Owning your own home

That’s great, but I’d wager that the vast majority of people would not be so aware of or happy with said transfer of liability.

It depends on how long the job is, if the job is 1 week the price isn't going to change but say the brickie starts the job and the customer says oh this needs done and delays the brickie for 6 months. In that 6 months the price will probs change and then it liable to the customer.

That's exactly what you'd do, customer supplied materials not your problem.

You dont need to discuss your costs with the customer how you break it down. You dont go to the bike shop and expect them to tell you how much they get the wheels for and how much they are making so why does it make a difference in a wheels or bricks.

I honestly dont know how this is so hard.

The customer says oh this needs done and delays the brickie for 6 months. In that 6 months the price will probs change and then it liable to the customer.

You've added extra conditionality there - if the delay happens post hoc and is the customer's fault that's a different scenario to pricing up a big job one day-1 with knowledge that there will be inflation between agreeing the price and actually supplying the materials.

The difficulty for the homeowner is that the contractor has them over a barrel once the job starts as the WIP is worth zero (or less) if the contractor phoenixes and they have to get someone else in.

You don't need to discuss your costs with the customer how you break it down

This is all about variations. If you are coming back to the customer saying you need £X extra for whatever reason then it's a bit sharp not to give them a good breakdown of why.

Yeah but an increase in materials cost is passed on the the customer. Stop being obtuse!

Do you get the mark-up on the increase too?

I mean if you asking about a job that Id do you want heating full system. I come in size it up, order the materials and you pay X I dont give a break down to how I got that figure. The price is the price. I'm not getting paid for the time I had to come to site visit and the sit at home work it out and then order all the right stuff so that's built into the price.

Say I need something that I have missed in the price, I wouldnt go to the customer "oh i forgot this its gonna be extra" Id swallow that cost. Sometimes you win on a job and something you lose.

Yes as it’s calculated as a %

That sounds completely reasonable and doesn't cut across anything I've been trying to say.

This is why I hate this model. It amplifies your risk of inflation in materials cost and doesn't incentivise the contractor to avoid it.

Sorry. Will stop now. Just trying to get to 5k posts :-0

I agree it can be seen as unreasonable but it isn’t exactly rare.

When you order wine in a restaurant, do you check that isn’t a % increase as well? That approach is normal (whether or not it is necessarily fair)

How do you avoid inflation? have a builders yard?

If you live in a rented house then you don’t have to worry about any of this

Even if you live in a rented house but work as a builder?

Because time, petrol, car insurance, lack of funds in bank acruing interest. Also customer wants a fucking tap and trader did the donkey work of getting it and wtf that should be a zero cost service?

Edit:
I've had two batches of wood flooring turn up banana shaped. The fitters have been over 4 times and the flooring company are doing the graft to get me a decent batch of flooring. I still don't have a floor.

I hope they charged a markup on the materials as it's been a shit job for them so far.

Oddly enough - Just had a quote back from an electrician to rewire a kitchen, where he's kindly split the quote between his charge, and materials. The first fix materials cost he's provided is helpfully itemised, but nonetheless looks a bit toppy (~2x retail). Reasonable, or not? I can't be arsed to negotiate but could just go elsewhere.

10x 2 Meters PVC Oval Conduit + Accessories= £59.96
2x 2 Meters PVC Cappings 38mm= £8.28
4x 2 Gang 35mm Metal Back Boxes= £6.08
1x 2 Gang 47mm Metal Back Box= £2.98
7x 1 Gang 35mm Metal Back Boxes= £9.52
2x 1 Gang 47mm Metal Back Box = £5.58
6x 1 Gang 35mm Pattress Boxes= 15.12
1x 1 Gang 47mm Pattress Box= £3.78
1x 1 Gang Dryline Back Box= £1.76
1x 100 Meters 2.5mm T&E Cables= £99.98
1x 100 Meters 1.5mm T&E Cables= £85.99
1x 50 Meters 6mm T&E Cables= £119.98

guys, if we are going to penny pinch like this how will the trickle down economy work????

But as the previous person said your only picking up the fucking phone. Lol

Bankers need bigger bonuses and the tradesman should be happy that we are getting the work at all. Stay down you thicko

You are also paying for the knowledge and experience of the staff to choose the right part based on the system(bike), that should have a cost.

Correct, also service base on the type of riding they do, if it’s a 15 years old Ridgeback whose original rims is showing wear, review in the next major service, if it’s a 2 years old road bike; replace.

I echoes other sentiments; too many bad experiences with poor workmanship resulting in a distrust in the UK market, especially in a bicycle shop.

Amusingly, it’s also fairly accepted practice with bike shops that if you provide the materials yourself the labour actually costs extra!

Also correct, some do, some don’t, I just says we can’t offer guarantee/warranty as it was not purchased from us.

E.g. chain provided by customer snapped due to its being faulty, no warranty, pony up for a new one.

Otherwise be happy to replace the chain on the spot and send the faulty one back to the supplier/get credit if purchase from us.

What about the radiators in this eg?

As a customer I may have a preference on style. You tell me what size and heat output I need, but it's likely I'd like to choose between them. Do you add x% on to all of the rads?