Negotiating a project fee

[H F]

We’ve only been back and living in the UK full time for two years now, and dealing with builders, contractors and tradesmen for a year. 
 

Most of our work has been project based, where we get upfront quotes to do the work: materials, time, etc. To this point, we have not negotiated because we were still learning what people charge for different services. 

 

Is it acceptable in the UK to negotiate project fees (within reason of course) or will builders and tradesmen take offense?
 

[nod]

No it’s not normal and most would be offended I say most I would be very wary of any builder that starts high and drops his price for any reason A quote should be detailed and accurate 

If you like the builder but feel his quote is to much go through his detailed quote and se if you can make any savings on alternative material Such as roof coverings glass internal finishes and spec

Ask his opinion on what he has been asked to quote for 

He may come up with cheaper alternatives 

[Russell griffiths]

This depends on a few things. 

Do you feel that you have a job this contractor wants

or do you Need this contractor 

theres no harm in asking but it depends if you feel you are in the driving seat or not. 

I personally wouldn’t be offended, but my price wouldn’t change. 

 

You dont go in the butchers and say I like your sausages but will you take £2.20 kg instead of £2.50. 

[scottishjohn]

8 minutes ago, Russell griffiths said:

This depends on a few things. 

Do you feel that you have a job this contractor wants

or do you Need this contractor 

theres no harm in asking but it depends if you feel you are in the driving seat or not. 

I personally wouldn’t be offended, but my price wouldn’t change. 

you obviously haven,t  tried to do many deals with asians , they will always want a deal ,then another one at end of job.

one of the reasons i moved out of manchester   you spend 30mins aruing about price of a set of tyres  or something ,then when they come back  they insist that was not the price,even when they had a printed quote ,which they somehow loose  ,or "me no speaky de english"

the one thing they all seemed understand was "jack the fxxer up fred and renove the tryes"-then all of a sudden they understand and pay up -

 

 

[Dreadnaught]

In my opinion, the only options are obtaining comparable quotes or, as said, value engineering.

 

It takes a surprisingly long time to save money and I work hard at it. It took me ages to eventually find an architect I was happy with, at a price that was attractive. And the same is now proving true for my timber-frame supplier.

 

(I have only come a cropper once so far: with my drainage engineer has turned out to be a poor fit. I clearly made the wrong choice there.)

 

Edited December 22, 2019 by Dreadnaught

[H F]

Thanks guys. Valuable advice and insights. Getting multiple people in to quote is a practice we try to implement, but it’s often difficult to get specialist guys in as we are a bit rural and they’re booked up for weeks (if not months) in advance. So we’re often forced into decisions and prices, especially on jobs that require urgent attention.

 

VAT is also annoying and is driving up the project because all his prices are VAT excluded. 

[H F]

34 minutes ago, Dreadnaught said:

It takes a surprisingly long time save money and I work hard at it

 
I couldn’t agree more with this statement. So true.

[Temp]

@Home Farm what sort of projects are you doing? There are VAT reductions for properties that have been empty for 2 and 10 years.

Edited December 23, 2019 by Temp