Twelve downlights tells you the quantity
An electrical quote might allow for twelve downlights, three dimmers and installation. That can be a perfectly clear price for the listed work. It still leaves a separate question: will those twelve lights make the room comfortable and useful?
A specification explains what a fitting needs to do, including the spread and quality of its light, its appearance and how it is controlled. A layout puts that intention into the room. A quote prices the agreed work. One person may provide all three, but it needs to be clear which services are included.
When comparing quotes, give each electrician the same resolved information. If one has allowed for basic fixed fittings and another for adjustable fittings with different controls, the totals are answering different briefs. Resolving the design helps make the comparison fair.
A quote prices an agreed job
A clear electrical quote is valuable. It sets out work, quantities and assumptions. But a line item for twelve lights does not explain why the room needs twelve, where the beams should land or how it should feel in the evening.
Some electricians offer excellent design input. The point is to establish whether that work is included rather than assume it is.
Give the installation something resolved to follow
A design brief describes positions, groups, fitting performance and control behaviour. It considers furniture, tasks, glare and maintenance. Those decisions help the installer price and deliver a specific result.
If important selections are still provisional, identify them. Otherwise a price comparison may hide very different assumptions about equipment and labour.
Ask for the boundary
Who is selecting the fittings? Who is checking dimming compatibility? Who will tune the scenes and review the result after dark?
Put the answers beside the quote: who selects, who checks compatibility, who installs and who adjusts the finished result. If any row is blank, resolve it before accepting that the design is covered. I help make that brief concrete, so the electrician can price the intended work and the finished room can be assessed against something more useful than a fitting count.