Trademans no price qoute for completed work

newbuild123

Hi,

im just wondering about my rights as a consumer. I’m building a new house and got block layer verbal agreement over the phone price at 1.60 a block but I wanted a complete qoute adding in what he does around windows, wasn’t sure how many block he would be laying etc

He was recommended to me. He started the work without agreeing anything when I asked for a full qoute afew times he said he’d send it on and each time never did.All I got was he’ll look after me and wouldn’t screw me.

I was budgeting 5k for the work and when he finished ( he did a very good job) he told me it would cost 10k. If I knew this from the outset I wouldn’t have gone with him. What are my rights. Should I negotiate and try and get him to go with the standard rate for a job like this number of blocks laid etc.

no contract or qoute was ever produced or signed.

Mike

ohnonotgmail

he charged you by the block and billed you 10k. how many blocks did he lay?

Rows Grower

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120278489#Comment_120278489

He also fitted window cills and heads which wouldn't be included in the price per block so it's not quite as simple as counting the actual blocks laid.

Some guys will just measure the total area including all openings and calculate the amount of blocks it would take, other's will charge by the hour/day for cills and heads.

Either way I'd be counting the blocks multiplying by 1.60 and asking how the difference was arrived at.

Padre_Pio

I would tell him the only price he gave was 1.60 a block. Count the blocks and that's the total.

He never quoted for sills and the rest and gave no indication of cost. That's your starting point for negotiations. Pay the man what he's worth, but don't less him take the p*ss.

Get a breakdown of all the costs before you pay anything.

Xterminator

hi op

your going to have to chat with tradesman & get a breakdown of charges.

did you get any other quote before work began & how does the 10K compare to other quotes

ohnonotgmail

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120278610#Comment_120278610

I agree it isn't that simple but it is a starting point. They need an itemised invoice. I wouldn't pay over a penny until i had one.

AndrewJRenko

How long did he spend on the job?

waterwelly

A blocklayer should be able to estimate and rough provide a quote before the work starts.

It's really his mistake here.

Quote should include cash price, VAT price or whatever.

He should have also been looking for installments. Now he's heavily exposed.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120279436#Comment_120279436

Had a similar experience with fencing in 2021, cost nearly double what I had expected, so I feel your pain op.

But I doubt the op will want the bricklayer telling the other tradesmen the op refused to pay for the job though. Other trades tend to be wary of doing the job or will want payment in advance.

Op, if you were quoted €1.60 per block, it’s not that difficult to count the number of blocks, simplest way is to check the amount delivered to the site and deduct what’s left over or just count them row by row. If the sills and heads were extra on top of the block laying, obviously they will cost extra.

Op, when you were budgeting for €5k, did you know how many blocks were going to be needed for the job?

Del2005

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058285495/trademans-no-price-qoute-for-completed-work

Why did you let him start work if there was no contract? Were there 6000 blocks laid?

If you are letting people work on your site like this you could have bigger issues than an extra €5k than you budgeted for block laying. Look up your responsibilities for your building site.

Berberis

At 1.60 a block for your average single storey detached house. It's probably right.

A 1,600sq ft house would have close to 3,000 blocks below floor level and just over 2,000 above floor level counting gables, chimney breasts and stacks and internal walls.

Adding in all 5he work around openings, cills heads and damp courses, etc it looks like you got a good deal if you were happy with €1.60 a block to start with.