Richard Greenland
The flat roof blog also appears today as promised. Part of this material was originally posted in response to last week’s replies, but we felt it should be a separate blog.
Two more ideas on getting the best out of tradesmen:
They need space to work. If they are getting in each other’s way much time can get wasted. It’s vital to sequence things correctly to avoid this. For instance, no one else can be expected to work in any room being plastered. Decorators need a clean and dust-free environment to do good work, so they too should have rooms to themselves. And you can’t really expect anyone to work if there is excessive dust, for instance if someone is using a concrete grinder nearby. I try to have everyone else off-site when knock-throughs are being cut.
In these recessionary times it may be possible to negotiate on price, but with caveats. So if you get competitive quotes and your preferred tradesman comes out much more expensive than others and you think his quote is excessive, you may be able to point this out and negotiate him down. This happened to my electrician just yesterday. He wasn’t very happy about it but he agreed to come down because he needs the work.
Now the caveats. Beware as some so-called tradespeople are just chancers, while others may put in a very low first quote to a new client as a ‘loss leader’ to get further work later on. If your preferred tradesperson’s quote is already broadly reasonable, in my opinion it’s best not to haggle. It risks offending people and they will give you a lower priority in future. There is someone who I won’t do any work at all for any more because he’s such a cheapskate. So he has to make do with ‘dodgy geezers’ who cut corners but are prepared to work for less. I know, because I’ve put right a few of their ‘dodges’. Sometimes you get what you pay for.
This same person converted a house to flats last year. He didn’t realise that he needed to build sound-proofing between the floors, and that it had to be independently tested. Neither did his builder, who I’ll call ‘Bodgit and Scarper’ (B&S). Even though it’s been law since 2003 and this was 2009. The Building Inspector soon put them right on that, and B&S made sure they got paid right up to date then scarpered. He got another cheap B&S type crew in to do the soundproofing, but because of poor detailing it failed the (very expensive) acoustic test. So then he had to get a proper builder, someone known to me, in to fix the problem, and get it tested again. Altogether his ‘saving’ on cheap builders saw him out of pocket by over £10K. It’s worth keeping good tradesmen on side and cost-effective in the long run.
Rich
Hi Richard,
An excellent article. A little consideration can certainly go a long way!
Rich, some well made points. Certainly if the first time you meet your local plumber is when the ceiling is coming down from floodwater, then you’ll be paying call out rates that wouldn’t have applied if you’d been using them regularly on less profitable work.
Totally agree Rich. We have worked very much hands on with our team for years now and I think we all respect each other.
In addition to your list above we always thoroughly research and cost our projects so we don’t run out of money. Provide very detailed accurate drawings, make sure all materials & equipment are on site on time and checked for faults, all manufacturers’ installation details are provided and work quality checked at the start of works to ensure no misunderstandings or errors.
We will always be on site when equipment arrives & work commences as this is when most things need to be established eg work practices, problems and safety issues. A ‘Start as you mean to go on’ approach works well.
We tend to use new technologies quite a bit and some tradesmen tend to shy away from these but as we provide all the right information and detail then collaborate on how to tackle things we find our team are always up for the challenge.
Jo
Thanks for the extra points people.
I’ve thought of a couple more since yesterday too. If you are going to get the best out of tradesmen they need space to work. If they are getting in each other’s way a lot of time can get wasted. So it’s important to sequence things correctly so this doesn’t happen. And you can’t really expect people to work if there is excessive dust, for instance if someone is using a concrete grinder nearby.
Also, in these recessionary times, if you do get competitive quotes and your preferred tradesman comes out much more expensive than someone else, you may be able to point this out and negotiate him down. This happened to my electrician just yesterday. He agreed to come down because he needs the work. Beware though, as some so-called tradespeople are just chancers, while others may put in a very low first quote to a new client as a ‘loss leader’ to get further work later on. If your preferred tradesperson’s quote is already reasonable, in my opinion it’s best not to try to haggle a few quid more off just because you can. It risks offending people and they will give you a lower priority in future. There is someone who I won’t do anything at all for any more because he’s such a cheapskate. So he has to make do with ‘dodgy geezers’ who cut corners but are prepared to work for less. I know, because I’ve put right a few of their ‘dodges’! Sometimes you get what you pay for.
Rich
This is a great article as seen on Twitter and very true to the point that one should go hand in glove with the other. As an electrical services company in London (aka the tradesman) who have been trading since 1981, we have retained clients from those first few years. If we are treated well and paid on time then in turn we provide a good and reliable service and will not hesitate to go the extra mile when required to do so. All this is key to any good relationship with a client and chosen contractor.
[...] are better than others). Or (easiest) use a good team of builders who you can trust. See my blog here and here about finding and retaining good [...]