Frequently asked questions

QuotesDone is a UAE B2B anonymous quotation marketplace based in Dubai. A customer (buyer) posts what they need — by text, voice, photo or drawing — and our Smart Engine turns it into a clear, priceable brief and matches it to vetted suppliers (sellers) who submit anonymised quotes. The buyer compares the quotes and pays a 3% reveal fee on the quote they choose to unlock that seller's identity and contact details. It is operated by QuotesDone Technologies, a Dubai DET-licensed business (E-Trader Licence No. 1633275).

QuotesDone was created to fix how construction and services buying works in the UAE: getting several comparable quotes today means chasing suppliers one by one, sharing your contact details up front, then fielding calls and haggling — while suppliers waste time on jobs that aren't really theirs. QuotesDone lets a buyer describe a job once and receive comparable, anonymised quotes from genuinely capable suppliers, staying in control until they choose.

For buyers: sourcing multiple trustworthy, comparable quotes is slow and opaque, and once your number is out you get spammed and pressured. For sellers: most leads are irrelevant or already shopped around. QuotesDone solves both — the buyer posts once, Smart Engine structures the request and routes it only to suppliers who can genuinely do it, quotes come back structured, comparable and quality-checked, and everything stays anonymous with no off-platform contact until the buyer pays to reveal their chosen supplier.

Two sides. Customers (buyers) — UAE businesses and individuals who need to buy construction, fit-out, MEP and related products or services and want fast, comparable quotes without exposing themselves to spam. Suppliers (sellers) — vetted UAE contractors, fabricators, tradespeople and suppliers who want qualified, relevant job requests they can quote on.

Construction and the built-environment services around it: building & fit-out / interior design, MEP (electrical, fire, HVAC, plumbing), aluminium & glass, joinery & custom furniture, flooring & tiling, false ceilings & gypsum, painting, waterproofing, landscaping & swimming pools, signage, CCTV & security systems, smart-home automation, solar, facilities management, cleaning, pest control, movers, AC maintenance and more — with new trades added automatically as suppliers register them.

QuotesDone currently operates in the United Arab Emirates — all seven emirates — and is based in Dubai. Expansion to Saudi Arabia (KSA) is planned but not yet live.

To become the trusted procurement layer for the region — the default way buyers source and compare quotes across the GCC — expanding from the UAE into Saudi Arabia and beyond, and growing from single-job RFQs toward Smart-Engine-assisted procurement for larger, multi-trade projects.

Anonymity & buyer control (no off-platform contact before reveal); Honesty (agents never over-promise or invent — answers are grounded in real data); Fair, quality-comparable quotes; Supplier respect (relevant matches only, seller-friendly economics); Trust & accountability (licensed entity, vetted suppliers, auditable and reversible Smart Engine).

Four things: (1) Anonymity — buyers and sellers don't exchange contact details until the buyer chooses and pays to reveal, so no spam and no going around the platform. (2) Sharp Smart Engine matching — a Smart Engine reads the actual job and routes it only to suppliers who can genuinely do it, instead of blasting every lead to everyone. (3) Structured, comparable, quality-checked quotes, not messy free-text. (4) Seller-friendly economics — suppliers pay no commission on won jobs and start free; the buyer only pays a 3% reveal fee on the quote they actually choose.

It is a licensed Dubai business (QuotesDone Technologies, DET E-Trader Licence No. 1633275). Suppliers are vetted (licence/KYC checks). Buyer and seller details stay masked until a paid reveal, protecting both sides. Quotes are structured and quality-gated so buyers compare like-for-like. The Smart Engine is governed and grounded — it answers from verified company and regulatory knowledge rather than guessing, sensitive actions are logged and reversible, and data is handled under UAE PDPL with security controls.

You describe what you need (words, voice, a photo or a drawing). Our Smart Engine turns it into a clear brief and matches it to vetted suppliers who can genuinely do the job; they send anonymised quotes. You compare them and, when you pick one, pay a 3% reveal fee to unlock that supplier's identity and contact details.

The Smart Engine structures your request and may ask a few quick questions to make it complete, then matches and invites the suppliers who can genuinely do it. You are notified as anonymised quotes come in, and you track everything in the app.

Only the suppliers who can genuinely fulfil your job — usually a handful, not a mass blast. It is capped to keep quotes relevant and competition fair.

The Smart Engine reads your actual job and matches by real capability and location, inviting only suppliers who can truly deliver it. A wrong match is treated as worse than no match, so irrelevant suppliers are filtered out.

