tells you which rooms can be released first. Flag any phase that is on hold so we do not quote two versions of the same room.

8. Drawings, even rough ones. A marked-up plan, a sketch with dimensions, or a detail from your designer is enough to start. If you have no drawing, send photographs of the wall from both ends and say which dimension is which. We work from those for initial layouts and return drawings for your confirmation before anything enters production.

9. Delivery terms and destination. State the delivery address, the Incoterm you want priced — FOB, CIF or door-to-door — and your target on-site date. Our logistics and door-to-door delivery service covers freight booking, export paperwork and container loading, but import duty, local permits and site conditions are the buyer's side of the ledger. Quoting both sides separately keeps the number honest.

10. Your decision route and dates. Who signs off the specification, and when does your programme need it? A quotation issued for a decision three months away is usually reissued at current material prices. Telling us the real milestone lets us price to it instead of guessing.

What you receive back

With the above in hand, the response is a priced specification rather than a headline figure: module layout and elevations, panel and carcass construction, the finishes you selected, door and hardware schedule, lighting items, packaging and access assumptions, delivery terms, and an assembly sequence for site. Where a detail cannot be settled from your enquiry, it appears as a listed assumption on the quotation instead of being quietly resolved later.

How this fits a wider fit-out enquiry

Floor-to-ceiling modular systems rarely sit alone. They meet wall panelling, doors, wardrobes and media walls, and the finishes have to match across all of them. If your project also needs fitted storage or a library wall, send those elevations in the same enquiry — our modular bookshelf systems are configured the same way, so one set of dimension notes and finish references can cover several elements. Where the joinery is part of a larger villa or hospitality package, our turnkey project solutions let design, production, delivery and installation be handled as one scope.

Where a buyer is specifying under their own brand or reselling to their client, custom furniture manufacturing covers bespoke sizing, material and finish selection, prototyping and OEM production. Send the same information list plus your branding requirement, and the quotation will reflect what is genuinely configurable rather than what a catalogue page implies.

Before you send it

Check three things first: every dimension has a stated reference point, every finish has a code or sample rather than an adjective, and every open bay has been counted against the storage you actually need. Those three checks remove most of the rework between quotation and production drawing. Send what you have — a partial enquiry still gets a useful answer, with the gaps listed so you know exactly what is holding up a firm price.