You quoted the job in February. Materials are 14% more expensive in June.

It's a situation every building and renovation professional knows:

You send a quote in February. The client takes three months to decide. You sign the contract in May. You start work in June.

And the plasterboard you quoted at €9.50 now costs €10.80. The copper pipe you calculated at €4.20 per metre now costs €4.90. The tiles from your supplier went up because the distributor had stock issues.

Result: you lose between 5% and 12% of your margin on a job that looked well-priced.

Why construction quotes are so vulnerable

1. Timelines are long: between quote, approval and execution, 3–6 months can pass.

2. Materials are volatile: steel, copper, timber, ceramics and technical plastics all have prices that move with international commodities.

3. Margins are tight: working with 15–25% margins means a 10% material price rise can wipe out half your profit.

How automatic cost updates work for trades

With Syntra:

1. You receive a delivery note or invoice from your materials supplier

2. You upload it (phone photo, PDF, any format)

3. The AI extracts each reference: material, unit, price

4. When you quote the next job and add "22mm copper pipe", the price shown is from your latest document

If the supplier raises prices and you receive a new invoice, in 30 seconds all your future quotes reflect the updated price.

The price review clause

For jobs with an execution period over 60 days, many professionals now include a material price review clause. But to apply it you need to document the price change with invoices.

With Syntra's price history, you have the invoice from when you quoted and the invoice from when you bought. The difference is documented and defensible.