Builders have under-estimated hugely

6 years ago

Me again! Got the final bill from the builders and they have hugely under-estimated labour costs. We had estimates for the bathrooms including the fitting and labour. In the end we bought everything and all they had to do was the fitting and tiling. However, they are charging a premium for this and instead of saving money, buying things ourselves it seems to have cost us more in the long-run. I don't know what to do. Do we have to pay what they are asking? I am really upset about this.

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Comments (5)

User
6 years ago
How much are we talking? Not sure what you were originally quoted, what would have been deducted due to you purchasing materials, and then what final bill is?
A S
6 years ago
It may be that the builders were buying low quality products at trade prices and charging more for labour.
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GJ Dee
Original Author
6 years ago
5K to supply and fit new bathroom. 4K now for labour. Shower room originally 1.5K, now 2.3K for labour. 4K extra for electrical. Tiling estimate 750, now 2K though we supplied the tiles.
G Arnold
6 years ago
When you had the original prices did they break it down by materials and labour? They should have! if they aren't prepared to explain why there is such a large increase then tell them to go walk off a long plank. unless you have significantly changed the job brief then those "extra" costs seem, with the limited information you have shared, to be ridiculous!
GJ Dee thanked G Arnold
Jonathan
6 years ago
I think it comes down to the wording used at the beginning of discussions. You say that they have given you an estimate. Estimates can’t be relied on by you and are not binding like a quote.
It may be that when they started the job they uncovered additional work. It may be that they estimated for basic ceramic tiling but perhaps you bought porcelain tiles that take much longer to cut. Perhaps you had more tiling than they thought, perhaps you changed something mid job and this entailed unexpected extra work.
In fairness they perhaps should have alerted you to the rising cost but I suspect that you have no legal recourse and they would be successful if they took you to a small claims court for non payment.
GJ Dee thanked Jonathan

Builders have under-estimated hugely

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Builders have under-estimated hugely

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