The Smart Engine selects the right suppliers for you — this keeps the process fair, fast and fully anonymous, so you do not hand-pick from a directory.

Yes — completely. Suppliers never see your name, phone, email, company or exact address; only the job and general area/emirate. Uploaded drawings are automatically redacted to remove identifying details.

Never before you choose. Your details (and the supplier's) stay hidden until you pick a quote and pay the 3% reveal fee to unlock that one supplier.

Yes — there is a cancel button, so you can cancel an inquiry (before you reveal a supplier, at no cost — you only ever pay at the reveal step). We keep a record of cancellations, and if cancelling becomes a habit we will send you a polite, professional note explaining that repeated cancellations affect suppliers who take time to prepare quotes.

Yes — you can edit an inquiry within 24 hours of submitting it. After that window, if something important changes, please create a new inquiry so suppliers quote the correct scope.

Yes — you can add drawings, photos or a short video. Drawings are automatically redacted to strip any identifying details before suppliers see them.

Yes — you can attach a bill of quantities (BOQ), and the Smart Engine uses it to structure your request so suppliers price against your exact items.

No — customers cannot invite their own suppliers. QuotesDone sources and vets the suppliers for you, which keeps every quote anonymous, fair and quality-checked.

There are no quote revisions. You compare the quotes as submitted; if none suit, you can decline them all at no cost and post a clearer inquiry. After you reveal your chosen supplier, you arrange any changes with them directly through the platform.

Yes — you are never obliged to accept any quote. You only pay when you choose to reveal a supplier, so declining every quote costs you nothing.

There is no reopen — simply create a new inquiry and suppliers will quote afresh.

It depends on the job, but 3-5 working days is realistic to receive quotes, and you are notified as each one arrives. Once you reveal a supplier, they have 3 working days to respond or your reveal fee is refunded.

Yes — once you have revealed your chosen supplier, you can discuss scope, price and timing with them directly through the platform. Before reveal, everything stays anonymous, so you simply compare the quotes as submitted.

You pay the 3% reveal fee and that supplier's identity and contact details unlock for you. A transaction is created, the supplier is notified to respond, and you continue with them through the platform.

You pay the reveal fee securely by card or Apple Pay through our checkout. It is only charged when you choose to reveal a supplier.

As a customer you pay one fee: a 3% reveal fee on the value of the quote you choose (no cap), and only on that chosen quote. There are no other charges to you. Suppliers pay no commission on won jobs.

Yes, in defined cases — most notably if the supplier you revealed does not respond within 3 working days and cannot be reached, your reveal fee is refunded automatically. Other refunds follow our refund policy and window.

If a revealed supplier does not respond within 3 working days and cannot be reached, you are refunded the reveal fee in full, and that supplier is penalised (charged a non-response fee and blocked from new matches until resolved).

Every quote must pass a quality bar before it reaches you, and the Smart Engine coaches suppliers to be complete and itemised. If you are still not satisfied, you can decline them all at no cost — you only pay when you choose to reveal a supplier.

You can edit your inquiry within 24 hours of submitting it to fix a mistake. Past that window, cancel the inquiry and create a corrected one — cancelling before reveal costs nothing.

If your project changes within 24 hours of submitting, edit the inquiry directly. Otherwise create a new inquiry with the updated scope so suppliers quote accurately. If it changes after you have revealed a supplier, arrange the changes with them directly through the platform.

Register on the QuotesDone supplier portal: claim or create your company listing, then upload your business documents (trade licence and the others requested). The Smart Engine reviews them and, once approved, you start receiving relevant, anonymised job requests to quote on.

Your valid UAE trade licence is the key document. You will also be asked for supporting details such as your VAT certificate (TRN), bank IBAN, insurance, and your company profile or product catalogue. Keeping your licence and insurance valid keeps your account active.

Your uploaded documents are read and checked automatically (licence details, issuing authority, expiry) and reviewed for validity and relevance before your account is approved. We confirm your licensed legal name and trade so customers can trust who they are dealing with.

Verification is fast — up to a maximum of 3 working days once your documents are complete. If anything needs fixing, we tell you exactly what is required.

We rarely reject suppliers. You cannot finish signing up until you have uploaded the required documents on the supplier portal, so an incomplete registration simply is not completed rather than rejected. If a document is invalid or expired, we ask you to update it — fix it and you are good to go.

The Smart Engine reads each customer job and matches it to suppliers who can genuinely do it, based on your real capabilities and the emirates you serve. Only genuinely-capable suppliers are invited — you will not be spammed with irrelevant jobs.

