quoting

[penno]

Very close to starting up and a little worried about quotes. Is it quite acceptable to go to a property, measure up and say "ok will do some playing around with figures and give you a bell back" or do they want that quote there and then?
Thx

Mat

[Fekin]

I think most people are fine with you going away and working out the estimate "NEVER QUOTE" as that is legally binding and that means if you run into unseen problems during the job then you can't legally charge for the extra work that you have to do, so always say or write "estimate" instead.

[penno]

Started a little advertising yesterday and lo and behold the phone rang this morning, got my first job to go and take a look at tomorrow night

[Fekin]

Nice one mate, well done

Was in the print shop today, thanked me for putting you're business her way

I should be getting some life into me and continuing door to door leafleting, got shed loads to do round the house though first.

Need to find some trustable kids to go round for me, lol

[penno]

yeah also in the printers myself later to look at a proof print, very good prices and thx again mate

[Fekin]

No problem penno

Originally Posted by Fekin

I think most people are fine with you going away and working out the estimate "NEVER QUOTE" as that is legally binding and that means if you run into unseen problems during the job then you can't legally charge for the extra work that you have to do, so always say or write "estimate" instead.

Whilst I agree in principle to what you're saying I personally feel that a quotation is more professional than an estimation in some cases. If a customer receives an estimation then they don't really know what they'll pay. I'm sure some people give a low estimate and then put a high bill in at the end. I'd say that at least 80% of the time it's appropriate to give a quotation. Estimations have their place when there is some degree of preparation involved that could uncover problems or a job such as a regrout.

[devonmark]

Originally Posted by McP77

Whilst I agree in principle to what you're saying I personally feel that a quotation is more professional than an estimation in some cases. If a customer receives an estimation then they don't really know what they'll pay. I'm sure some people give a low estimate and then put a high bill in at the end. I'd say that at least 80% of the time it's appropriate to give a quotation. Estimations have their place when there is some degree of preparation involved that could uncover problems or a job such as a regrout.

If you were to Quote on a job and you had to remove tiles and retile and you quoted £450, if say you removed the tiles and the wall fell down (this is an extreme) and it was going to cost you £2000 to rebuild the wall..you cannot legally charge a penny more than what you quoted and you legally have to put right the wall and then tile as per quote.

An estimate you can adjust your price should there be something unforseen...there will always be someone who knows how they stand legally..and it might just be that person at the time something a bit more than quoted for needs doing.

[scrubmuncher]

I dont find many tradesmen I know or meet getting acceptances for estimates anymore. Used to be the norm but seems to have faded out these days with the add on con. If in doubt I go in high, if going into the unknown I charge for the tiling (p/m)with a quote, and go in at a daily rate exc materials for the prep.

Originally Posted by devonmark

If you were to Quote on a job and you had to remove tiles and retile and you quoted £450, if say you removed the tiles and the wall fell down (this is an extreme) and it was going to cost you £2000 to rebuild the wall..you cannot legally charge a penny more than what you quoted and you legally have to put right the wall and then tile as per quote.

An estimate you can adjust your price should there be something unforseen...there will always be someone who knows how they stand legally..and it might just be that person at the time something a bit more than quoted for needs doing.

That's why I say estimate for the preparation side of things. The quotation part is for when the preparation has been carried out and it is say 'tiling 20 square metres of ceramic wall tile, size 30x25'

[Fekin]

Exactly, if there is a full bathroom of tiles to be removed first, like a lot of jobs, then quoting for the whole removal and re-tile can be tricky if you have no idea what state the substrat is in.
But on the other hand, if it's a kitchen splashback thats just on a blank plastered wall, then quoting isn't a problem.

Just have to take each job price up as it comes.

[devonmark]

Originally Posted by McP77

That's why I say estimate for the preparation side of things. The quotation part is for when the preparation has been carried out and it is say 'tiling 20 square metres of ceramic wall tile, size 30x25'

I see where you are coming from, and you are right in doing it that way but there are a lot of people who don't do it that way and just give a quote for the job.