Advice Needed - Plumber Demanding Extra Money

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To be fair, when the plumber said that the shower needed an electrical connection, he said that he shouldn't fit it as it needed an electrician to do it. However, we connected it up via a plug just to test it worked while he was there.

We are going to plug it into a fixed connection later on. there is no earting on any of the pipes though, apart from the original earthing on the cold water pipe and gas pipe.
At least the plumber knew his limitations and gave you good advice.

Get an electrician in to wire up the shower and install any supplementary bonding required to meet current regulations.

Until that is done, do not use the shower

I think you are being a little unfair to the plumber. He had presumably started the job and then found that the boiler would not fit in the kitchen and would have to go in the loft. This definitely meant extra materials and possibly extra time, but he decided to just charge for the materials.

He then finds that he has used up all the time allocated for all jobs just on the boiler and, naturally wants to earn something for the rads/shower.

If he had given you a written quotation for the revised job, you would both know where you stood. But you have a quote for a different job with a verbal agreement for changes.

Reading your rather confusing description, you have paid an invoice for the total cost shown on the original quotation and have now received another invoice for £200; but you were only expecting one for £150, the cost of the extra materials.

If you are happy with the work the chap has done and would use him again and the only thing you are disputing is the extra £50 on a bill of about £2000, I would pay up. The extra cost is negligible and could make all the difference between him coming out in an emergency or saying, "sorry, can't help you."
 
Thanks very much for the advice.

I am now thinking of paying the additional cost of £200 as it is, to settle the job on good terms. I've yet to discuss this with him personally.

As it woulds stand, in a 3 bed semi, the cost of fitting the boiler in the loft would be £2350. This is as-per the original quote value.

The extra cost of fitting the shower and radiator is £200, meaning that the total cost of the job is £2550.

Does this sound about right? (leicestershire area).
 
Does this sound about right? (leicestershire area).

It's a bit late asking after the job has been finished ;)

Pay up and learn your lesson. Get advice before starting a job; get more than one quote; and make sure that the tradesman has taken everything into account.
 
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Just to add, make sure you get the boiler guarantee and all necessary paperwork before you release the final account.
 
I do have to say that an extra £200 for fitting the boiler in the loft seems very reasonable to me! Its usually quite a lot more work!

Also bricking up a hole is another question! If the replacement boiler was to have used the same hole then it would not have been bricked up anyway.

I would factor in the cost of bricking up most flue holes at only about £20 but that could be quite a lot more if special bricks had to be bought.

The one thing you must get is a Certificate from CORGI which they post to you directly. He has not finished the job if its not been sent!


Tony
 
Can i just say , if he had done his job correctly he would have seen that the boiler would not fit in the kitchen and would need siting somewhere else when he came to do his quotation.
He didnt measure up for the job as he should have done, if this had been my mistake i would have taken up the extra cost myself as it would have been my fault, unless you had asked for it to be sited somewhere else in which case the extra cost would be down to you.
 
the scrap won't come into it. its your scrap you get rid off

Not if it's covered in the quote. If he has quoted to clear the site of rubbish, etc., it's the plumber's.

How much did you get for the copper? Did you get rid of all the other rubbish yourselves?
 
Can i just say , if he had done his job correctly he would have seen that the boiler would not fit in the kitchen and would need siting somewhere else when he came to do his quotation.
He didnt measure up for the job as he should have done, if this had been my mistake i would have taken up the extra cost myself as it would have been my fault, unless you had asked for it to be sited somewhere else in which case the extra cost would be down to you.

My thoughts also. Did he actually come round and survey the job before quoting and, if so, has the Kitchen layout been changed after the quote but before the works started? What reason was given for the boiler not being able to be fitted in the Kitchen?
 
Can i just say , if he had done his job correctly he would have seen that the boiler would not fit in the kitchen and would need siting somewhere else when he came to do his quotation.
He didnt measure up for the job as he should have done, if this had been my mistake i would have taken up the extra cost myself as it would have been my fault, unless you had asked for it to be sited somewhere else in which case the extra cost would be down to you.

agree 100%, should be telling him you want a reduction as the boiler is now put in an inconvenient spot and will reduce the resale value as many folk find loft access extremely difficult and don't want to pay a call out charge every time the boiler needs a reset. It's not hard to use a measure.
 
many folk find loft access extremely difficult and don't want to pay a call out charge every time the boiler needs a reset. It's not hard to use a measure.

Loft access should now be very easy as there will now be a fixed ladder, safety rails, flooring and fixed lighting.

Tony
 
That's what I am worried about - the fact that he has taken a verbal quote of £150, ignored that I have completed the brickwork for him (apparently he could get a brickie to do this for less than £50?) and then bumped it up to £200
Of course that's what he's done - you've known that all along.

...is annoying.
Well you and the plumber have both been stupid about it, because you should have stopped and re-assessed the costs at the point where the boiler wouldn't fit into the kitchen.

We also got rid of the scrap ourselves, so I think he has passed some of his lost money onto our bill so he doesn't lose out.
You say "got rid", but you actually mean "sold", don't you?

Is it worth me arguing the toss over the £150-200 thing?
No.

You've instructed him to proceed with some work that wasn't part of the quotation, but without finding out what it would cost. He can charge a reasonable amount extra for the extra labour and materials, and legally you don't have a leg to stand on.

You can't just deduct money for work that you've done instead of him, unless he's agreed to do that.
 
Hi Everyone,

Just to answer the replies that have come in overnight on this:

1) We took all of the metal to a local environmental scrap yard. We got £96 for the copper (we stripped the cylinder of the insulation). We then got £45 for the scrap metal (old boiler and fittings). when we had the radiator fitted, we then got an additional £38 for the old bathroom radiator and 5kg of copper. All in all, £179!

2) We have all of the CORGI documentation and certification for the job which has arrived in the post. We have also received a letter from CORGI.

3) Our plumber said when he came out to quote for the job that the boiler may not fit in the kitchen, but priced for it as it was our preferred location. When he arrived to start the job, he asked if we'd sooner have it in the loft, due to a larger area for it to go into etc. I made the decision to put it in the loft.

4) Our loft has full boarded flooring and a fixed ladder to access it. It also has a loft light fitted. The boiler is wired woth a fised switch in the bedroom in order to isolate the power to it.

5) We got multiple people out to quote for the work, included British Gas, who quoted £5300 to fit the boiler only, and to put it in the kitchen.

I phoned the plumber last night and agreed to pay the additional £200 to cover the fitting of it into the loft. Looking back at the work done, I'm happy to settle it for this amount.

Thanks for the replies - please feel free to continue this thread if you like - I will reply where possible to answer any questions.
 
You seem to have done very well with that scrap!

Was it really part of the agreement that you would keep it?

Nowadays its becoming so significant that its usually taken into account in quoting the price.

As I said before, I think you have done the right thing following our advice.

Tony
 

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