Yes — you are free to ignore any invitation that is not right for you; there is no penalty for not quoting. (The only charge is if a customer pays to reveal you and you then ignore them.)

Only a handful of genuinely-capable suppliers — it is capped to keep competition fair and every invite relevant, never a mass blast.

You quote from your supplier portal. Enter an itemised quotation — your line items with brand/model, specifications, quantities and unit prices, plus scope, lead time, validity, warranty and terms. Your quote reaches the customer anonymised; your identity stays hidden until they pay to reveal you.

A complete, itemised quote: scope of work; line items with brand/model and specifications; quantities and unit prices; materials; lead time; validity; warranty; payment terms; and any exclusions. Quotes must meet a quality bar before they reach the customer — the Smart Engine coaches you if something important is missing.

No — once you submit a quotation it is final, so review it carefully before sending. After a customer reveals you, you are free to adjust anything directly with them — by that point the platform''s job is done.

Yes — you can withdraw a quotation before a customer reveals it.

You are notified the moment a customer pays to reveal your quote — that is your signal to respond and proceed. If the customer chooses another supplier, we let you know too, so you are never left wondering.

There is no commission on won jobs — you keep 100% of the job value. The only charge tied to a job is the non-response fee (equal to the customer''s reveal fee) if you ignore a customer who paid to reveal you.

You pay nothing to quote or to win jobs. Registration is free for all suppliers until 31 July 2027. From 1 August 2027 an annual subscription of AED 1,000 applies, except for the first 1,000 suppliers who registered — they remain free permanently. It is paid on the supplier portal via secure Stripe checkout.

If your annual subscription (or a non-response fee) is due and left unpaid, your account is paused from receiving new matches until it is settled on the portal. We remind you first.

Your score reflects real performance: customer reviews across communication, quality, punctuality, documentation, after-sales and compliance, plus your responsiveness and dispute record. It builds a trusted reputation that customers can see.

Respond quickly, submit complete well-itemised quotes, deliver well and earn strong reviews, keep your licence and documents valid, and stay compliant. Merit — not payment — drives your ranking.

There is no advertising on QuotesDone. Instead, every supplier earns a rating against QuotesDone''s standards based on real performance — you stand out by delivering well, not by paying.

Yes — you set the emirates you serve, and you are matched to jobs in each of them.

Yes — you can cover multiple trades/categories. Keep your capabilities profile complete and accurate so the Smart Engine matches you to the right jobs.

RFQ means Request for Quotation — your job request. On QuotesDone you describe what you need (in words, voice, a photo or a drawing) and the Smart Engine turns it into one clear, structured brief that suppliers can price against.

Enough for a supplier to give a firm price without contacting you: what you need, the key specifications and quantities for that type of work, the general area and emirate, and any drawings or bill of quantities you have. The exact must-have fields depend on the category, and the Smart Engine asks you for anything still missing.

It reads your words, photos or drawings, structures them into a supplier-ready brief, applies the qualification playbook for that category to ask the right questions, and scores how complete the request is — only sending it out once it is ready to be priced.

It is complete when it contains everything a supplier needs to return a firm fixed price without meeting you: clear scope, the price-driving specs and quantities for that category, the area and emirate, and any needed visuals. At that point it is marked ready and goes to matched suppliers.

The Smart Engine asks you a few easy, tap-to-answer questions to fill the gaps. If something is genuinely unknown, it is recorded as an open item for the supplier to propose — so you are never stuck — and the request only goes out once it is complete enough to price.

It does not invent a budget or price for you — suppliers set the price. Budget is optional. What it can show is a price-confidence band (a typical range from comparable jobs) so you can sanity-check the quotes you receive.

It will not promise a delivery date — each supplier states their own lead time in their quote. As a rule of thumb, quotes themselves usually arrive within 3-5 working days.

It will not push technical choices on you. Where a choice is technical, it notes it as "supplier to propose suitable options with prices." It uses category knowledge and UAE codes to make sure the brief captures what matters and to flag compliance — but the supplier proposes and prices the technical specification.

The Smart Engine shortlists suppliers by real capability, keywords and the emirates they serve, then judges each candidate on whether they can genuinely do your exact job. Only genuinely-capable suppliers are invited — a wrong match is treated as worse than no match — and the number is capped to keep it relevant.

