How much is sensible for a new roof?

slipperyshoe · 5 May 2012 at 10:48AM

andycrichton wrote: »

Whats that all about? For a start how do you know the top price spec is the correct spec, and anyway, unless you have paid for the quote and have the agreement of the tenderer to plagiarise their quote, how unethical is that?

True regarding if spec is correct but likely that the most expensive quote is the one which has priced on worst case scenario. I dont think ethics comes into it at all, a tender is a tender; if the company has priced fairly they should not worry.

andycrichton wrote: »

Following this advice could land you in a world of hurt.

Contractors are responsible for HSE assessment, and when you have a contractor on your property, you have HSE responsibilities too.

NO YOU DONT. As stated I agree with others that scaffold should be used, but as a domestic client it is not your concern if a contractor says they are not going to use it.

slipperyshoe · 5 May 2012 at 10:51AM

Apologies- already covered and explained, I should read all new posts before re-posting.:)

andycrichton · 6 May 2012 at 10:06PM

The general feeling from the thread is that according to the regs, the homeowner has absolutely no H&S responsibility for the work done on their roof. My gut feeling was that in law we all have responsibility for our own behaviour and safety, and a responsibility for the safety of others. But I'm only a painter so not qualified to argue.

I was talking about this to a professional Kent-based Positive Health and Safety consultant, and this is his view on H&S and the relationship between homeowners and contractors. I think the last paragraph sums up where to go from here.

"...the Construction Design Management Regulations 2007 (CDM) apply to the management of construction projects. It relates to 30 man days, which means that if a company has 30 men working for one day the regulation would apply.

CDM is a part of the general responsibility for Health & Safety and is statute law. No regulation overrides the law of the land even if it does appear to contradict it.

The homeowner is effectively a contractors employer for the duration of the project. Unfortunately there are a lot of people out there who are prepared to take a chance and avoid their responsibility, however if something goes wrong it will be them that is prosecuted, take a look at the blog “Worker falls through a roof” there is a link in it to an article where a land owner is prosecuted for failing to ensure safe working practices.

Ultimately it is the contractor’s duty of care to assess the risk of harm, not just to their staff but anyone who might be affected by “their actions or omissions” - it is the landowners (homeowners) responsibility to ensure that people working on their property do so safely.

If their technical knowledge is not sufficient for them to make a qualified decision, then they should employ someone with the necessary skill..."

asc99c · 26 May 2012 at 1:18AM

Just a quick update, I've gone with the £3k quote as the guy was recommended by a neighbour. Although he said no scaffolding was needed, it turns out he meant only one side needed scaffolding.

My house is on a steep hill, so it's a bungalow from one side, but 3 stories high from the other. The scaffolding he's put up is a simple affair on the bungalow side. I've not actually seen any materials on the scaffold yet though - he's just moving tiles from one bit of roof to another and doesn't really seem to need it (except maybe he's anchored to it in some way - since as other posters pointed out, there are no hooks on domestic buildings where you'd attach a harness).

I think the price will be a bit more as he's wanting to buy an extra row of tiles - the overlap between the rows is bare minimum right now. But on the other hand, I ventured up the scaffold after he finished today and all the removed tiles seem perfectly intact. If he's bought any replacement ones, it's not obvious to my eyes.