Do I need a personal QS?

Lumen

A pattern is emerging. Whenever I get a quote for anything it's huge.

At first I just assumed it was Ireland. But it appears to be just me.

Examples...

I got a quote for 160m x 2m of lime-mortared stone walling. Price: 150k. One hundred and fifty thousand euros. OK, that seemed mental, surely just a one-off.

So then I tried to buy a simple replacement patio door. Architect recommended major Dublin supplier and suggested price would be about 3k. Actual quote: >€5500+VAT.

Then there was tree surgery. Got quote for taking 14 trees down and grinding stumps. Price: 2650+VAT. Then someone passed me a recent quote for an almost identical job (12 trees, same species, a bit bigger) for €1150. Same contractor, only a couple of weeks apart! The second quote I got from a different tree surgeon was also about the same again, so it's not just a case of getting multiple quotes.

And then there's heating and plumbing. The price isn't totally mental, it's just 50% higher than I expected from reading around.

Maybe I just come across like a total sap with too much money, who knows?

So I have a long list of these jobs. I reckon I need a QS.

Will a QS do this sort of ad-hoc stuff or it is beneath them? How do they operate? Fixed fee or percentage?

Metric Tensor

It does sound like a QS would be of help to you.

But I wonder what vibe you are giving off when you are looking for prices. Is there a possibility that you are making people think you'd be a very difficult client to work for?

eoinzy2000

Lumen wrote: »

A pattern is emerging. Whenever I get a quote for anything it's huge.

At first I just assumed it was Ireland. But it appears to be just me.

Examples...

I got a quote for 160m x 2m of lime-mortared stone walling. Price: 150k. One hundred and fifty thousand euros. OK, that seemed mental, surely just a one-off.

So then I tried to buy a simple replacement patio door. Architect recommended major Dublin supplier and suggested price would be about 3k. Actual quote: >€5500+VAT.

Then there was tree surgery. Got quote for taking 14 trees down and grinding stumps. Price: 2650+VAT. Then someone passed me a recent quote for an almost identical job (12 trees, same species, a bit bigger) for €1150. Same contractor, only a couple of weeks apart! The second quote I got from a different tree surgeon was also about the same again, so it's not just a case of getting multiple quotes.

And then there's heating and plumbing. The price isn't totally mental, it's just 50% higher than I expected from reading around.

Maybe I just come across like a total sap with too much money, who knows?

So I have a long list of these jobs. I reckon I need a QS.

Will a QS do this sort of ad-hoc stuff or it is beneath them? How do they operate? Fixed fee or percentage?

Maybe, but a QS to price a new patio door?
Lime mortar is about 350 per sq.m. so while 150000 is dear, it would still be 112000 or thereabout. Price around for that.
There are other factors that could be at play, access, remoteness, other site specific issues. Either that or you must exude wealth and are happy to promote yourself as such. Builders are hungry, as hungry as most in Ireland.
If this is so, buy a 15 year old banger for 300 or 400 quif and meet the builders driving that or have it sitting at place you meet them. Get rid of any fancy **** you have around you when you meet them. From that point you may find someone reasonable and reliable. Then develop an ongoing relationship. Pay a QS for advice surely. Dont play the big rich man unless you are willing to pay heavy premium. It really sounds like they see a bit of money and are bogging the arm in.

Metric Tensor

I've done work for some well off people and I haven't found the reputable contractors to up their prices to suit ... in fact I've seen a few price quite keenly in the hopes of "getting in" for future work.

Lumen

I'm not rich or stupid but I suppose this is about perceptions.

The gardener I use reckons being English doesn't help. I think his words were "big house, English accent, they see you coming a mile off". Nothing I can do about that.

We have two cars, a crappy 12 year old Honda and a new Kia. It's hardly living the dream.

In the case of the windows I turned up to the showroom on a new-ish motorbike but it was parked outside and I can't believe the salesman would be arsed checking that out, so it must be what I say or how I say it.

