Discount on Building Work

theGrinch

When doing an extension and loft conversion simultaneously or sequentially is it usual to expect a discount on the labour cost versus the individual price of each project?

Doozergirl

No. They're completely separate projects.

There's no opportunity to save on anything.

George_Michael

Doozergirl wrote: »

No. They're completely separate projects.

There's no opportunity to save on anything.

There may be small savings to be made such as having a skip and possibly scaffolding delivered. If it was two separate jobs spaced apart then these might have to happen twice but one combined job may mean that it only has to happen once.

However, for the small sum involved compared to the overall cost of the work I doubt if it would worth the time, effort and possible loss of goodwill in trying to get a discount

Mistral001

I would do them separately if you have not worked with the builder before. That way you can assess their performance on the first job before getting them to do the second one.


BTW if you mention that you have two jobs on and that you will be keen to give them the second one if the first one comes in at a the right price, that will usually back-fire for you. Many builders will see this as a try-on by a manipulative prospective customer and will either quote high or not even quote at all.

vw100

I say it depends on the individual builder if they give a discount in this scenario, it provides them on-going work and they be able to get discounts for bulk materials order, hire of tools. Getting workers at a slightly cheaper day rate for instance for longer duration of employment.
But have to weigh up the risks of this approach, as you do not want to be stuck with a builder with poor workmanship.

Doozergirl

vw100 wrote: »

I say it depends on the individual builder if they give a discount in this scenario, it provides them on-going work and they be able to get discounts for bulk materials order, hire of tools. Getting workers at a slightly cheaper day rate for instance for longer duration of employment.
But have to weigh up the risks of this approach, as you do not want to be stuck with a builder with poor workmanship.

I employ people on the same day rate. No one takes less for 'ongoing work'. It's just work. If it's not with me, it's with someone else. A larger job might be more attractive than a smaller one but people are used to moving around.

We get discounts on materials anyway because we're always buying building materials. Bulk discounts are minimal and it's hard to buy much in advance on a domestic project as there's not usually much space and things/people get damaged if things are lying around.

Tool hire is cheaper for longer periods but you don't need to hire much for a loft conversion - a digger isn't handy in those situations

Scaffolding requirements are different for a single storey extension to a loft conversion and one can get in the way of the other anyway.

Skips - we can only budget for skips, it's a guesstimate based on previous jobs. No way can we decide where half a skip can be shared between two phases of a job. Quoting is an art, not a science unfortunately.

It's possible that electrics and plumbing might be a bit cheaper if the routes are similar, so boards etc don't have to be lifted twice, but unless it's a massive house, the routes are going to diverge. I'm genuinely trying to think of what would actually be cheaper.

The potential saving is time for the client. Cost of mortgage/rent if they're planning to be moved out for renovations.

Jackmydad

I can't see there being any savings for the reasons Doozergirl gives. They're two separate jobs really.
No economy of scale there.
Personally I'd rather have a happy builder who was making a few quid out of the work, than one trying to scrimp and scrape and possibly cut corners.
Not saying I'm happy to pay over the odds, just that i expect to pay for what's done.