Kitchen fitter 163% over quote - would you pay?

SherlockN

Hi All!


I'd be really grateful for your thoughts on a dispute I'm having with my kitchen fitter company, whose final invoice is coming in at 163% of their original quote. Apologies in advance for the lengthy background – I will summarise as far as possible.

In January, I purchased a new kitchen and had 5 or 6 local contractors quote to deal with the fitting. I only asked for quotes – not estimates – and rejected daily rates as I needed certainty. The company I opted for (which I will call APS) was not the cheapest but was friendly, seemingly competent and very responsive to calls and emails.

Their fitting quote was to (i) do "all works necessary" to remove my old kitchen and fit the new one, (ii) install a range cooker, hood and dishwasher, and (iii) add a new socket for a fridge freezer and blank the old cooker feed. They also tiled a splashback and laid a floor. They visited the site twice before the quote was agreed, so they had several opportunities to inspect and refine. The work was agreed in writing, and was not said to be subject to any assumptions.

On Day 1, APS removing the existing units, exposing the water pipes and wiring that ran along the ceiling. By midday, they decided that some of the pipes would need to be altered and boxed in. In fairness, the location of the pipes would not have been immediately obvious (but would have been apparent had they looked inside the old cabinets on one of their site visits). To do this work, they wanted a further £300 (which ultimately ballooned to £500 with heavily marked-up materials). I was not entirely happy with this, because the quote was to do "all works necessary" to fit the kitchen, and it is not unforeseeable that this might involve altering some pipes. However, my old kitchen had been gutted at this point so I was not in a position to shop around, and – with a toddler in the house – needed things to move quickly, so I agreed to pay extra.

A week later all the work was duly completed. It had been done to a reasonable standard, although there was some sloppiness (e.g. a door not closing properly, bore holes left through the external walls, sealant placed over old, mismatching paint), but all things that could be rectified reasonably easily and not worth arguing about.

I settled the original invoice, and the invoice for the 'extra' work, promptly.

However, the issue is this: APS have also sent me an additional and entirely unexpected invoice for £650 for work done by their electrician subcontractor. Their subcontractor (who was on site for several hours on Day 1 and several more hours on the final day) added the fridge freezer socket, and wired up the cooker, hood, dishwasher and under-cabinet lighting; I was aware that some of the old wiring had to be changed and a circuit breaker added, but (i) there was never any mention of additional charges, and (ii) no quote was drawn up or agreed. As a side note, I was not made aware the APS subcontracted any of their work (aside from gas fitting).

APS say that the new wiring was unexpected, and that their original quote assumed that fitting the electrical appliances would be like-for-like swap. This is not entirely plausible, because both the cooker and (to a lesser extent) the dishwasher were being relocated, but in any event the quote (i) made no mention of the alleged assumption, and (ii) expressly provided that no additional work would be carried out unless discussed and the rates agreed.

It is my understanding that a quote – as distinct from an estimate – is an agreement to do the agreed work for a fixed sum. For a quote, it has always been my view that the contractor bears the advantages and the risks of things being more or less difficult than anticipated, and builds an appropriate margin into their pricing. It therefore seems to me that a quote to do "all works necessary" to fit a kitchen and to install appliances includes doing the necessary to make the appliances work. The fact that some additional wiring may be needed should not, in my view, be a reason for reopening the quote after the work has been done. The fact that they have used a subcontractor, whose fees have clearly eaten into their own is not really my concern.

From a purely legal perspective, I can't see that I have an obligation to pay the additional amount. It is not an awful lot of money, but it is a point of principle and it does annoy me to see contractors who do not quote properly in the first instance taking work from those who do and then demanding more.

That said, I appreciate others may see things differently from me and I do not want to under-remunerate my contractors if the wider opinion is that I am wrong. Your thoughts, for or against me, would therefore be very welcome.

Many thanks in advance!

fezster

By midday, they decided that some of the pipes would need to be altered and boxed in.

