Building contracts

jk0

Doozergirl wrote: »

Ah, but I've had lots of lovely clients.

And you've not met a good builder, which makes us builders right when we say that you will encounter problems for yourself.

I've had bad clients. And it isn't the quality of us and our work that changes from job to job. It's the clients.

All true I'm sure. I did have problems when I paid in full. No problem since I imposed my 10% retentions.

martinthebandit

jk0 wrote: »

I've yet to meet a decent builder.

Why am I not surprised?

jk0

martinthebandit wrote: »

Why am I not surprised?

I guess all the good ones are at home typing on the internet instead of working.

Doozergirl

jk0 wrote: »

Oh, I don't tell them about the 10% until after they have quoted. Like you, they always argue about this, saying it's not fair not to be paid when they have done the work. I point out that they will presumably be making more than 10% profit, so they will not be out of pocket. Just they have to wait to the end to get all their profit.

What you call profit is a salary in the real world.

I make 100% of my salary. A 10% retention is not 10% of my salary. I don't get to hold back on my staff or pay 90% of materials bills, or the structural engineer. I don't get to pay 90% of my contracts works insurance. Everyone else gets paid first but it's my name on your door, quite literally.

If you treat the one at the top of the tree badly, it filters straight through the job.

The last job I finished lasted 15 months. The client was wonderful. If he had held back 10%, I'd have really struggled.

He paid some invoices within 30 minutes of receiving them, which made my life a lot easier when I didn't have time to invoice. I knew that I could spend time on important things on site on what would normally be my scheduled invoicing day because I knew he would pay well within terms. And all the guys loved him because there was never a problem waiting for wages. And we worked weekends because we wanted to, and if he has a little job that needs doing now, the guys pop round straight away...

And he's throwing us a party at the end of the summer. That is how to incentivise a builder.

jk0

Thanks Doozergirl.

Well, your client can do it his way, and I'll stick to my way thank you. Unless you are volunteering to do o/p's work for him, I'd suggest he needs to be a lot more wary than your client.

Doozergirl

jk0 wrote: »

I guess all the good ones are at home typing on the internet instead of working.

I'm always at work. I worked this weekend, yesterday and was placing orders and invoicing last night. I saw both sites last night and have spoken to them both this morning.

I'm having a bath right now, before I visit suppliers.

I also like helping people. It makes me feel good.

System

Who is going to be administering the contract?
I would always be wary of a builders bespoke contracts unless they are based heavily on a standard form of contract but it's down to whoever is doing the admin to really understand it...
JCT contracts have been developed over years and tested in courts so they are pretty robust.
5% retention is common, haven't ever seen anything more and seen hundreds at 3% on bigger jobs (or even less) the retention is only there to allow you to have defects remedied and gives you a bit of backup should you need to get a different builder in

Doozergirl

jk0 wrote: »

Thanks Doozergirl.

Well, your client can do it his way, and I'll stick to my way thank you. Unless you are volunteering to do o/p's work for him, I'd suggest he needs to be a lot more wary than your client.

Ryder is lovely. And already well on the way to a successful job, I'm sure, by the question. And working to a fair contract.

Wary isn't good. Sensible is good.

My client is sensible. He did his due diligence and works to a fair contract, doesn't impose his own idea of fair (distrust) on other people. He acts promptly on my requests, we act promptly on his. Perfect job.

mvarrier

Relationships are more important than contracts. My builder completed a whole house refurb ~ 50k and the only contract we had was a text message with the quote. Foolish perhaps, but he couldn't have been more helpful, efficient or taken more pride in his work. In return I was very grateful for his efforts and paid his installments fully and promptly. If you need a good builder in S.London PM me

Annie1960

Having just had a problem builder, I think it's more important to hire someone who is a member of some type of ADR scheme so that, if problems arise, the builder must go through ADR. This avoids all the hassle and costs of court.

This way, any problems should be sorted out as they arise.