Each request is scored for completeness against the category checklist and playbook, and must reach the "ready" bar before it is sent to suppliers. (Separately, suppliers' quotes are quality-gated too, so what you compare is complete and like-for-like.)

A complete, itemised, transparently-priced quote: line items with brand/model, specifications, quantities and unit prices, plus scope, materials, lead time, validity, warranty, payment terms and any exclusions. Good quotes are easy for the customer to compare and win more often.

The required sections for that category — typically: scope of work; itemised line items (BOQ) with brand/model, specifications, quantities and unit prices; materials; lead time; validity; warranty; payment terms; and exclusions. A quote must include these to pass the quality bar and reach the customer.

The itemised quote itself is what is required. You may optionally attach your own official company quotation (PDF) — the platform also generates a clean, anonymised version — and datasheets are recommended for regulated or branded items. Company documents such as your trade licence are handled once at registration, not per quote.

Side by side and anonymised (Supplier A, B, C), all normalised against the same brief so it is like-for-like. The customer sees each quote's price, inclusions and exclusions, lead time, warranty and terms, alongside a price-confidence band to sanity-check value.

A BOQ (Bill of Quantities) is the itemised list of materials and works — each with its quantity and unit — that a quotation is priced against. It makes quotes precise and directly comparable.

For each quote: the price, the line items, scope/inclusions and exclusions, lead time, validity, warranty and payment terms, plus the supplier's rating and verification status and a price-confidence band. Everything the customer needs to choose on value, not just the lowest number.

Quotes must pass a quality bar before the customer sees them. If something important is missing, the Smart Engine coaches the supplier to complete it, and the quote is held as a draft until it meets the standard — so customers only compare complete quotes.

It does not reject you outright — it enforces a quality standard. A quote below the required completeness score is held as a draft with specific coaching on what to add, and is released to the customer once it meets the bar. This protects everyone: customers get complete quotes, and good suppliers are not undercut by half-finished ones.

Each quote is scored on how completely it covers the category's required sections and how well it is itemised — scope, line items with brand/model and specs, quantities and unit prices, and the commercial terms. It must reach the quality threshold to be submittable to the customer.

No — once a supplier submits a quotation it is final, so it should be reviewed carefully before sending. After a customer reveals a supplier, any changes are arranged directly between them, off the comparison.

Ranking is merit-based, never pay-to-rank. It reflects real performance — customer reviews, responsiveness, win rate and how well a supplier genuinely fits the job — and for any given request the Smart Engine also weighs capability, the emirates served and similarity to the job. Suppliers rise by performing well.

QuotesDone runs a taxonomy of trades, each with its own qualification playbook. When a supplier registers a trade we do not yet have, the Smart Engine automatically provisions a new category — persona, intake questions and category knowledge — with the founder reviewing the generated knowledge before it reaches full quality.

Suppliers are matched to a single company listing keyed on their trade licence and company identity, and the directory is de-duplicated — so a company is not represented twice. Duplicate or suspicious registrations are flagged in review.

Through automated fraud scanning and anomaly checks, contact-leak detection in the in-platform chat, decoy/canary traps, and document checks — with suspicious accounts flagged and, where warranted, blocked from matching. The anonymity model itself removes much of the incentive to game the system.

Disputes follow a defined process: you raise the issue, it is reviewed with the full record, and it is resolved through the platform — including refunds where appropriate, which settle against the original transaction. The goal is a fair outcome for both sides.

By real outcomes: multi-dimension customer reviews (communication, quality, punctuality, documentation, after-sales and compliance), the supplier's dispute record, responsiveness, and the quality of the quotes they submit — combined into a reputation score customers can see.

After a completed deal, the customer leaves a multi-dimension review, and only a customer who actually revealed and dealt with a supplier can rate them — so ratings are genuine. These reviews feed the supplier's overall reputation score.

The 3% fee is the customer reveal fee: 3% of the value of the quote you choose, with no cap. A customer pays it once to unlock the identity and contact details of their chosen supplier. It is the platform's main charge and it is paid by the customer — suppliers pay no commission.

Only at the reveal step — when a customer picks a quote and chooses to unlock that supplier. Nothing is charged for posting a request, receiving quotes, or comparing them; you pay only when you decide to proceed with a supplier.

When a customer pays a reveal fee, an invoice for that fee is generated automatically and available in the app. From 1 August 2027, suppliers who are liable for the annual subscription (those outside the first 1,000 registered) receive an invoice for it. All invoices are issued by QuotesDone Technologies (see the VAT note below on current tax treatment).

