Would you to have work done on the following financial basis?

[Deleted member 290061]

I'm having a house partly refurbished and part of the work has been done and so some jobs more easily lend themselves to a price per job but the plumbing for instance consists of parts of jobs and doesn't consist of traditional boundaries which make it harder to price

In this instance the plumber has asked for a day rate but also he's provided an estimate in terms of "financial amount" of how much the overall job should take.
Normally I wouldn't accept a situation such as this but it's the way he wants to work and he's known to the person helping with the overall project management and he also works for a very good company
What would your feelings be about this financial arrangement?

 

[Mottie]

I’d personally ask for a binding quotation. Day rates can be an open ended cheque book. What is his day - 8-6, 9-5, 10-4 with a two hour lunch break?

 

[noseall]

I’d personally ask for a binding quotation. Day rates can be an open ended cheque book.

Busy tradesmen detest day rate. If I did day rate all year round I'd be bankrupt. Complex difficult to price jobs are best offered to the customer pro rata.

 

[Deleted member 290061]

I’d personally ask for a binding quotation. Day rates can be an open ended cheque book. What is his day - 8-6, 9-5, 10-4 with a two hour lunch break?

He's doing the work weekends and evenings as he works full time for a company. To be fair two other plumbers who looked at the work before the current plumber started also offered day rates rather than a price for the job. I think because in some cases part of the work is done it's made it harder to gauge a price so for instance some of the central heating is being replaced such as radiators but with the under the floorboard copper pipes being kept and part of the cold water system having been already taken out

 

[Deleted member 290061]

Busy tradesmen detest day rate. If I did day rate all year round I'd be bankrupt. Complex difficult to price jobs are best offered to the customer pro rata.

Would you consider a day rate if you weren't certain of the overall time it would take on the job though? If you thought a job would take 10 days you could still work at a day rate which was what you'd expect if you gave them a price for the job where your day rate could be £200,£300 or £500 even and this way if the job turned out to take a day or so longer you'd not be out of pocket and would be better off than had you given a price

 

[crystal ball]

Most of my works on day rate, my customers trust me to do the right thing, if I quote its over estimated to cover for unforeseens

 

[Deleted member 290061]

Most of my works on day rate, my customers trust me to do the right thing, if I quote its over estimated to cover for unforeseens

Exactly and when you've got that element of trust you haven't got to worry especially when it's combined with estimates of milestones etc such as 2 days to get this pipework installed and then a couple of days for this or that so although I was a bit sceptical at first and after two other plumbers offered day rates I agreed - I'm still slightly worried which is why I posted the question so thanks for the reply crystal you've put my mind at rest and I think I've made the right decision

The electrician is going to be on a rate for the job though and so is the screed, installation of some windows and probably things like the plastering

 

[Notch7]

Exactly and when you've got that element of trust you haven't got to worry especially when it's combined with estimates of milestones etc such as 2 days to get this pipework installed and then a couple of days for this or that so although I was a bit sceptical at first and after two other plumbers offered day rates I agreed - I'm still slightly worried which is why I posted the question so thanks for the reply crystal

Work with lots of unknowns are difficult to price, not surprisingly tradesmen add in loads of contingency so they cover themselves.

If it’s day rate, the customer pays whatever the job takes, so takes the risk of overun whilst could gain if job gets done faster.

most tradesmen won’t work slower just because it’s day rate - plumbers and electricians are almost certainly going to be motivated to get done as quick as possible as they’ve got a ton of other jobs to get done in the week.

 

[SirGalahad]

Busy tradesmen detest day rate. If I did day rate all year round I'd be bankrupt. Complex difficult to price jobs are best offered to the customer pro rata.

I had a friend an accountant that had some work done- nothing large - £10k plastering and some building work to his garage. So as he was working from home he logged the times the builders came. Overall he worked out the skilled builders were making about £120 pd and the helpers about £70

That is one example. But why is there this persistent myth builders are rolling in it?

 

[crystal ball]

I had a friend an accountant that had some work done- nothing large - £10k plastering and some building work to his garage. So as he was working from home he logged the times the builders came. Overall he worked out the skilled builders were making about £120 pd and the helpers about £70

That is one example. But why is there this persistent myth builders are rolling in it?

Some are but the rich ones I know are into development as well as getting their hands dirty

 

[Deleted member 290061]

I had a friend an accountant that had some work done- nothing large - £10k plastering and some building work to his garage. So as he was working from home he logged the times the builders came. Overall he worked out the skilled builders were making about £120 pd and the helpers about £70 That is one example. But why is there this persistent myth builders are rolling in it?

It does seem quite low. Was this around 3 - 5 years ago and was it in a comparatively low paid region?

 

[jeds]

You won't get a decent plumber/engineer to give you a fixed rate for work he can't control. Jobs managed by amateurs tend to drag on and costs rise.

 

[SirGalahad]

It does seem quite low. Was this around 3 - 5 years ago and was it in a comparatively low paid region?

Northumberland and last year. He was working from home.