What is the World coming to?

[peca27]

Recently did a quotation for a client + I've been undercut on the fee drastically.....would like to know people's thoughts to see if I'm just living in a parallel world when it comes to fee's or otherwise.

3 bed semi in a good area of Leeds, property was bought for £155k 4 yrs ago (so maybe worth £175k now?). Client wants a full width 3m depth rear facing extension, taking out internal walls + a bit of reconfiguring etc. Also wants a new loft conversion, new stairs up, floor, bathroom + 2 bedrooms with a rear facing dormer.

Now ordinarily rear facing 3m depth extension + rear dormer can be done under PD. But the rear dorner will change the roof from a hip roof to a gable end almost. Therefore I would've thought it'll require PP. It'll defo need a good dosage of Building Regs dwg's also no matter the PD / PP sitaution.

Now I know fee's are difficult to assess without seeing the site etc but bear with me here.

I quoted £1750 for PP and Bldg Regs approval (excluding PP fees, Building Regs fees + SE fees etc). A good to high quotation based upon the client, value of works, site location + the fact I'm very busy at present. My fee includes all survey works, printing, submission + subsequent liason costs thru to full approvals.

Client comes back to me saying an Architect (who lives in Sheffield) has quoted £300

What.........£300 .......what is the world coming to?

How is he gonna survey, produce drawings, liase with the client, submit + gain approval for only £300.

 

[jeds]

You are certainly more expensive than me - I reckon I would be looking at about £900 to £1100. But £300 is ridiculous. Actually I don't think it can be done for that to any reasonable quality.

 

[^woody^]

That is too cheap.

Either it will be built up with "extras" later or something is amiss

What happens with cheap quotes is that, say in your case, the client thinks that they are saving £1450, but if the drawings are crap then they will end up paying a good few £000 more in building costs as the builders muddle their way through the drawings

I do find it odd that you seem to base your quotations on what the client seems to be able to afford, and the value of the house though. Don't you just base the quote on the work you have to do?

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Hip to gable conversions are PD btw unless property has had rights removed or listed etc.

The client is either lying or he'll end up with crap job.

Given that its all PD so no planning I think you're a little bit pricey tho but only by say £100-200.

Like anything though peca27 you pays your money and takes your chances. There are firms out there who would think nothing of quoting £5-10K for that little lot and worst still there are folks out there that would pay it.

 

[peca27]

jeds - As I say I'm very busy at present, and tbh the client seemed like hard work.

woody - I look at (in priority order) the amount of work I will have to do, value of the works, is the client gonna be hard work, how busy I am and value of the house.......as generally the wealthier they are, they're more particular about specific requirements and generally more willing to pay that extra for the quality service.

freddy - there I go again, lesson learnt. I thought hip to gable would be PP and not PD allowable. Client isn't lying, he was waving the £300 quotation in my face. As I said earlier, being busy + a potentially difficult client resulted in the £1750 fee.

The other item I forgot to mention was this Sheffield based Architect saying all the Structural Engineers work would be done for £60

I think I just gave up at that point.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

If it makes you feel any better I had a client, they had about 6 hours of my time over 3 site visits and two entirely different quotations. Job was about £500. I lost the job to someone else, their quote was £450!

I generally find the more well off clients are the tighter they are.

 

[jeds]

and tbh the client seemed like hard work.

That's a fair reason to up the price. Nothing worse than working for a **** that keeps going over and over and over the same simple stuff because they can't understand it.

 

[markbrick1]

my oppinion your to expensive,and what is the price of his house got to do with it or if its in a cheap part of leeds or an expensive part,when paying for the works you described i wouldnt be looking at paying over £800,

 

[HERTS P&D]

I was given a chance to quote for a lot of maintenance work to a shop, my price was £1100. I asked a builder I know to price the job for me to see how much he would quote. His price was £350. When I asked him how he can be so low, his words were "Extra Extra Extra"

His price was for the basic work and then he would add on extras once he got the job and had started.

Customer goes for cheap.......and pays twice!

Andy

 

[markbrick1]

extra are a nightmare to the paying customer but geting extras out of an experianced builder when plans are being drawn in my experiance is a no no

 

[leew2]

Hip to gable conversions are PD btw unless property has had rights removed or listed etc.

Or if gable faces a highway, such as a corner plot. I seem to remember reading about someone who got caught out by that one, they had to remove the gable. If doing something so expensive, maybe worth getting a LDC (lawful development cert).

 

[WabbitPoo]

+ the fact I'm very busy at present.

What's that got to do with it? Either u want the work or you dont - why rip someone off by overquoting just cos you're busy?

 

[markbrick1]

+ the fact I'm very busy at present.

What's that got to do with it? Either u want the work or you dont - why rip someone off by overquoting just cos you're busy?

100%

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

+ the fact I'm very busy at present.

What's that got to do with it? Either u want the work or you dont - why rip someone off by overquoting just cos you're busy?

100%

Its not about ripping people off, if you are busy you are able to charge more as you can afford to let some work go by. That's why generally in boom times contractors cost more than in leaner times. Supply and demand, real simple stuff guys!

 

[markbrick1]

sorry disagree with you,
i been in this game 25 yrs and done well,but to charge 50% more just cause your busy is not the way to go,i just been to tesco its packed out but the corner shop is empty,come xmas day when the corner shop is open and tesco closed maybe it will be a bit differant,