Garage conversion project, some questions

[3Dwarves]

Hello, 

I wrote on this forum some years ago while we were looking to buy a house. Things didn't go as planned and eventually we decided against buying a fixer upper and just buy a house with less needed work.

We've finally bought a house that only needs the garage to be converted into inhabitable space to make perfect use of the available space. The garage is part of the same post code and there is no way it will have a different number or anything after the upgrade, for example for VAT reasons.

We've decided to go through a contractor as doing the work ourselves seemed near impossible. There are a few things that we can't really understand and would be grateful if anyone would be so kind to reply about. 

First of all, after some research we thought the budget to convert around 40 sq m of garage, including two steel lintels, would be around 60k but the quotes we have been receiving are almost double. Is this how much the costs currently are or are we extremely unlucky to find premium builders only for the job? (We're in the south east)

The other big thing that is puzzling us is the VAT, so once there's the materials and then there's the labour. I understand in some cases they can be charged diferently - material always 20% vat but labour could vary from 0, 5 or 20%. What if the builder just adds 20% at the end? How do we know if some of the works qualified for lower VAT rate so we can contest the builder's estimate?

Also, when we contract a local company to do the windows, their quote includes windows, installation and vat, + warranties and certificates. When we pass the window company's details to the builder we can see that they have added labour and VAT on the final bill for the window, which in my view the window company has already done and the building company is providing the labour as well. Is that incorrect or is it a practice. We only contacted the window company because when we were asking the builders for a quote, theirs was higher that what we could get through the local company. 

Finally, how do the building companies operate in the UK? Do companies have a way to set up a team through an existing network for example, after a project has been awarded, as they don't seem to have the teams hired as employees. Is this a practice or is it a scam? I see some problems with this aproach - if this is the case then the company can not guarantee who is working on the project - which of course is not unheard of in other areas of business, but how do we trust the company's reviews if various different teams have worked on different projects for this company?

Thank you to whoever decides to give some advice and shares their experience. It will be much apreciated. 

[Nickfromwales]

£120k for a garage conversion sounds expensive, but I haven’t seen the scope of works. 
 

Can you anonymise the quote and post it here for us to see? Please be sure to remove yours / builders details completely before posting.  

 

For VAT, the builder is obvs VAT registered so every invoice they give you will have the VAT on it at 20%; I don’t think your project will attract the lower VAT rate, why do you think it should?

 

No builder will ‘fiddle’ with VAT as HMRC really do have a disliking for anyone doing that, by even as much as £1.

 

Ask them to remove the windows from their quote, and explain that the window company will be carrying those works out in isolation.
 

Pay the window company directly for supply and fit. VAT can only be charged once then.

 

Expect the builder to charge 5-10% of that window program for “attendance” as the site set up and welfare will be in place already, and they’ll need to organise themselves around it, and lose the revenue from…….watching them being fitted! 

Can you post some plans so we can see the scale of the job? The more info you can provide the better the advice will be. 

[saveasteading]

15 hours ago, 3Dwarves said:

Is this a practice or is it a scam

This and other comments re fiddling  vat etc. doesn't read well. 

Most builders will deal with you fairly and legally. Bigger businesses have bigger overheads. Someone organises all this and takes risks.

On self build you take on some management and risk. 

You want to do the windows to save money  fair enough. But who's problem is it if they don't fit properly? Who tells the builder the construction detail and openings size?  They are wise to add costs for hand-holding and risk.

 

If you are giving this vibe of distrust to potential builders then they will decline, or add money for risk.

 

Dont mess with the VAT. They can spot it and the consequences are serious.

 

In the SE the Labour costs are high. There is plenty of work for small builders, they are being selective and enjoying this period of income along with some power of choice.

[3Dwarves]

Thank you saveasteading and Nickfromwales, your replies have been very helpful. Of course we want to find a builder we trust but we also want to find a good price, which makes us more extra anxious and cautios and it probably reads as distrustful and slightly paranoid. Just like the general rule that if an offer is too good to be true, then it probably is too good to be true, common sense, right. It also comes from a lack of experience dealing with construction projects and teams, no offence.

Thank you for sharing your views and experiences.