# What should a UK topographical, measured building or utility survey firm's quotation request form ask for, and why do visitors leave without sending one?

By Pat, Harvey Rupert (https://harveyrupert.com/about/). Published 2026-10-30. Last reviewed 2026-10-30.
Canonical: https://harveyrupert.com/uk/guides/quote-request-form-for-survey-firms/

**Short answer:** A quotation request form for a topographical, measured building or utility survey firm should ask for a name, phone number, email, site address or postcode, what the survey is for and the outputs wanted. Make a marked-up plan and timing optional extras, then show a plain confirmation. Visitors leave when asked for things they cannot answer or told nothing about what happens next.

This is website advice, not surveying advice. It covers how the quotation request form on a survey firm's site can be set up so that more visitors send it and the office receives enquiries it can act on. Where this guide describes what our own templates do, it says so; the other form fields are suggestions adapted for UK enquiries.

## Why do visitors leave a quotation request form without sending it?

Almost every reason comes down to effort or doubt.

- **A question they cannot answer.** A homeowner or small developer may not know what a survey is called, or what file format their architect wants. A required field they cannot fill stops them, and they try the next firm.
- **Too many fields.** Each one is a small chore, and on a phone it is a bigger one.
- **No idea what happens next.** If the form says nothing about who replies, or how, sending it feels like posting a letter into a void.
- **An error that wipes the form.** Nielsen Norman Group's form guidance says to keep what the person typed and to say exactly what is wrong.
- **A form that works badly on a mobile.** Many enquiries start on a phone, on site or in a car park.

The same guidance says to remove fields that collect information that can be derived in some other way, collected more conveniently at a later date, or simply omitted. It also says to limit a form to only one or two optional fields, clearly labelled as optional, so pick from the optional rows below rather than adding them all.

A quotation request is not a newsletter sign-up, though. The aim is an enquiry you can act on, so a field earns its place if it changes whether or how you would quote, or who in the office should pick the request up. A field that only fills a spreadsheet does not.

## Which fields does a quotation request form need?

Most of these fields suit every kind of survey firm. The right-hand column is a suggestion for what to require, not a rule.

| Field | What it does for the office | Make it |
|---|---|---|
| Name | Who to ask for when you ring or reply | Required |
| Phone | The quickest way to talk through a job | Required |
| Email | Where the written quotation goes | Required |
| Site address or postcode | Where the work is, and whether it is in your area | Required |
| What the survey is for | Context that shapes the quotation, such as planning, design work or a refurbishment | Optional free text with an example in the hint |
| Area of the survey | The extent of the site or the building | Optional, or required if your quotations depend on it |
| Marked-up plan | Shows the area or the survey boundary at a glance | Optional: an upload field, or a line saying "reply to our confirmation email with it" |
| Outputs wanted | CAD, PDF or point cloud, for example | Optional tick list, with "Not sure yet" |
| Timing | Separates this month's job from next year's plan | Optional short list, not a date picker |
| Best time to call | Saves phone tag with someone on site all day | Optional |

In the templates Harvey Rupert builds sites from, the quote form asks for name, phone, email, site address and type of survey as required fields, with timing and a free-text note as optional extras. The templates' type list ends with a "Not sure yet" choice, so nobody is stuck at the dropdown. The plan, outputs and best-time fields are ideas to consider, not something the templates include today.

## Do topographical and measured building survey enquiries need different questions?

Often, yes. A single list of fields can serve both, but the details that help differ.

**Topographical survey enquiries** are about land. Useful questions are the site address or postcode, the extent of the area, a plan with the survey boundary marked on it, and the outputs wanted. A marked-up plan answers "which part of the site?" more quickly than a paragraph can.

**Measured building survey enquiries** are about a structure. A form can ask which parts of the building are in question (the whole building or particular floors), and what is to be drawn. A short tick list works well here: floor plans, elevations, sections, a roof plan. The same outputs question applies: drawings in CAD or PDF, or a point cloud.

Two ways to handle this on a site:

- one form with a type-of-survey list, where the optional fields stay the same and the hints change with the choice; or
- a quotation form on each service page with that survey type already chosen, which is what the templates do.