Metric Tensor wrote: »

Is there a possibility that you are making people think you'd be a very difficult client to work for?

This is possible. I try to do research beforehand to understand the work. I genuinely don't want to waste people's time, like with the windows I had done all the measurements and knew which brand I wanted (Reynaers). Maybe that comes across as awkward, but I can't see how acting ignorant is going to reduce the prices.

I guess I just need to be disciplined and get three quotes for everything and be direct enough to ask why the high quotes are so high.

Things do seem to be astonishingly expensive in Ireland compared to the UK. One non-celebrity landscape gardener quoted me €250/hour (€2k/day!) for design and supervision work.

Is there generally a good correlation between price and quality? It seems obvious that always going with the cheapest bid is likely to lead to shortcuts being taken. But equally there are people charging big money for ****e work.

Metric Tensor

If I had to guess I'd say it's partly the English accent combined with the (what some would see as) awkward questions. ... I can picture the salesman thinking: "This picky English b*st*rd will have my heart broken coming back to fix things."

There's a bit of an auld stereotype that some people buy into ... sorry about that!

There's also a possibility that because you do the research you know what the best product/solution is so you are getting a price for top quality stiff whereas you might be comparing with prices other people paid for middle of the range stuff because they didn't know as much about the subject matter or were willing to make more compromises.

Lumen

Metric Tensor wrote: »

If I had to guess I'd say it's partly the English accent combined with the (what some would see as) awkward questions. ... I can picture the salesman thinking: "This picky English b*st*rd will have my heart broken coming back to fix things."

There's a bit of an auld stereotype that some people buy into ... sorry about that!

Ah, but I'm trying to honestly signal that I want quality in order to put off cowboys. Maybe that's translating into "troublemaker" and increasing the price.

If I signal a relaxed, easy going nature that's equally likely to be interpreted as "fool and money easily parted".

I guess I need to find some other way of selecting contractors (e.g. trusting recommendations) and then signal a relaxed, easy going nature until I get the quote.

Maybe I just need to look outside the greater Dublin area. I'm surprised at how far people will travel - I got a much cheaper quote for heating installation from a Wexford contractor.

If this is just payback for 800 years of oppression then fair enough.

eoinzy2000

Haha. I doubt it.
Ireland construction costs are huge. If you are in Dublin however, everything is mega expensive.

B-D-P--

Hows your haggeling skills?

Almost all my quotes were haggled to a a high percentage off.
Alot of crazy quotes, but chancing their arm.

Also before you ask them to start quoting let them know your quoting 2/3 others.
They might think you'll go with your first quote if he talks the talk.

Ask the tricky questions after the quote, Make the job appealing, then haggle like Flup and say how picky you are.

Lumen

Hmmm.

About 20 years ago a friend of mine whose business was selling kitchens and windows told me "if you're buying kitchens or windows and paying more than half the first offered price, you're paying too much".

I guess some things never change.

Metric Tensor

Have you a real blue blood accent OP? I'm picturing the Duke of Edinburgh haggling over the price of a toilet in heat merchants in Tallaght!

Lumen

Metric Tensor wrote: »

Have you a real blue blood accent OP? I'm picturing the Duke of Edinburgh haggling over the price of a toilet in heat merchants in Tallaght!

To an English ear no, it's just a bog standard middle-class south east English accent.

I have absolutely no idea how it sounds to an Irish ear.

Kevhog1988

Anything more southern than birmingham sounds public school posh to us lol.  You may be better emailing for quotes and including the spec from architect rather than calling in person. it may be a case that you come across as being either unknowledgeable or fussy. Both can generate a price hike on a quote. I know contractors personally who have quoted high for works purely on the basis they think the job will be a pain and then get the job.  One guy i know refers to it as a twat tax lol. If i was you i would work on the basis of getting 3 quotations for every project and running with the best quote. However if a quote is unreasonably cheap i would ask for references etc.