Builder not busy - is this an issue?

WaywardDriver

comeandgo said:

If you are happy with him, he is FMB registered and is not asking stupid money up front he sounds a good bet.

In my experience FMB registration counts for little. We had a similar situation where the initially more expensive company reduced their quote by a substantial amount which we accepted because of their FMB-registration. Although they did the work OK, they didn't follow building regulations. FMB appointed an independent conciliator whose report accepted my complaint but the company didn't accept - end of story as far as FMB was concerned. 

aliwyc

WaywardDriver said:

comeandgo said:

If you are happy with him, he is FMB registered and is not asking stupid money up front he sounds a good bet.

In my experience FMB registration counts for little. We had a similar situation where the initially more expensive company reduced their quote by a substantial amount which we accepted because of their FMB-registration. Although they did the work OK, they didn't follow building regulations. FMB appointed an independent conciliator whose report accepted my complaint but the company didn't accept - end of story as far as FMB was concerned. 

Hi, 
Thanks for your reply.  Could I ask what happened in the end? Did the company rectify this?

WaywardDriver

aliwyc said:

WaywardDriver said:

comeandgo said:

If you are happy with him, he is FMB registered and is not asking stupid money up front he sounds a good bet.

In my experience FMB registration counts for little. We had a similar situation where the initially more expensive company reduced their quote by a substantial amount which we accepted because of their FMB-registration. Although they did the work OK, they didn't follow building regulations. FMB appointed an independent conciliator whose report accepted my complaint but the company didn't accept - end of story as far as FMB was concerned. 

Hi, 
Thanks for your reply.  Could I ask what happened in the end? Did the company rectify this?

No they refused claiming no reputable company could have done the work fully for the amount they quoted and I should have realised this from their reduced quote although this only slightly undercut other companies!
I took them to the Small Claims Court where I won my case as they were a no-show. The company then went into administration, so I applied to my credit card company and was refunded the full amount claimed.
So advice is get everything detailed in the contract and always pay at least some of the money by credit card.

aliwyc

WaywardDriver said:

aliwyc said:

WaywardDriver said:

comeandgo said:

If you are happy with him, he is FMB registered and is not asking stupid money up front he sounds a good bet.

In my experience FMB registration counts for little. We had a similar situation where the initially more expensive company reduced their quote by a substantial amount which we accepted because of their FMB-registration. Although they did the work OK, they didn't follow building regulations. FMB appointed an independent conciliator whose report accepted my complaint but the company didn't accept - end of story as far as FMB was concerned. 

Hi, 
Thanks for your reply.  Could I ask what happened in the end? Did the company rectify this?

No they refused claiming no reputable company could have done the work fully for the amount they quoted and I should have realised this from their reduced quote although this only slightly undercut other companies!
I took them to the Small Claims Court where I won my case as they were a no-show. The company then went into administration, so I applied to my credit card company and was refunded the full amount claimed.
So advice is get everything detailed in the contract and always pay at least some of the money by credit card.

Thanks! That's really helpful. 

To be fair to both builders we have been liaising with, they have been thorough in their quotes.  I have given all the builders who quoted a very long and detailed list of works, along with annotated copies of the structural engineer's drawings.  I hope that if I incorporate this into the contract, then it will at least partly cover me.  I'll also make sure to put some on a credit card as suggested - wasn't going to before but will do now!

Mistral001

No offense intended but you seem to be messing these builders about.  20 quotations with seven quotations is causing a lot of people to spend a lot of time and money on a job they have only  slim time chance of getting.  Remember, builders will be judging prospective customers as much as a customer will be judging prospective builders. 

EssexExile

Rosa_Damascena said:

EssexExile said:

Ganga said:

Also find out any jobs they have been doing in your area and go and see the quality of their work and the comments of the customers.

This. I saw a builder working locally and (after he'd left the site) asked the owner for her impressions. She said he was good, we went with him and he was good. Not a contract in sight though!

How big a job? Rough cost?

For a big job it feels like too much of a gamble. Things can always go wrong.

They were a local company we'd seen about the area a lot (we were new to the area). It was £45,000 about 15 years ago. That was the quote and that's what we paid. I'd never employed builders before, always done it myself, so didn't know the proper way to do things but it worked out great.

aliwyc

Mistral001 said:

No offense intended but you seem to be messing these builders about.  20 quotations with seven quotations is causing a lot of people to spend a lot of time and money on a job they have only  slim time chance of getting.  Remember, builders will be judging prospective customers as much as a customer will be judging prospective builders. 