Whichever you pick, offer only the options your firm provides, in the words your clients use.

## What should a utility survey enquiry ask?

Utility survey enquiries often come from principal or main contractors, developers and consultants, who tend to know what they want to receive. The form can ask for:

- the site address or postcode, with a note field for access (gates, locked areas, who will let the surveyor in);
- a plan marking the area to be surveyed;
- the outputs wanted, such as CAD drawings or a PDF report;
- timing, as a short list;
- an optional free-text field for a specification or survey type, if the client's brief names one.

That last field is where PAS 128 comes in. BSI publishes PAS 128:2022 as a specification for the detection, verification and location of underground utilities, and describes it as used by practitioners and by clients such as engineers, constructors and project managers. The Chartered Institution of Civil Engineering Surveyors' client guide describes four survey types and asks clients to specify which they need and to provide the survey area. A client may therefore write "PAS 128" or a survey type in their request, and an optional field gives them a place to do it. What a particular job needs is for the surveyor to say, not the form.

## What should happen after someone sends the form?

The visitor should see that it worked, and what comes next.

- **A confirmation on the page.** In the templates we build from, a message appears where the form was, thanking them and giving the firm's reply line, so they do not wonder whether the button did anything.
- **A failure message that gives a way out.** If sending fails, the message tells them to call the firm instead, and what they typed stays on the page. Put the phone number next to the form so they can.
- **Spam protection that stays out of the way.** The templates use a bot check and a hidden field that only automated tools fill in.

Set the reply line yourself, and promise only what the office will keep. A reply promise the office misses is worse than none. This guide does not suggest a reply time or price to quote.

## Where do the enquiries go?

Every enquiry lands in the firm's email. WhatsApp lead alerts come with the Paddock plan or the WhatsApp add-on.

Whatever you use, send enquiries to an address that more than one person watches, not only to one inbox that is empty when that person is on site. Send yourself a test enquiry now and then, from a phone, to check the whole path still works.

## What is the one-page checklist?

Use this to review an existing quotation request form or to brief a new one. For the pages around the form, see [what a surveying firm's website needs](https://harveyrupert.com/guides/what-a-surveying-firms-website-needs/).

<ul class="checklist">
<li>Required fields are limited to name, phone, email and site address or postcode, plus the type of survey if you offer more than one.</li>
<li>The type-of-survey list uses your clients' words and ends with "Not sure yet".</li>
<li>Optional fields are labelled as optional.</li>
<li>There is a free-text field for what the survey is for, with an example in the hint.</li>
<li>There is a way to send a marked-up plan, even if that is replying to the confirmation email.</li>
<li>Outputs wanted are a short tick list (for example CAD, PDF, point cloud) with a "Not sure yet" choice.</li>
<li>Measured building enquiries can say which floors or elevations are wanted.</li>
<li>Utility survey enquiries can describe access and name a specification or survey type if the brief has one.</li>
<li>Timing is a short list, with an option for people who are not sure.</li>
<li>A confirmation message appears on the page after sending.</li>
<li>A failed send keeps what was typed and gives a phone number.</li>
<li>Any reply promise is one the office will keep.</li>
<li>Enquiries go to an address that more than one person watches, and the whole path is tested from a phone.</li>
</ul>

## Sources

1. [Website Forms Usability: Top 10 Recommendations](https://www.nngroup.com/articles/web-form-design/), Nielsen Norman Group, 2016-05-01
2. [PAS 128:2022 Underground utility detection, verification and location. Specification](https://knowledge.bsigroup.com/products/pas-128-underground-utility-detection-verification-and-location-specification), BSI, Published 2022-04-30
3. [PAS 128:2022 Client Specification Guide](https://cices.org/media/rbydmvnu/pas128-client-specification-guide-sep-22-final.pdf), Chartered Institution of Civil Engineering Surveyors, Utilities and Subsurface Mapping Panel, September 2022

Website advice only. Not surveying or legal advice. Drafted with AI help and reviewed by Pat before publishing. (https://harveyrupert.com/how-we-use-ai/)

We build and run sites like this for surveyors. https://harveyrupert.com/uk/