Was it an option to leave these pipes/wiring as they were and continue the work? If the answer is no, then I'd have expected them to do this work as part of their quote also. Unexpected things come up, but this is the point of a fixed price quote - it's usually higher because it factors in issues a professional would be able to foresee and then make a judgment call on - if the work is easier than expected, they do not reduce the bill! I think it was very pragmatic of you to pay the additional for this.

APS say that the new wiring was unexpected, and that their original quote assumed that fitting the electrical appliances would be like-for-like swap.

This sounds like nonsense to me. If the quote says they will do X, then they should do X. If X turns out to be more work than they expected, then that's not your concern. If they chose to subcontract X, that is not your concern. You have no contract with the electrician, and you did not engage them. If your quote does not explicitly state that costs could increase and / or states only after agreement, and no agreement was made, then you are within your rights to refuse payment. It sounds like they are being cheeky having seen you agreed to pay the additional amount earlier on.

Doozergirl

A quote is to do the agreed work at a price.

If something isn't requested and is unseen, then it can't be in the quote.

I'd like to see the specification you provided for them to quote to and their quote, really.

This ultimately should be about what is fair to both sides. I generally feel uncomfortable about what is 'legal' as things are often done in good faith on both sides.

phill99

You need to refer back to the original specification/quote. My gut feeling is that the quote was very vague and did not specify exactly what was being done other than a range of broad brush statements. So that may well be your starting point.


If they have quoted 'all works necessary' to fit the kitchen, then realistically, they should only charge you what they have quoted. If they are experienced in this, they should be aware that when old units are removed, a can of worms is often unleashed and either a) allowed a sum for hidden and unexpected items or b) issue you a tight specification in the knowledge that anything outside this is chargeable.


In terms of extra charge, I would suggest that you discuss it with them. Most builders want good relationships with clients rather than going down the acrimonious route!!

phil24_7

I would be irked that I had already been overcharged due to the pipework and I would not want to pay any more, especially as nothing was discussed. It really depends what was quoted for and what the contract states.

Regards
Phil

Marktheshark

Did you sign anything they gave you ?

SherlockN

Many thanks all for your comments.

Phil99 is right - their quote was more a broad brush statement and it contained no reservations or assumptions. It followed two site visits to inspect the old kitchen and was stated in terms of "all works necessary" to fit the new kitchen based on a CAD plan and list of parts. I wanted someone who would charged for the entire job, not by each task, and paid more accordingly (I rejected two fitters whose day rates would have totalled half of what I am now being asked to pay).

I have discussed with My contractors, but we have a fundamental difference of view - I believe I have already paid for the wiring because it was within the scope of their original quote, but they believe it was not.

Dan-Dan

If it helps , when i had my kitchen ripped out and reinstalled , i also had the quote saying `all works necessary` and the builders did find the odd extra to do like new plumbing , issues with capping off a gas pipe etc , and as they came upon them , they sorted them as part of the price

When i have builders in to quote and they have a good look at the job etc , i expect them to expect to come up to issues that need sorting as they go , and unless its something totally unexpected i would be mightily annoyed at £300 extra for the things you describe

I think your being shafted (with regards to the spark invoice as well) sounds like they are bumping the old margin up by the back door

LUHG1878

I agree with Dan-Dan, I recently had works completed by a builder who had provided a quote. They took on the chin some work that needed to be done, that they hadn't planned for, and you're right, any good tradesman will budget for such instances when quoting.

I did however pay more than the quote because of additional work they had to carry out as part of the job. It was unforeseen, but it was something that I could not have reasonably expected them to assume as being part of the scope, so in that instance I was prepared to pay the additional.

There were also things during the course of the works where I changed my mind, so basically I changed the scope, just minor things, and we agreed a price there and then.

I would stick to your guns on this, it wasn't unforeseen, as appliances were being moved, and some re-wiring should have been expected.

System

I've used a few specialist kitchen companies recently and they always seem to have very specific terms attached to their installation quotes about what they will and won't do - worth checking the small print

Hintza

Interestingly but not really that relevant but we have had a ground works contractor in over the years and pay an hourly rate. One day I asked him for a quote and he said sure if you want to pay 2-3x the price. I was in the position to know the chap that drove the digger pretty well and he worked very hard so I was quite happy to let them carry on on hourly rates.