Quote for creating new doorway

andywalker2005

Hi, 

I have been quoted £820 for creating internal doorway. Its brick load bearing wall. Its just to create doorway with frame (no door) and patching plaster around the frame. (skilp is not included). (around west midlands)

Does it sounds reasonable?

Section62

andywalker2005 said:

Hi, 

I have been quoted £820 for creating internal doorway. Its brick load bearing wall. Its just to create doorway with frame (no door) and patching plaster around the frame. (skilp is not included). (around west midlands)

Does it sounds reasonable?

Does it include the builder doing all the building regs signoff work?

andywalker2005

Section62 said:

andywalker2005 said:

Hi, 

I have been quoted £820 for creating internal doorway. Its brick load bearing wall. Its just to create doorway with frame (no door) and patching plaster around the frame. (skilp is not included). (around west midlands)

Does it sounds reasonable?

Does it include the builder doing all the building regs signoff work?

No it doesnt. What does it involves "building regs signoff work"? (I thought building reg is done by council building reg inspector.

Section62

andywalker2005 said:

Section62 said:

andywalker2005 said:

Hi, 

I have been quoted £820 for creating internal doorway. Its brick load bearing wall. Its just to create doorway with frame (no door) and patching plaster around the frame. (skilp is not included). (around west midlands)

Does it sounds reasonable?

Does it include the builder doing all the building regs signoff work?

No it doesnt. What does it involves "building regs signoff work"? (I thought building reg is done by council building reg inspector.

Someone has to tell the council (or a private BC company) you are doing the work, and liaise with them as the work is done - for example inviting them to inspect and/or provide photos of the work as it progresses.  There are costs involved in doing so (paid either to the council or the private company).

As homeowner you are legally responsibile for building regs compliance, including notification/approval/signoff - but many people get their builder to deal with the paperwork.  If the builder will be doing this for you then the quote needs to include for the time it takes plus fees.

Cheaper quotes often come from 'builders' who forget about the building regs requirements... leaving you with work that has no signoff to show when a potential future buyer's solicitor asks for it.

To me £820 is probably a bit on the lowish side - and definitely lowish if the builder is doing the building regs paperwork.

Are you getting the skip for the waste?

andywalker2005

Oh I see. So the builder would not be doing building regs. I am planning to arrange it with my LA. 

I am getting the skip as after this I am getting some work done myself. 

So with all above is 820 still reasonable or is it high?

Section62

andywalker2005 said:

Oh I see. So the builder would not be doing building regs. I am planning to arrange it with my LA. 

I am getting the skip as after this I am getting some work done myself. 

So with all above is 820 still reasonable or is it high?

Make sure the builder and you are on the same page with building control.  If you slip up and need the builder to wait while BC inspect then he might try to charge you more.

£820 isn't unreasonable - it is difficult to know for sure as there can be so many things that affect the difficulty/complexity of a job like this.  But I don't think you'd be ripped off at that price.

stuart45

Is he going to cut out with an angle grinder?

andywalker2005

stuart45 said:

Is he going to cut out with an angle grinder?

I don’t know. Is it something I need to ask ? Why does it matter? 

ThisIsWeird

Hi Andy.
When sil had this exact job done a few years back, she needed something like a 'small works cert' from Building Control. This cost, I think, around £140 then - around 5 years ago, but will be more now - and the BCO came out, confirmed it was load-bearing, and told me she'd need an SE's calculations for the lintel.
I asked him if he could recommend an SE, but he said he wasn't allowed to do that, "But I do know of a couple..." and he gave me two local names.
One was a glossily-websited company, and quoted £600 or possibly more for this, and the other was an individual independent fellow who said he'd pop in on the way home from another job - happy to do this for £100?" Guess who we went with.
And the guy was great - he had a thorough look, asked what type of lintel we wanted - timber, steel, concrete - and when I said I didn't know, he replied, "No probs - I'll do calcs for them all. But I think you'll find timber easier in this case..." And he regaled with funny SE tales too - catnip for me.  
So, assuming nothing has changed, you'll need BC and SE.
If you don't do this, you obviously run the risk of a non-conforming job, and problems when you come to sell.
The actual building work was a bit less that yours, as the guy was also installing a stove (Hetas) so gave a good price for it all. But I'm guessing that your whole job is going to be around £1.2k or so?
Ask your builder about BC conformity. He will know what is expected of him, but should also know some SEs, hopefully one that can rattle out the necessary calcs in a half hour.
BCO came out to examine the lintel in situ, and was happy. All good. All cert'd.

Section62

andywalker2005 said:

stuart45 said:

Is he going to cut out with an angle grinder?

I don’t know. Is it something I need to ask ? Why does it matter? 

Using an angle grinder is quick - hence a cheaper quote possibly - but everything nearby will be coated with brick and plaster dust which you'll still be finding in several years time.  Ideally doors into other parts of the house should be sealed up (i.e. plastic sheet taped over the doorway on the 'work' side) to limit the spread - which again takes time (=cost) to do properly.

Arguably using an angle grinder does a neater job with less risk of damage to the wall than traditional methods, so it can go either way.

stuart45

Another option is to stitch drill the wall. Takes longer and still requires some hammer and chisel work, so is a compromise if serious amounts of really fine dust will be an issue.