Hi, 

Yes, we've contacted about 20 but not all 20 came out.  Some made an appointment with us to come and never turned up. Some asked us to email the drawings and they'd give us an estimate and never did.  Some came out and we provided drawings but they never provided a quote.  Some said they were too busy to take on our job when we called.  Some we've had to chase.  Some have come out after other tradesman have passed my number to them (when the other tradesman came to quote for other work we need doing).  A couple of the "quotes" were off the cuff figures when they came to see the property, so they didn't sit down and work out the figures (which we have dismissed).  One was working on our neighbour's property and so just popped across the road and saw us after he finished work that day.  Lots of the builders have taken far longer than they've said to give us a quote. 

Ideally, we wanted to contact three builders and get three quotes.  But after a few weeks of missed appointments, no-shows and no replies, we had to expand our search. This wasn't a decision we took lightly and it took us far longer than we anticipated as we did a lot of research before contacting each builder.  

We were not intending to mess anyone around as we genuinely want work doing.  We have also been careful to try and not waste anyone's time.  E.g. we had no intention trying to get two builders to pit against each other for the work.  We actually contacted Builder 2 to say thanks, but we will go with someone else.  He contacted us after that to say there was room for negotiation and brought down his quote after that, without us asking him to. 

We have been quite frustrated at the process and wish it had been easier.  If the first three builders we contacted had showed up and given a quote when we asked, we would have stopped contacting others! 

With structural engineers and private buildings regs firms, we only contacted three and then chose one.  Same with other smaller jobs we have needed around the house.

I hope this reassures you that we haven't, at least intentionally, messed anyone around. 

Thanks

Mistral001

OK I get where you are coming from now.  Beware of people trying to get you to bring down their quotation when they do not win the bid.    It is an abuse of the tendering process and considered sharp practice.  You do not have to accept the lowest bid in a tender, but you have to accept at the price quoted if you want to be fair to all those who gave you a quotation.  You might need some professional advice on which quotation to accept or on whether you should accept any of them.

twopenny

I'd definitely want a written quote of all work agreed including removal of anything that needs removing for a job of this size

You can check a company status online which will tell you if they are indeed legitimate partners and their financial status very easily. It's public. And before anyone shouts me down about this I've used it when looking at small  travel companies before using them and handing over a lot of money. It can be a pleasant suprise or a revelation.

I must admit that it concerns me that they can knock £10,000 off but if that brings it in line with the others it sounds like they were taking a chance.

The fact that they're able to come in September isn't too unusual. You have a very big job that they want so someone else will probably get put back. The good guys here have about the same length of time, 2mts sometimes 3mts.

Rosa_Damascena

aliwyc said:

Mistral001 said:

No offense intended but you seem to be messing these builders about.  20 quotations with seven quotations is causing a lot of people to spend a lot of time and money on a job they have only  slim time chance of getting.  Remember, builders will be judging prospective customers as much as a customer will be judging prospective builders. 

Hi, 

Yes, we've contacted about 20 but not all 20 came out.  Some made an appointment with us to come and never turned up. Some asked us to email the drawings and they'd give us an estimate and never did.  Some came out and we provided drawings but they never provided a quote.  Some said they were too busy to take on our job when we called.  Some we've had to chase.  Some have come out after other tradesman have passed my number to them (when the other tradesman came to quote for other work we need doing).  A couple of the "quotes" were off the cuff figures when they came to see the property, so they didn't sit down and work out the figures (which we have dismissed).  One was working on our neighbour's property and so just popped across the road and saw us after he finished work that day.  Lots of the builders have taken far longer than they've said to give us a quote. 

Ideally, we wanted to contact three builders and get three quotes.  But after a few weeks of missed appointments, no-shows and no replies, we had to expand our search. This wasn't a decision we took lightly and it took us far longer than we anticipated as we did a lot of research before contacting each builder.  

We were not intending to mess anyone around as we genuinely want work doing.  We have also been careful to try and not waste anyone's time.  E.g. we had no intention trying to get two builders to pit against each other for the work.  We actually contacted Builder 2 to say thanks, but we will go with someone else.  He contacted us after that to say there was room for negotiation and brought down his quote after that, without us asking him to. 

We have been quite frustrated at the process and wish it had been easier.  If the first three builders we contacted had showed up and given a quote when we asked, we would have stopped contacting others! 

With structural engineers and private buildings regs firms, we only contacted three and then chose one.  Same with other smaller jobs we have needed around the house.

I hope this reassures you that we haven't, at least intentionally, messed anyone around. 

Thanks

What happened here? I'd be inclined to use this chap if your neighbour is happy with their work.