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“Don’t show the guys the quote”

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.
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Comments

  • 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. 
  • 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
    grumbler Posts: 58,629 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    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
    MikeJXE Posts: 3,865 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Third Anniversary Name Dropper
    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
    easy Posts: 2,532 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    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 !


    I try not to get too stressed out on the forum. I won't argue, i'll just leave a thread if you don't like what I say. :)
  • Doozergirl
    Doozergirl Posts: 34,080 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    edited 25 January 2023 at 8:42PM
    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.  


    Everything that is supposed to be in heaven is already here on earth.
  • Nobbie1967
    Nobbie1967 Posts: 1,672 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    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
    Doozergirl Posts: 34,080 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    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.  
    Everything that is supposed to be in heaven is already here on earth.
  • TELLIT01
    TELLIT01 Posts: 18,130 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper PPI Party Pooper
    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.
  • 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




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