One solution for the upfront cost vs time and materials dilemma is to have an in between model. Have a time and materials contract with a bonus for coming in u

One solution for the upfront cost vs time and materials dilemma is to have an in between model. Have a time and materials contract with a bonus for coming in under a certain budget (or negatively a penalty for going over budget if you must). As for writing good code, unless your client is educated enough on the topic, the won't want to pay for good code no matter what your contract. Sometimes they might be justified too if there isn't going to be any maintenance, but most often that's probably not the case. I think your only option is to quote enough to cover doing it properly, and sadly probably not get the job because you are more expensive than others. I remember reading somewhere that when a client puts out a "tender" formal or not, they typically choose one of the cheaper options, and therefore they choose one of the vendors that least understands their requirements.