Payments are made securely by card or Apple Pay through our Stripe checkout — both the customer reveal fee and the supplier annual subscription.

QuotesDone Technologies is not currently VAT-registered, so invoices are issued without VAT and without a TRN. If and when the company becomes VAT-registered, VAT will be applied and shown on invoices together with the TRN.

Refunds are returned to your original payment method through Stripe. The clearest case is automatic: if the supplier you revealed does not respond within 3 working days and cannot be reached, your reveal fee is refunded. Other refund requests made within the refund window are reviewed and, if approved, refunded the same way.

There are currently no commissions — suppliers keep 100% of their won jobs. The only amounts collected from suppliers are the annual subscription (AED 1,000/year, which begins on 1 August 2027 and never applies to the first 1,000 suppliers who registered) and any non-response fee, both paid on the supplier portal via Stripe. Unpaid amounts are followed up and the account is paused until they are settled.

We send reminders first. If an amount due — a supplier subscription or a non-response fee — stays unpaid, the account is paused from receiving new matches until it is settled on the portal.

It runs QuotesDone end to end: it understands a customer's request and turns it into a clear brief, matches it to genuinely-capable suppliers, checks quote quality, answers questions using verified UAE knowledge, and handles routine operations — always grounded in real data, never inventing prices, brands or rules.

Low-risk, reversible, well-understood ones on its own: structuring a brief, asking clarifying questions, matching and inviting suppliers, scoring RFQ and quote completeness, surfacing the applicable regulations, drafting communications, and routine housekeeping — and every action is logged.

Anything sensitive or irreversible is gated to a human (the founder): moving or refunding money, publishing legal or contract documents, changing pricing or policy, approving high-stakes regulatory content, or anything it is not confident about. It prepares and recommends; a person approves.

It is built for accuracy over guesswork: answers must be grounded in retrieved, verified sources (UAE codes, company knowledge), and it is benchmarked and monitored. When it is not sure, it says so or defers rather than inventing an answer. No system is perfect, which is why grounding, review and human oversight are built in.

No — it is designed not to. A hard grounding rule requires answers to come from verified knowledge; if the information is not there, it asks you, records it as an open item, or escalates — rather than fabricating specifications, prices or regulations.

It retrieves from a curated knowledge base — UAE regulations and standards, category expertise, materials and company facts — and grounds its answers in those sources. The knowledge is version-controlled and reviewed before it goes live.

Whenever an action is sensitive, irreversible, low-confidence or outside policy — money, legal/contract publishing, pricing or policy changes, high-stakes compliance — it stops and routes it to the founder for approval, with the full context and its recommendation.

Every decision passes a governance gate and is written to an immutable log; sensitive actions keep a before-image so they can be undone; and health checks, evaluations and a dedicated Trainer track quality continuously, with alerts surfacing anything that needs attention.

Yes — any system can, and QuotesDone is built assuming it: grounding to reduce errors, a quality bar on quotes and RFQs, human approval on anything sensitive, an immutable audit trail, and reversibility on sensitive actions — so mistakes are caught, contained and correctable.

It improves within guardrails: benchmarks and evaluations score its prompts and answers, a Trainer monitors each agent's quality, proposed improvements are tested before going live (only non-sensitive ones auto-promote, always with rollback), and lessons from closed cases feed back into its knowledge.

It depends on the trade and emirate. The Smart Engine draws on an indexed UAE regulatory library and flags the codes relevant to your specific job — for example DEWA for electrical, Dubai Civil Defence (UAE Fire & Life Safety Code) for fire, Dubai Municipality (Al Sa'fat green building, drainage) for buildings, SIRA for security/CCTV, MoIAT/ESMA (ECAS) for products, and Trakhees/DDA inside free zones. The supplier remains responsible for code-compliant design and obtaining authority approvals.

UAE.S / GSO national standards, plus the international standards that UAE code references where they apply to the trade (for example ISO and EN, IEC / BS 7671 for wiring, ASHRAE for HVAC, NFPA for fire). The Smart Engine surfaces the standards relevant to your category rather than a single universal list.

QuotesDone does not run its own approved-manufacturer list or endorse particular companies. What matters is that the products quoted meet the required UAE approvals for the job — for example DCD-listed fire products, ESMA/ECAS-conformant regulated products, or DEWA-approved electrical equipment. The Smart Engine references recognised authority approvals; the supplier proposes compliant products.

