Delivery and installation boundaries affect scope because they mark where delivery ends and whether additional work is included. If one quotation ends at delivery while another includes installation, the prices may not describe the same work.
The cited delivery guidance says a pro forma invoice should state the sale terms or Incoterm used and identify the delivery point. It also lists shipping and insurance costs as quotation details. Installation requires a separate check because those delivery terms do not establish whether it is included.
Where does delivery end?
For each written quotation, a buyer should locate two connected details:
- The sale terms or Incoterm used.
- The delivery point stated in the document.
Both should be recorded using the same wording across quotations. If either is missing, the delivery boundary remains unconfirmed; naming a trade term alone does not supply the missing delivery-point information.
This is a document-comparison step, not an interpretation of a particular Incoterm. The buyer still needs the quotation and relevant transaction documents to establish how the stated terms apply.
How are shipping and insurance costs shown?
The U.S. International Trade Administration lists insurance and shipping costs among the details that may appear in a quotation. Their presence should be compared separately:
| Comparison item | What to record |
|---|---|
| Shipping costs | Included, separately itemized, excluded, or unconfirmed |
| Insurance costs | Included, separately itemized, excluded, or unconfirmed |
| Delivery point | The exact location or point stated in the document |
These categories should be used only when the quotation supports them. A blank field is an unanswered question, not evidence that the cost is zero. The cited guidance does not establish that shipping or insurance is always included, so neither treatment should be assumed.
Is installation inside the quoted scope?
Installation should be treated as a separate scope line rather than inferred from delivery. The cited points do not establish whether installation is included.
A consistent comparison can record:
- Delivery: where the quoted delivery obligation ends.
- Installation: included, excluded, optional, or unconfirmed.
- Installation tasks: the specific work expressly covered, if any.
- Remaining responsibility: what the buyer must arrange if installation is outside the quotation.
These are comparison labels, not claims that every quotation uses the same categories. A quotation that expressly identifies installation work can be compared with another only after the equivalent tasks and endpoint are clear.
What still requires confirmation?
Before treating quotations as covering equivalent scope, the buyer still needs written answers to five questions:
- Which sale terms or Incoterm are stated?
- What delivery point is stated?
- How are shipping costs treated?
- How are insurance costs treated?
- Is installation included, and if so, exactly what work does it cover?
Until those points are documented, the comparison can identify differences between the quotations, but it cannot establish that delivery and installation obligations are equivalent.