DIYbanter - View Single Post - Quote vs estimate for roofing/building works

Jeremy Nicoll - news posts[_2_]

wrote:

Hi,
we need to have some roofing/building work done. (repair rather than new
build).

Most of them seem to advertise ‘free estimates’. Being the cynical sort I
suspect this is so they can then charge more than the estimate rather than
giving a quote.

As well as your concerns, there's other problems especially with roofing
jobs where few customers ever venture onto a roof to see what the problems
are and/or what the solution is or how well the job is executed. In recent
times whenever a roofer has told me there's a problem I've asked him to take
pics of it on his mobile phone and show them to me... and I've looked at the
pics carefully enough to be sure I'm looking at my roof not some stock pics
of some other roof. And I've been up their ladders for a closer look.

In the past I've had an instance of a company's quote describe in quite
grandiose terms what the necessary work/processes for a repair was. But
when the men came to do the job they spent about 2 minutes doing something
(bodging perhaps?) which wasn't at all what the estimate implied was needed.
I complained & the firm concerned had the balls to say "do you want us to
come back and do what the estimate said?". No I bloomin' didn't, if what
was done was actually adequate... but at the same time if what was done was
enough, I didn't plan to pay the original estimated cost... That's a
company I plan never to use again.

However one chap said that (i) a quote would be deliberately high to allow
for contingencies, so we might end up paying more by having a quote rather
than an estimate and (ii) if it was discovered that extra work needs
doing, a firm that has given a quote may just bodge it/ cover it up as
they are working to a fixed price, rather than bringing attention to any
extra work and informing us of the cost before proceeding further
(although if that happened would we really be in a position to say no to
the extra). (he subsequently gave a written estimate rather than a quote).
Part of me thinks he has a point, but on the other hand is this just part
of his sales spiel ?

I think it depends on the scale of the job. If you're planning to spend
thousands then you want not just to say "I need x, y and z done", but to say
I think there are problems p q & r - what would you do to fix them and how
much will that cost - you want to know how thoughtful they are and whether
they already foresee issues you maybe don't know about. You need several
quotes/viewpoints.

I don't think there's a solution to the issue of whether or not some quotes
will have contingencies built in. I think every company will, if they find
unexpected problems, try to get you to pay more to solve them.

--
Jeremy C B Nicoll - my opinions are my own.

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