QuotesDone is brand-neutral — it does not push or rank specific brands. It makes sure whatever brand is quoted meets the required specifications, standards and UAE approvals for your job; the supplier proposes the brand and you choose. This keeps the marketplace fair and unbiased.

It depends on the application. The Smart Engine uses its materials knowledge and category specifications to make sure your brief captures suitable material options and the things that drive their price, and notes where the supplier should propose options. It does not dictate a single material — it ensures the choice is captured and compliant.

Trade- and product-dependent: for example ECAS/EQM product conformity (MoIAT/ESMA) for regulated goods, SIRA licensing for security work, DCD approvals for fire systems, and manufacturer authorisation for certain branded equipment — alongside the supplier's own valid trade licence and insurance. The Smart Engine flags the certifications relevant to your job.

There is no single fixed rule — warranty is a required field in every quote, so it is always stated and easy to compare. Typical UAE practice (such as a workmanship warranty plus the manufacturer's product warranty) is captured per category, and you decide what is acceptable for your job.

It depends on the system — for example pressure testing for plumbing, insulation-resistance and earthing tests for electrical (DEWA), testing and commissioning for fire systems (DCD/NFPA), or flood tests for waterproofing. The Smart Engine makes sure testing and commissioning are captured in the scope where relevant; the supplier performs and certifies them.

Authority inspections depend on the trade — for example a Dubai Civil Defence fire inspection before occupancy, DEWA inspection and energisation for electrical, Dubai Municipality inspections for building works, and Trakhees/DDA inspections inside free zones. The Smart Engine flags the inspections relevant to your job; the supplier or consultant coordinates them.

Authority approvals depend on the work and location — DEWA (electrical/utility), Dubai Civil Defence (fire & life safety), Dubai Municipality (building, drainage, green building), SIRA (security), MoIAT/ESMA (product conformity), GCAA (near airports), Trakhees/DDA (free zones) and KHDA (schools/nurseries). The Smart Engine identifies which apply to your job; obtaining them is the supplier's or consultant's responsibility.

Common formats: images (JPG, PNG), PDFs, and CAD drawings (DWG, DXF — automatically converted so they can be read). You can upload photos, drawings, bills of quantities, and quotation PDFs.

There is no small size limit — you can upload large drawings and documents (up to about 1 GB). Very large files upload fastest as PDFs or the key sheets, which also gives the quickest analysis.

In private, access-controlled cloud storage that is not publicly accessible. Files are served only to your own account through short-lived signed links.

Documents are version-controlled — an update creates a new version rather than overwriting the history, so there is a traceable record. Requests (RFQs) are also versioned when they change.

When you upload a drawing, the Smart Engine reads it to draft a bill of quantities and structure your brief, and it automatically redacts identifying details before any supplier sees it — keeping you anonymous. Your original files stay private to you.

The Smart Engine extracts the content of PDFs — drawings, bills of quantities, or your own quotation — to build a clean, structured brief or quote, pulling out line items and specifications and stripping identity or prices where needed for anonymity.

Completed requests and their documents are archived to durable off-site storage on a schedule, kept for record-keeping and retrievable later. A Document Controller tracks the inventory and retention.

Your data is encrypted in transit (every connection uses TLS/HTTPS) and at rest on our managed cloud database and storage. Card payments are handled entirely by Stripe, so payment-card details never touch our own servers.

Files such as licences, drawings and quotations are kept in private storage that is not publicly accessible. They are reached only through the app using short-lived signed links, uploads are scanned for malware, and customer drawings are automatically redacted to remove identifying details before any supplier sees them.

Only you and the parties who are supposed to. The platform serves your files to your own account, and identities stay hidden between customer and supplier until a paid reveal. There is no open or public access to files — everything is served through the backend with strict authorisation.

The database is deny-by-default — nothing is readable directly with a public key. Every read and write goes through backend functions that check who you are and what you are allowed to do (role-based access), and admin areas require additional authentication, including multi-factor authentication.

The system is backed up on a regular schedule to durable off-site storage, and disaster-recovery drills are run to confirm data can be restored. Completed requests are also archived separately.

Payments run through Stripe. It handles both money flows: the customer's reveal fee (3% of the quote, to unlock a supplier's contact) and the supplier's annual subscription (AED 1,000/year). Stripe events are reconciled so access is granted only on a confirmed payment. No other gateways are offered at this time.

Dropbox is the platform's secure document backup — an administrator-side integration, not something customers or suppliers see. It works two ways: it indexes the company's QuotesDone Dropbox folders so documents are searchable inside the OS, and it automatically mirrors originals and auto-generated documents into an organized /QuotesDone Backup tree (Customers/… and Suppliers/<category>/…) every 15 minutes. It only reads and uploads — it never deletes anything in Dropbox.

