Do building firms charge for the job, or by the day?

[GCarnegi]

I want to get an extension done to my house, and I'm starting to sound out quotations for the building work.

Tell, me do building contractors charge by the day - so if they finish early then I pay less, or by the "job" meaning if they finish late then its their own fault for quoting too low in the first place.

I'm looking to get a written quote from a builder which either gives me a "price for job - however long it takes", or a "daily rate", with a good estimate of the time the job will take - as opposed to an optimistic conservative estimate.

Obviously I understand that if the job takes longer than expected then by the "day rate" example, I would pay more, by the "job rate" I would not.

Is this right?

thanks,

Guy

 

[noseall]

you've basically summed up the gist of builders quotes:

day rate work = onus is on the customer.

price work = onus is on the builder.

some builders may take the pi$$ if they are on day rate and milk the job for all it's worth. a lot of reputable builders are far too busy to hang around though.

i personally prefer to work to a price, or indeed, i prefer tradesmen to give me a price should anyone work for me.

there are certain jobs that are difficult to quote, so day rate is the only solution, otherwise the quote or price would seem extreme, in order to cover all eventualities.