If I have a few different installation jobs running at one time, am I able to keep a list of materials im buying under different customer headings? so i can keep a tally

Yes, you can track the materials, pipeworks,

You'll want to make sure to associate the material to a specific customer/project when you create a bill.

Here's how:

1. Click the Plus (+) icon located in the upper right-hand corner.
2. Under Suppliers, click Bill.
3. Choose the Supplier, select the Bill Date.
4. Select the Category and enter the Amount.
5. Choose the VAT and the Customer / Project.
6. Click Save and Close.

When you go to the Customer or Project page, you will see the bill.

You can also check these articles that has more information:

• How to enter billable expenses
• Projects FAQs 

If there's anything else you need help with QuickBooks, feel free to leave a comment on this thread. Thanks.

@pipeworks 

The solution intuit provides allows you to move those costs to the customer when you invoice, but no it does not provide a list

The only thing you can do is put what you buy on an estimate, manually, unfortunately there is no function to have a customer billable expense or item automatically show on an estimate