Not at this stage. Suppliers work through the QuotesDone portal — registering, receiving matched RFQs, and submitting itemized quotes there. There is no direct ERP connector (e.g. SAP, Oracle, Odoo) today. An ERP/quote integration could be added to the roadmap if demand grows, but it is not live.

Not currently. Customers post RFQs and receive quotes through the QuotesDone app; there is no punch-out or e-procurement connector (e.g. Ariba, Coupa, Oracle Procurement) at this time. It is a possible future addition, but not available today.

QuotesDone runs on its own secure backend and connects to trusted third-party services behind the scenes: Stripe (payments), Dropbox (document backup), Twilio (SMS and voice OTP), WhatsApp (notifications), an email service (transactional mail), a large-language-model gateway (the Smart Engine), and Meta Ads (marketing). There is no public or partner API exposed to customers or suppliers yet — all interaction is through the app and portal. A published API could be offered later if there is demand.

A suspended supplier is immediately excluded from matching — the Smart Engine routes no new RFQs to them and they cannot submit new quotes — but nothing is deleted and the reason is recorded. Suspension (matching blocked) is reversible; a full ban removes them from the marketplace. Both are oversight-first: agents surface the risk and recommend, but the action is applied under admin authority, not automatically. Anything the supplier already committed to is handled case by case.

Trade licences — plus insurance, ISO and manufacturer authorizations — have their expiry dates tracked continuously. As expiry nears, reminders go out and the item is flagged on the supplier's compliance scorecard. Once expired, the supplier is treated as non-compliant and held out of matching until a valid renewal is uploaded; re-verification requires current documents. It is a hold pending renewal, never an auto-deletion.

Money flows through Stripe. If a customer's reveal payment (the 3% fee to unlock a supplier's contact) fails, the contact simply is not revealed and they can retry — nothing is charged and no identity is exposed. If a supplier's annual subscription (AED 1,000/year) payment fails, their registration is not activated or lapses, pausing new matching until it is paid. Failed payments never silently grant access; the platform reconciles Stripe events so records stay accurate.

Low confidence triggers caution, not action. In matching, the rule is "a wrong match is worse than no match" — if the engine is not confident a supplier truly fits, it excludes them and can return zero matches rather than guess. Elsewhere (capability write-ups, new-category knowledge, document reads) low-confidence output is marked and held for founder review before it is published or acted on. It escalates to a human rather than proceeding.

The intake agent turns the customer's words and photos into a structured brief and checks completeness against the category's qualification playbook. If key details are missing, the RFQ is not marked ready and is not dispatched to suppliers — the customer is asked for the missing information (and can edit within 24 hours). It only enters matching once it is complete enough to quote accurately, protecting both sides from bad matches.

Two cases. If the engine finds no genuinely suitable supplier, it deliberately contacts no one (never random sends) and raises an internal coverage-gap signal telling the team exactly which trade and emirate to recruit. If suppliers were matched but none respond, response is tracked and the customer is kept informed; the request can be broadened or escalated. The customer is never handed a random or unsuitable supplier just to fill the slot.

UAE codes and authority requirements live in the knowledge base, and the Knowledge Curator watches for stale or missing compliance content. When rules change, updated authority documents are ingested and — under the oversight-first model — approved before going live; category requirements, qualification playbooks and agent knowledge are then updated. Agents always retrieve the current requirements and point users to the official source of record, so guidance stays aligned with the latest regulations.

Suppliers self-register or claim an existing listing, submit their trade licence and KYC documents, and are verified before going live (verification within a maximum of 3 working days; suppliers are not auto-approved). Approval is merit-based — there is no paid ranking or advertising. Registration is free for all suppliers until 31 July 2027; from 1 August 2027 an annual subscription of AED 1,000 applies, except for the first 1,000 registered suppliers, who remain free permanently.

Customers sign up with phone/email verification and accept the Terms & Conditions (a signed copy is stored). Posting requests, receiving and comparing quotes is free; a customer pays only the 3% reveal fee on the quote they choose to unlock. Customers remain anonymous to suppliers until they reveal.

Documents (licences, profiles, catalogues, drawings, quotes, signed terms) upload up to 1 GB into access-controlled storage; large files are stored in full and auto-distilled for the Smart Engine. Originals are backed up to Dropbox in an organized tree. Files open only via short-lived signed links to authorized users; parties never see each other's private documents.

