“Don’t show the guys the quote” 25 January at 4:55PM in In my home (includes DIY) MoneySaving 12 replies 898 views

Lbuk

I had a quote from an independent builder and it was very expensive.

I went on Google and found a company that offered building services and they had loads of good reviews and were almost half the price for more work.

When they came to do the last checks before starting work the boss and the workmen visited together and there was a question about the patio doors and on their version of the quote it said £1500.

On the quote we had it said £3000 which I went to get our version to check.

Nothing was said but the boss seemed shifty.

He has now requested that when the work starts that I do not share my quote with the workmen and he even wanted me to state my agreement to that.

Does anyone know how that business plan works?

Based upon the patio doors alone he’s charging me double what the workmen are happy to do it for.

SpudGunPaul

Lbuk said:

I had a quote from an independent builder and it was very expensive.

I went on Google and found a company that offered building services and they had loads of good reviews and were almost half the price for more work.

When they came to do the last checks before starting work the boss and the workmen visited together and there was a question about the patio doors and on their version of the quote it said £1500.

On the quote we had it said £3000 which I went to get our version to check.

Nothing was said but the boss seemed shifty.

He has now requested that when the work starts that I do not share my quote with the workmen and he even wanted me to state my agreement to that.

Does anyone know how that business plan works?

Based upon the patio doors alone he’s charging me double what the workmen are happy to do it for.

Simple, he makes a profit for Project Managing your work. 

Will_Riker

Sounds like it could be he's paying a sub-contractor to do the patio doors, he's going to pay them £x but charge you double what he's paying them.  I might be wrong, but if this is the case then I'd steer well clear.

You say you "went on Google" to find the cheaper builder?  You need to be a little bit careful.  Sites like Trust-a-Trader and the like are nothing more than a modern-day Yellow Pages - any tradesman can pay to advertise there, and any reviews need to be taken with a pinch of salt.  Personal recommendation is always a much better option.

grumbler

SpudGunPaul said:

Lbuk said:

I had a quote from an independent builder and it was very expensive.

I went on Google and found a company that offered building services and they had loads of good reviews and were almost half the price for more work.

When they came to do the last checks before starting work the boss and the workmen visited together and there was a question about the patio doors and on their version of the quote it said £1500.

On the quote we had it said £3000 which I went to get our version to check.

Nothing was said but the boss seemed shifty.

He has now requested that when the work starts that I do not share my quote with the workmen and he even wanted me to state my agreement to that.

Does anyone know how that business plan works?

Based upon the patio doors alone he’s charging me double what the workmen are happy to do it for.

Simple, he makes a profit for Project Managing your work. 

Project managing costs 10-20%, not 100%.

MikeJXE

Lbuk said:

I had a quote from an independent builder and it was very expensive.

I went on Google and found a company that offered building services and they had loads of good reviews and were almost half the price for more work.

When they came to do the last checks before starting work the boss and the workmen visited together and there was a question about the patio doors and on their version of the quote it said £1500.

On the quote we had it said £3000 which I went to get our version to check.

Nothing was said but the boss seemed shifty.

He has now requested that when the work starts that I do not share my quote with the workmen and he even wanted me to state my agreement to that.

Does anyone know how that business plan works?

Based upon the patio doors alone he’s charging me double what the workmen are happy to do it for.

I'm ex builder so I know a bit about quotes

What you need to remember is if you find a good builder who has plenty of work without yours, he might quote a very high price because he doesn't need your work but, I you accept his price he will do the job and make a killing.

Don't pick random builders who advertise, only ask the ones you have seen their work.

A management company that manages subcontractors may not be the best, they are out to make a profit and will employ the cheapest labour 

Do your homework 

easy

grumbler said:

Project managing costs 10-20%, not 100%.

If the customer has accepted the quote for the job from the builder,  then what the builder then pays his subbies is irrelevant,  and frankly it's none of the customer's business. 

If he's making a big profit on the patio doors, that may be subsidising a tiny margin (or loss) that's coming out on another aspect of the work.  Or he may just be making a profit  - which isn't illegal you know,  it's what businesses are supposed to do !

Doozergirl

MikeJXE said:

Lbuk said:

I had a quote from an independent builder and it was very expensive.

I went on Google and found a company that offered building services and they had loads of good reviews and were almost half the price for more work.

When they came to do the last checks before starting work the boss and the workmen visited together and there was a question about the patio doors and on their version of the quote it said £1500.

On the quote we had it said £3000 which I went to get our version to check.

Nothing was said but the boss seemed shifty.

He has now requested that when the work starts that I do not share my quote with the workmen and he even wanted me to state my agreement to that.

Does anyone know how that business plan works?

Based upon the patio doors alone he’s charging me double what the workmen are happy to do it for.

I'm ex builder so I know a bit about quotes

What you need to remember is if you find a good builder who has plenty of work without yours, he might quote a very high price because he doesn't need your work but, I you accept his price he will do the job and make a killing.

Don't pick random builders who advertise, only ask the ones you have seen their work.

A management company that manages subcontractors may not be the best, they are out to make a profit and will employ the cheapest labour 

Do your homework 

Every single one of us is out to make a living.  That doesn't mean that every single one of us employs the cheapest labour that we can.  

Alarm bells ring on this for me because one party isn't aware of what the other is doing.  That screams that this might be a new thing to both parties!   It's unprofessional, whatever it is.  

Nobbie1967

Maybe the builder has had to do some work to prepare for the patio doors, so the £3k is his work plus the £1500 for the contractors plus his time managing the contractors and the profit.

Doozergirl

Nobbie1967 said:

Maybe the builder has had to do some work to prepare for the patio doors, so the £3k is his work plus the £1500 for the contractors plus his time managing the contractors and the profit.

It could be that.  It could be the price of the doors before VAT and the associated work. It could be anything.  

My husband has a terrible habit of blurting out random amounts that bear no hold in reality, he'd never be telling someone not to discuss quotes though.  Bit weird.  

TELLIT01

The quote from the independent builder may have been higher than the OP expected but that doesn't mean it was expensive for the work to be done.  The builder picked seemingly at random from Google could be a cowboy who will do a rubbish job.

propertyrental

If you don't have personal recommendations and have to resort to the internet, rely on sites that actually vet and guarantee the contractors. Don't rely on commercial sites where the contractor pays to be included. And don't rely on so-called independent reviews.

Which?

Trading Standards