Sourcing and Validating Tradespeople

williamc10

Do any of the MSE community have any tips on the best way to
1) Sourcing a reliable tradesperson for a quote
2) Validating a quote other than by checking against other quotes
3) Understand what is a fair percentage deposit for the job
This mainly relates to Roofers.
Thanks in advance!

casper_gutman

We had our house reroofed a couple of years ago. We went with:
(1) Word of mouth - our roofer has an established local business. He'd been mentioned multiple times by established posters on local Facebook groups when others asked for recommendations, and had recently done a similar job for friends of ours who recommended him.

(2) We got three quotes, two of which were close and one was much higher. I'm not sure how or why I'd 'validate' a quote, other than by comparison to other quotes. I needed a new roof, and there are only so many people in the area who I'd trust to do the work. I have to contract one of the businesses operating in the market. What good would it do me to decide that roofers generally charge prices that are somehow 'wrong'? And if the market sustains higher prices than I think 'valid' then what would I do about it?

The only element of the prices I could really check as such would be materials costs, but it's perfectly valid for a trader to mark up prices they pass on. One person might charge no markup and make that back in their labour rates, another might mark prices up a lot but be more reasonable on labour, and yet another might appear to charge rock-bottom prices for materials but actually has them left over from another job, or got a great deal on them, or they 'fell off the back of a lorry'. All I care about is the total they're charging me for the job.

(3) I've never been asked for a deposit for any work I've had done. When we had an extension built we made staged payments based on assessment of work completed. Everything else (windows, roof, bathroom, kitchen, lots of smaller jobs) has been paid on completion.

Bigphil1474

As above. Local Facebook groups are generally pretty good, although you often get the business pushing themselves. You just have to ignore them and look for the genuine recommendations. 

We got a quote for our roof from the company that were doing a roof down the street, plus a mate of a mate, and a company recommended off FB. Their quotes ranged from £10k to £14k. The mate of a mate was totally sold so we knew his quote was fair at £11k. Otherwise we'd have had to look at the quotes in more detail - a good quote stands out a mile compared to a fag packet quote. We didn't get the roof done in the end as we're selling the house.

CliveOfIndia

I agree with the previous posters - personal recommendation is the best way to source any tradesman.  Basically, you want to ask around in your local neighbourhood for people that have had similar work done, and who they would recommend.  Facebook, despite its many downsides, does at least make this task easier - sign up to your local community group and ask for recommendations.  Be slightly wary of any adverts that pop up (genuine local businesses may advertise, but so could any old Tom, !!!!!! or Harry).  What you want is recommendations from people who have actually used the company.

It's always a good idea to get 3 quotes if you can.  A genuine business will be happy to provide a quote, and to give a breakdown of what's included - cost of materials, cost of labour, cost of skip hire/waste disposal, that sort of thing.  In all likelihood, if they're all kosher businesses you'll probably find the quotes are broadly similar.  After all, the cost of materials should be roughly the same, and probably the labour costs won't be too far apart.  Remember that any genuine tradesman (especially a local business rather than a national chain) needs to make a reasonable profit (it is, after all, their livelihood), but at the same time they don't want to price themselves out of the market.

You can kind of get some idea of the cost of materials by looking online, but it's a very inexact science.  A builder may be able to get a trade discount, meaning he can source the materials cheaper than you can.  But on the flip side, it's not unreasonable for them to make a bit of profit on the cost of materials.  I guess very broadly you could reasonably expect them to supply materials at cost and charge more labour, or mark up the materials cost and charge less labour.  But it's the overall cost of the job that you need to be looking at.

It's not that common to have to pay a deposit.  Most (perhaps not all) genuine tradesmen will have an account at the builder's merchant, so they don't need to pay for materials up-front.  Of course, there's the argument to say what happens if they source the materials then you cancel the job - can they return the materials, will they have to pay some sort of fee, leaving them out of pocket?  Sure, they know where you live so they can easily contact you to ask you to pay any fees they may have incurred - how practical/worthwhile it would be for them to chase you through the courts if necessary, I've no idea !

Albermarle

It's not that common to have to pay a deposit.  Most (perhaps not all) genuine tradesmen will have an account at the builder's merchant, so they don't need to pay for materials up-front.  Of course, there's the argument to say what happens if they source the materials then you cancel the job - can they return the materials, will they have to pay some sort of fee, leaving them out of pocket?  Sure, they know where you live so they can easily contact you to ask you to pay any fees they may have incurred - how practical/worthwhile it would be for them to chase you through the courts if necessary, I've no idea !

I think on a longer job, like an extension, some tradespeople will want some money quite quickly, if not an actual deposit. Probably best to wait for them to actually turn up and get started first though, even if it is only for a couple of days.

We had a bathroom done recently and we actually bought most of the materials, in some cases using the tradespersons discount at the store. That takes some of the risk out for them.

blueteacup

Definitely check local forums - and if someone has a recommendation see how long the person making the recommendation has been a member. It could just be legit but I'd be suspicious if someone had just joined and their only post was a recommendation of a tradesperson that had no other recommendations on the forum.

bjorn_toby_wilde

A lot of tradespeople will also have their own websites or Facebook pages these days. The roofer I’ve used in the past has a Facebook page where he regularly posts pictures of his work - new roofs, leadwork, chimneys etc.  It demonstrated the pride he takes in doing a good job. Always a good indicator.

Difficult to validate a quote. The guy I used isn’t the cheapest but that’s because he only uses good materials. There’s a difference in quality for example between a £30 roll of felt and one costing £75.