Customer and supplier identities stay masked (suppliers appear as A/B/C to customers; customers are anonymous to suppliers) until a paid reveal. Personal data is used only to operate the marketplace, is never sold, and is handled under UAE PDPL with least-privilege access. Data-subject access and erasure requests are supported.

Operational records and documents are retained while an account is active and for as long as needed to run the marketplace and meet legal, tax and dispute obligations; backups are kept in Dropbox. Erasure requests are honored under PDPL, subject to legal holds. Agents never hard-delete data — removal is a governed, human-approved action.

Access is deny-by-default with role-gated admin and least-privilege service access; all business logic runs server-side and secrets are never exposed. Data is encrypted in transit and at rest, documents are reached only via short-lived signed links, and the Security agent continuously monitors posture and risk. Each party sees only their own data.

Refunds are returned to the customer's original payment method via Stripe. Automatic case: if a revealed supplier does not respond within 3 working days and cannot be reached, the customer's 3% reveal fee is refunded in full — and the non-responding supplier is charged a fine equal to that amount (except where such a charge is not permitted under UAE law), with their account held from new matches until it is settled. Other refund requests made within the 3-working-day refund window are reviewed and, if valid, refunded the same way.

Suspension (matching blocked) is a reversible hold that stops new matches and quoting; a ban removes a party from the marketplace. Triggers include compliance lapses (e.g. an expired licence), repeated non-response, unpaid dues, or policy and behaviour violations. Actions are recorded with a reason and applied under admin authority; reinstatement follows remediation.

QuotesDone charges suppliers no commission on won jobs — suppliers keep 100% of the job value. The only amounts collected from suppliers are the annual subscription (AED 1,000/year, starting 1 August 2027, and never applicable to the first 1,000 suppliers who registered) and a non-response fine (equal to the customer's reveal fee) if a supplier ignores a customer who paid to reveal them, applied except where not permitted under UAE law. The customer separately pays a 3% reveal fee to unlock a chosen supplier. There are no per-lead or per-job commissions.

Quotes must be itemized and detailed (no lump-sum guesses), so customers compare like-for-like and the comparison catches hidden costs, low-spec substitutions and missing items. Suppliers are vetted and rated on merit; agents are grounded in approved knowledge and continuously trained. The guiding principle throughout is accuracy over volume.

QuotesDone is built Smart Engine-first: rather than scaling by adding headcount, it runs on a team of Smart Engine agents — matching, supplier and customer success, finance, marketing, knowledge, legal, security and operations. This lets a lean UAE business deliver enterprise-grade service around the clock — faster, consistent, and grounded in verified knowledge. The agents are oversight-first: they surface, recommend and escalate, but a human approves anything sensitive or irreversible. The goal is leverage and quality, not replacing human judgment.

The near-term focus is depth in the UAE B2B market: sharper matching, more suppliers with rich verified capabilities, and continuously improving quote quality and comparisons. Beyond that, the direction is broader category coverage, deeper supplier and customer tooling, stronger analytics, and — as demand justifies — integrations (e.g. ERP/procurement) and possibly a partner API. Roadmap items are pursued deliberately and launched only when genuinely ready; we prefer to under-promise and over-deliver.

The immediate priority is to win the UAE market and prove the model. The platform is built to be adaptable — its knowledge base, categories and compliance rules are structured so new jurisdictions can be added — so international expansion (starting with the wider GCC) is a natural future direction once the UAE foundation is strong. It is not live yet, and any new market would launch with locally-grounded regulatory knowledge, not a copy-paste.

Yes — the platform is designed to grow its category coverage. When a supplier registers a trade QuotesDone has not seen, the Smart Engine can stand up a new category agent with the right qualification questions and knowledge (with founder approval before that knowledge goes live), so coverage expands without losing quality. Over time this extends across more construction, fit-out, MEP, facilities and related B2B trades, and into adjacent industries as demand appears — always grounded in real, verified requirements for each field.

The Smart Engine improves continuously and safely: agents are graded and trained on real outcomes, their knowledge is curated and kept current with the latest UAE regulations, and their prompts and models can be upgraded, reviewed and rolled back under governance. As underlying Smart Engine models improve, QuotesDone adopts them where they raise accuracy — but the oversight-first principle stays fixed: more capability, always under human control, always grounded in verified knowledge rather than guesswork. The aim is a Smart Engine workforce that gets sharper over time while staying trustworthy.