We are about to spend out on a lot of plumbing and heating work and bathroom reworking. I have had one quote back so far from a Gas Safe plumber of around £10K. He is asking for a 40% deposit before starting with balance on completion. Is this a standard amount? Seems a high percentage to me.
I've just been hit for a 25% deposit on a kitchen, so that seems high - but if he's a small business it may be his suppliers are hitting him with less favourable terms
Have they broken down the split between parts and labour? If the materials etc are £4k then I can see why they would want that up front.
That's a lot to cough up, personally I'd hear bells ringing.
If its for materials tell him you'll pay it once they are on site or pay the supplier direct. Last thing you want is him paying off his debt with the supplier with your cash!! If its labour then he can whistle (I don't get paid in advance and I'd not be paying anyone in advance either).
I'd have thought paying for materials up front was pretty standard (I did anyway when getting my boiler replaced then later when getting my bathroom redone).
Do you have a quote with a breakdown of the costs? I'd certainly want one and then if say materials were only 25% of the overall cost I'd probably query why they wanted 40% up-front, I'd have thought it more normal to pay materials upfront then agree a schedule of (weekly?) payments after that for a job of that size.
It sounds high to me. I had £12k worth of building work done a few years back and he wanted £1.2k deposit.
I make bespoke furniture. I always ask for, and get 50% upfront, paid just as I commit to the materials. If something changes and the customer can't go ahead I'm left with a lot of very expensive firewood.
Other trades I meet have all got tales of when a customer went bump and took them for thousands. That's a situation I've managed to avoid.
Material costs are bonkers at the moment so do sympathise a bit with the Plumber as it would he a fair whack to lay out up front.
I'd try to negotiate that you pay 5% up front to secure the order then that hey invoice you for the materials and you will do a bank transfer once the materials are on site. Then that they invoice weekly there after based on progress. That's how we do things at my company.
Will you have a contract in place? Remember that when you have building works being carried out on your property, you are automatically the Principal Designer and have roles and responsibilities associated with that.
I'd want the following in place before agreeing to £10k worth of building work on my house:
- Itemised quotation including anything that is excluded.
- A copy of the builder's / plumber"s public liability.
- A basic programme of works that you can track progress against.
- Agreed payment schedule including any retention with a snagging remedial period.
- Basic H&S plan from them detailing how they intend to safely work within your property. And outlining what toilet they will use when working on site.
- Contract in place (there is free ones online).
- Examples of their previous works with maybe a reference or two.
- Warranty details that you will receive.
- Who will be responsible for repair works (plaster repair, decoration etc).
Sorry to get so detailed but I'd do a bit of research on the above before agreeing to a substantial of work and cost. Especially when there is the potential that there could be damage to you property.
if someone asked me for all that i wouldn't be doing the work.
does sound quite high for a deposit but with plumbing work the materials can easily sometimes cost more than the labour. saying that the plumber wont have to pay for them for at least a month
Remember that when you have building works being carried out on your property, you are automatically the Principal Designer and have roles and responsibilities associated with that.
Not as a domestic client, this transfers to the contractor.
We have been asked to pay the materials cost upfront, which is approx 8k on 2 bathrooms
We've having a bathroom done at the moment. £6.5k in total. £500 deposit then £2k at the end of each week for 2 weeks. The final £2k on completion/when we're happy with everything.
I've just had my bathroom refitted, they finished two weeks ago.
10% of labour charge up front.
Then 100% of materials when they started.
Then the remainder of labour charge split over the 3 weeks it took them to do it, (ie 30% at the end of each week)
So 40% up front sounds a bit steep.
We have been asked to pay the materials cost upfront, which is approx 8k on 2 bathrooms
Blimey. It’ll be a bugger carrying those solid gold baths upstairs
Our pretty standard Armitage Shanks bathroom suite was less than £500!
I'll counter the above. In my view (and experience) any reputable tradesman will have at least 30 day payment terms with their suppliers. Therefore they should have no need to ask for a deposit to cover materials. If they have to do that, then they're using you to support their cashflow and I'd be concerned about it.
I've never had to pay a deposit to a trade and that's for work ranging from a plumber replacing a couple of rads, through to a full boiler and heating replacement, to a couple of kitchens, and even a £45k extension. Admittedly the latter had staged payments, but nothing up front.
Remember that when you have building works being carried out on your property, you are automatically the Principal Designer and have roles and responsibilities associated with that
Not as a home owner, man on the street. B2B is different.
It would appear that airvent is mostly right, but I'd have this clarified in writing before the works take place.
https://www.hse.gov.uk/construction/cdm/2015/domestic-clients.htm
Most of what I have listed should have been asked for by previous clients, a lot of rest can be outlined with a couple of sketches and within an email.
I wouldn't be buying anything worth £10k without knowing exactly what I was paying for and what the payment terms are and what warranty I'd be receiving.
