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teaboyjim
Fundamental Principles on how to get good value for money building work successfully completed.
- Hiring tradesman to do a discrete parcel of work for a price as opposed to day rate work - eg. electricians doing a rewire, plasterer doing a two rooms etc
- Using the qualified and specialist tradesman for the appropriate job. This means using qualified electricians for rewiring, qualified plasterers for plastering, qualified heating engineers for central heating installations and plumbers for plumbing
- How to find a builder or tradesman: Getting word of mouth contacts - choosing someone with a good reputation and looking on facebook but avoiding the "rated people" type websites etc. One of the best ways of finding a good tradesman or builder is to have other good tradesman recommend tradesman and builders to you and vice versa.
- Try to project manage the work myself by being there every day alongside the builders/tradesman checking the quality and making sure it's up to spec.
- Trying to keep questions to a minimum and try and not interfere unless necessary.
- Possibly starting them on a smaller parcel of work initially to see how things go before giving them the entire job if and where possible
- Stand back and avoid being their best friend or mate - be assertive but polite when needed and be prepared to tell someone to get off of site if they're not good enough. Make sure they clearly understand I won't tolerate them cutting corners, taking short cuts or any other lack of quality
- Never let the builder or tradesman that you hire start acting as the project manager because they've got a vested financial interest in making the job as profitable for themselves as possible whereas a project manager is looking to get you the best value for money quality job
- Good builders and tradesman are rarely available straight away
- Good builders and tradesman are not at the lower end of the charging scale and usually work at a rate of £150 per day minimum up to about £300 per day with the averages and medians somewhere in between. Those rates cover day rate or price work rate
- Multi trade are usually not very good at any one specific trade and can often be "Jack of all trades and master of none". There are outliers and exceptions to the rule of course. You may get a qualified carpenter who is also a qualified plasterer etc etc but the above is the general rule of thumb.
- To get the best quality job it's best to have the qualified experienced tradesman doing their specialist trade so electricians for the rewire, heating engineers for central heating installation, plastering for plasterers etc etc etc
- Qualified builders and tradesman need to be treated with courtesy and respect for the work they do, plenty of cups of tea on demand, plenty of appreciation shown for good work done. You need to create a nice, friendly ambient working environment and allow them to play the radio station of their choice. Good builders and tradesman can pick and choose their customers and often will charge a higher price if they don't like the cut of your jib. If a tradesman or builder think you're going to be a difficult client he'll either charge you more or won't be interested in working for you. You must be very fair and reasonable about money and avoid getting into arguments about trifling amounts.
- It's very important to make sure at the beginning of the parcel of work that you get all the details of what's to be done in return for how much money paid and that this is clearly written down so there's something concrete to refer and go back to should any misunderstanding arise from either side
- Make sure you clearly understand when jobs need to be done and that you've got materials ready before the tradesman/builders start the job
- Be aware that general recommendations don't always work. For instance when someone takes on a bigger job than they’re used to and comes unstuck. So it’s important to ensure the recommendations come from similar work, rather than the guy who’s great at garden walls being hired to build a small extension etc
- Be aware that often people recommend tradespeople and builders because they are very "nice people" and might not be in a position to know or be qualified to comment on their expertise or lack thereof.
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