advice with quote discrepancy

[2014construction]

Hi all
I was quoted £3200 for a patio and drains replacing.

A day into the job the builder said he was sorry to take it on as it was a bigger job than he thought.

It took them a few more days to finish the job - jcb broke, concrete truck turned up late.

Upon completion he said he'd work out the final amount.

When i got the invoice there's an extra £1400 (£900 of which is broke down as labour.)

There was extra materials and skips etc.
what do you guys suggest i do? I've paid the original quote.

 

[Newboy]

Was it a quote or an estimate?

Did he indicate, during the job, that there were additional costs?

JCB breakdown & late delivery are costs for the contractor not you - unless you were involved in sourcing the plant/materials.

 

[2014construction]

It was a verbal quote

 

[2014construction]

No indication of extra costs during the job except that if they'd of known it'd be like this they would have charged x amount.

To me, we agreed a price i shouldnt have to pay the extra labour; dont mind paying for the extra skips and hardcore etc... am i being to reasonable?

A builder friend says i shouldnt pay any of it.
Need more advice as my friend said just pay your agreed price

 

[^woody^]

Was the work really under priced, and does the extra money represent an accurate allowance for the extra work?

If the builder can justify it, and it is reasonable for what was done, then it should be paid

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Both to blame a bit here, a client should have said if there is any extras that creep in these should be discussed along the way, likewise any tradesman worth his salt should be upfront if there is extra work to do. But as mentioned by old woodstacker it depends if the extra is justifiable.

 

[2014construction]

He's explained it to me however nothing was mentioned during the job. Just to be hot with an extra £1000 that i had no idea it would be that much extra doesnt seem good.

Hes been paid the original quote so all advice welcome
In terms of value for money the extra labour £900 and they were an extra 3 days

 

[^woody^]

Hi all
A day into the job the builder said he was sorry to take it on as it was a bigger job than he thought.

... however nothing was mentioned during the job.

Which is it?

If someone says its a bigger job than they thought, the implication of that is that it will cost more.

The alternative is that the builder walks off the job when the money runs out and it's half complete.

 

[m0t]

If someone says its a bigger job than they thought, the implication of that is that it will cost more.

The alternative is that the builder walks off the job when the money runs out and it's half complete.

I'm not sure I agree with this point - if someone said to me that the job was bigger than they thought and didn't then try to renegotiate a price I would just take that as general griping about their under quoting rather than a warning they were putting the price up. There are plenty of people out there who will honour their quotes even if the job turns out bigger than expected.

In this scenario I would put slightly more fault on the builder for not making it clear that the price was changing, especially since the price increase isn't small (up 30%). I'm surprised he continued working without getting explicit agreement.

If the increased cost is genuine and you are happy that the extra labour was required (not just swinging the lead) then you should try to come to an agreement.

Was his original quote much cheaper than the others you received?

 

[noseall]

There are always two ways of looking at this type of scenario - either the builder is trying it on or the customer is.

Having received a verbal quote, i.e. one with no specification, no drawing and no schedule then you would expect there to be vagaries regarding what is to be done, how and where. I find it astonishing that nothing was written down, measured, planned, specified, quantified etc.

If the builder said it will take six days and cost £6k but it has taken nine days and cost £9k then it is up to you to negotiate whether the extra time (and mat's) was justified and not down to the builder swinging it.

You as a customer are not expected to pay for his mistakes, however he should have a margin within the quote to deal with the unforeseen.

 

[cajar]

was it really unforseeable?

Need to bear in mind that a day into the job, the client is in a much weaker position to negotiate.

Personally, if I felt that he was taking the mick in the slightest, i would only pay the agreed price.

 

[TonyW2]

In this case the work is finished, so the customer is in the strongest position.

This business of giving estimates to get the job, then calculating the real costs as it goes along leaves all the risk with the customer. Unless that is clearly explained then I don't see why a non-trade experienced customer should be assumed to have accepted that risk undertaking.

If I ordered and started eating a meal in a restaurant, I would not expect to pay more than the quoted price if the chef suddenly found out that it had cost him more to cook it than originally thought.

 

[joe-90]

I wouldn't pay any extra labour charges unless something 'hidden' cropped up that couldn't have been envisaged. Just pay for the materials and skip. If he can't work out his time that's his problem.

 

[^woody^]

There is the quaint notion that parties should work to the spirit of a contract, not the letter.

 

[noseall]

If I ordered and started eating a meal in a restaurant, I would not expect to pay more than the quoted price if the chef suddenly found out that it had cost him more to cook it than originally thought.

No, but they do reserve the right to rescind anything on the menu i.e. state that 'goose is off' etc and they do make use of terms conditions and disclaimers.

Builders are no different to anyone else and the construction industry is anything but simple.