MBC pricing schedule

[Coops85]

Quick question...

 

Is it typical of the timber frame company (or any company for that matter) to change the payment schedule from what was said in the quote to what has been stated in the contract? 

 

The change means we have to part with a lot more cash earlier than expected. 

 

Just wanted to see what everyone else thought before we get too heated about it! 

 

Thanks 

[Jeremy Harris]

I would guess that it's the contract that you agree to that's definitive, as a quote is often just a rough guide as to what the price and payment schedule might be.  Until such time as a contract is agreed, everything is really negotiable to a degree.

[Dreadnaught]

@Coops85, I have had a timber-frame company blatantly move the goal posts on me after a quote. In the quote, the company in question made a mistake by overlooking something which I had specifically told them about. When I double checked that they had included it they simply went away, investigated, and increased the quote without an apology. I bit poor in my opinion although they did then make a concession when I objected.

 

Personally I would view payments terms as part of the quote and therefore would want to be treated fairly if a change was needed, with advance notice, an explanation and an apology.

 

In your case, could it be a response to the Brexit uncertainties and import prices. By front-loading cash from you they can front-load their ordering too, reducing their risk?

[Barney12]

If it helps, my MBC terms (2016) were:

 

10% Deposit

15% Sign off of drawings

20% on foundation material delivery

20% on frame delivery (first load)

15% on completion

10% on air test pass

 

I though that those terms were reasonable.

 

 

[newhome]

Mine didn’t change schedule as such but the dates of first and second fix materials were more fluid as they were dependent on how we got on with the previous stage. The first delivery got us to watertight so the pressure was then off to a degree. The second fix payment varied from the original quote as it included things like internal doors and we upgraded a few things before second fix delivery was due. It was all done completely transparently however with the additional costs agreed to. 

[Jeremy Harris]

Our payments were rounded to the nearest £100, so the percentages aren't very neat, but they were roughly:

 

16.5% deposit with order

 

21.6% two weeks before commencement of foundation works

 

33% on the morning of frame delivery

 

12.4% on completion of frame erection, including felting and battening of roof

 

16.5% on completion of a successful air test (less than 0.6 ACH @50 Pa)

[Dreadnaught]

My quote from December is:

 

 

And without foundation (does not apply to me):

 

Edited March 11, 2019 by Dreadnaught

[Coops85]

42 minutes ago, Dreadnaught said:

My quote from December is:

 

 

And without foundation (does not apply to me):

 

 

These were what we were quoted. We are also with foundation... however in contract our schedule is: 

10%

27.7%

27.7%

19.2%

11.5%

3.8%

 

so fairly different.

[Ed Davies]

1 hour ago, Barney12 said:

10% Deposit

15% Sign off of drawings

20% on foundation material delivery

20% on frame delivery (first load)

15% on completion

10% on air test pass

 

So you only paid 90% of the quoted price? Indeed, very reasonable terms.

Edited March 11, 2019 by Ed Davies

[Oz07]

Does credit card protection work with these contracts 

[Barney12]

14 minutes ago, Ed Davies said:

 

So you only paid 90% of the quoted price? Indeed, very reasonable terms.

 

Indeed it was!

 

[Jeremy Harris]

I've just been digging out prices we had from a couple of other suppliers, for comparison.  The company that we were going to go with originally, and who worked up two sets of prices for us, with a lot of chasing and donkey work from me (not sure why, but it was really hard work even getting indicative prices out of most companies we approached) had three stage payments, but they didn't offer an integrated foundation solution, so we would have had to do that separately.

 

Their payment schedule was 30% with order, 50% on the date of delivery of the frame and 20% on completion of frame erection (they didn't guarantee airtightness or include an air test). 

 

I had several quotes for an insulated slab foundation, and most were full payment for the insulation and steel reinforcement with order, concrete paid for just before delivery and labour paid on completion of the slab.  One didn't supply the steel reinforcement, just a schedule, and so there would have been another payment with order for that.

[Coops85]

1 hour ago, JSHarris said:

I've just been digging out prices we had from a couple of other suppliers, for comparison.  The company that we were going to go with originally, and who worked up two sets of prices for us, with a lot of chasing and donkey work from me (not sure why, but it was really hard work even getting indicative prices out of most companies we approached) had three stage payments, but they didn't offer an integrated foundation solution, so we would have had to do that separately.

 

Their payment schedule was 30% with order, 50% on the date of delivery of the frame and 20% on completion of frame erection (they didn't guarantee airtightness or include an air test). 

 

I had several quotes for an insulated slab foundation, and most were full payment for the insulation and steel reinforcement with order, concrete paid for just before delivery and labour paid on completion of the slab.  One didn't supply the steel reinforcement, just a schedule, and so there would have been another payment with order for that.

 

Thanks for this information.  

 

I have sent an email asking politely if we could get the schedule as the quote suggests.  So hopefully we will get a positive response.  

[newhome]

2 hours ago, Oz07 said:

Does credit card protection work with these contracts 

 

Not generally as they will almost certainly be over the limit of 30k 

 

 

[Alex C]

Have you picked up the phone and spoken to them about it? 

[recoveringbuilder]

1 minute ago, Alex C said:

Have you picked up the phone and spoken to them about it? 

Yes I’m afraid to say this was the thing I was most uncomfortable with during our build, working in customer service you are trained to be nice to people but during our build I found I was having to say things to people that I would never usually dream of saying!

 I said to my hubby one night after a particularly bad day speaking to suppliers and builders, I hate what these people are doing to me making me into someone I don’t like very much, however when it’s your money you’re dealing with a lot of straight talking has to be done ?

[NSS]

Can't recall the percentages but with our TF company the contract amount was paid into ESCROW and only released to them as each agreed milestone was achieved. Effectively this meant they only got paid for materials and labour as and when it had been provided, not front loaded. Minimal risk for both parties.