Quotes v quotes v quotes!!!!

[scoobie1969]

Hi - hope someone can help me.

I have recently asked 3 people to quote me for block paving c 30m2 of front garden/drive. It's a fairly simple job with little in the way of slope and I wanted rectangular blocks, similar to the ones laid by David Wilson when teh drive was originally laid.

Now, whilstI know that there woudl be a discrepancy between the quotes, I have had one at £1500, one at £3,000 and one at £4,300, all including materials and labour.

Now, if we asume that the materials cost will be the same (there shoudl be no reason why they aren't), there seesm one heck of a difference in labour costs. Also, the cheapest one was the most detailed and included a full breakdown of work plus a copy of his insurance certificate!

As a rough (and I mean rough) idea, what should i really be looking at paying? Anyone got any idea for pavers in the Kettering area???

[MatthewWakeman]

30m2 is quite small and would normally attract a premium but £4300 is taking the P for 30m2 depending on access drainage etc look to pay a decent contractor around £50-60m2 breakdown

Grab wagon 150.00
blocks 285.00 30m2 @9.50 inc vat
mot 120.00
sand 70.00
Kiln dried 10.00

Total 635.00

so at 1500.00 the contractor still has a healthy margin depending on the cost of his labour which shoould only be 3 men 1 day 1 paver 2 labourers ie 250.00

regards
#
matthew
drivewaycompany.co.uk

[scoobie1969]

Many thanks Matthew. Is it likely that I have been given the higher quotes becase they just don't want the job??

If so, why can't they just say, "sorry mate, too small for me cos I am so busy"???!!!



once again, thanks for the info.

[lutonlagerlout]

i would have thought about £2k was more realistic,i notice no digger in your calcs matthew,so are you saying 3 men dig out 9 m spoil cartaway,lay stone,wack,lay sand,wack ,lay blocks,do cuts etc etc in 1 day??
not in this world
plus what about your overheads?
IMHO about £2k
cheers LLL ???

[MatthewWakeman]

luton

we own all the plant and therefore it's included in the over heads which is obviously part of the remaining 615.00 after taking out variable costs such as labour and materials and if 3 men cannot excavate stone up and pave 30m2 in a day they want shagging.

regards
matthew
drivewaycompany.co.uk

[scoobie1969]

I am 59 miles from Brum but 79 from Stourbridge - that too far???!!!

[Dave_L]

I'm suprised you don't factor the machine in on the job - ours is, everytime!

[lutonlagerlout]

a mate of mine is a QS and he has told me to factor in 12% onto jobs for plant costs,every time something dies or goes wrong it has to be replaced,which costs a lot of money for plant.
obviously depending on the job this isnt always feasible but its worth adding a "drink " to your price for wear and tear on cutters etc.
i still cant see 3 lads doing a complete 30m driveway in a day,how are the kerbs going to go off from say 10 in the morning till 5 in the afternoon?if you have to bed an IC cover are you going to wack it the same day?
if you can do this fair play ,if you lived round these parts you would be doing them twice the speed of everyone else.
cheers LLL

[MatthewWakeman]

If you have a well worked out business model depreciation serviceing is all included in your fixed costs. We have a specific model that we work to all the time when it is applied properly it works very well and keeps us competative. Gone are the days i turn up and see a nice jag on the drive and think to my self well this is money so he's going to pay more. Its all about winning the work at a sensible margin so that you can make a decent profit all year round.

regards

matthew
drivewaycompany.co.uk

[MatthewWakeman]

luton

not all jobs require block on edge or have manhole covers or require aco channells or dwaf walls. My Assumption is based on a 30m2 patch of tarmac pathe edgings to remain no covers.

regards

matthew
drivewaycompany.co.uk

[Nigel Walker]

Matthew

Wow the perfect job. 30m2 no edging needed no manholes, no drainage, no walls - just tar to lift and blocks to lay.
In reality you get one of these jobs once every couple of years.
A standard driveway generally needs edging, drainage, manhole covers etc. Even the smallest drive needs a minimum of 2 days - to allow for haunching to go off on edging and other cement to harden
Thats why it is so difficult to price for small jobs. A 60m2 drive takes 2 days - a 20m2 drive takes 2 days. That is why there is a premium cost for smaller jobs.

Nigel

[MatthewWakeman]

nigel

thanks for the advice what have i been doing for the last 18 years ?? silly me LOL

regards
matthew
drivewaycompany.co.uk

[MatthewWakeman]

Nigel

What happens when on your 2 day 20m2 job you have finished excavating and set your block on edge all of prob 20LM do you go home or go to another job ?? a pavers job used to be just that but when you run a business with circa 15 guys on the pay roll that does not happen. It becomes my job to plan the days and work load so every body is being productive. And believe me it aint easy along with all the other rolls i have.

regards

Matthew

[lutonlagerlout]

And believe me it aint easy along with all the other rolls i have.

what like cheese and onion or ham and tomato??
lol or did you mean roles?
a freudian slip
cheers LLL

[Rich Payne]

If you had one of these fancy foreign keyboards, you could even say rôles ! Egg 'n bacon's my favourite:)