Drop kerb - Contractor wanted

[Rich H]

I'm doing a job in Maidenhead that will require a drop kerb. We've had the council out and they've said there's no reason why we shouldn't get the approval but I now need a contractor to do it.

Of the 4 Maidenhead contractors on the council's approved list, three haven't returned my calls and the fourth was an old-school sharp-intake-of-breath 'lotta work there mate' type of bloke that I don't like to work with. £800 cash for a day's work and, what?, £200 costs? He went on to justify this by saying it would be £1500 in London.

It's 4 small bull-nosed at road level plus the two droppers, pavement is about 1.2m wide tarmac finish. No shallow services to worry about.

I can't do the work 'cause I don't have the highways certificate.

I know a lot of folks here do highways work and would appreciate advice on what should I really be paying. Or if anyone fancies the job...!

[lutonlagerlout]

costs £700 in luton ,only council approved guys can do it
LLL

[dig dug dan]

one of my customers wanted a dropper swapped for a kerb to make his drive wider. (i.e. swap two kerbs round) so i could then pave up to them. they wanted £800. bloody cheek as they are using this "approved contractors only" as an excuse o bump the price up. We did it ourselves in the end, and no one has said anything.
I know lots of people who are fed up with being ripped off like this, and do the work themselves, often to a better standard

[seanandruby]

i was wondering how much it would cost to get your streetworks ticket? that way you could d i y and do others to pay for ticket. :;):

[Dave_L]

£560+VAT for a standard drop crossing.

Shame, we don't work in Maidenhead

[flowjoe]

If and i mean If i could do it in a day then i would expect at least £630 for a two man team.

Plant + Labour + Tipping + Materials + Insurance + Certs.

However given the specs given for dropping kerbs and the unknown factor i would price on two days, the trip to the quarry for T-Mac can be half a day for two men if you are at the wrong end of a big order

So i would say £1200 + vat up here in gods country if it is a one off job.

If you can find a larger contractor it won`t be much less, you will have eight guys on site for five hours with all the kit and as mentioned on the site before small jobs are just not worth the effort for the big players

[lutonlagerlout]

i think the bottom line rich is that £800 aint bad for a dropped kerb,not good but not bad
when i was allowed to do them we used to charge £250 but that was over 10 years ago and was concrete not tarmac
LLL

[flowjoe]

. No shallow services to worry about.

I should also of added that there is no such scenario as no hidden cables, services or ducts.

The very fact that we excavate within the highways and byways means our insurance costs go through the roof.

[Dave_L]

The only way you can make drop kerbs pay is to do two a day - or do all the prep work on 2 or 3 in a day and then surface them up the following day.

[Rich H]

Many thanks for all your comments, guys. I have the £5m public liability insurance from when I used to work at the London Eye and I've just kept it on. Do you need any other insurances for highways?

When I priced the job myself I allowed:

Labour £340 (including insurance o/h etc)
Materials £90
Dispoal £50
Plant £50 (disc cutter, wacker and lifting for kerbs)
Total £530 to the customer.

[Tony McC]

The council set the insurance requirements. Usually 5 million quid of cover minimum, plus a supervisor's roadworks ticket (NRASWA).

800 quid is not unreasonable, in all honesty. When we used to do them, and it's 10 years now since the last one I worked on, we were charging 600 quid plus council inspection fees plus VAT for a standard 5 kerb installation (pair of droppers and three centre stones) with a 1.8m wide blacktop accommodation.

[Rich H]

Got another quote from a local firm for £670+VAT. Think I'll go with them.

Here's where it's going to be:



and before

[lutonlagerlout]

nice job there rich
,but, and dont take this the wrong way
you would think after getting the front done up really nice,they would splash out another grand and get a nice new wall built in some half decent stocks instead of bloody LBCs
i actually detest london bricks they are such poor quality,you can get soe really nice FL facers for £300 per thou now
nice work what you have done though mate

LLL

[Rich H]

Thanks LLL. The whole street has matching front garden walls, so the client wanted it to look the same. Those LBCs cost £410/1000! But I only needed 300 for the job. Nothing compared to the 800 granite blocks at £650/1000!

[lutonlagerlout]

tell me about it i had to pay 400/thou for LBC commons last week,when you can get FLBs for 280 a thou,much nicer bricks too

IMHO LBCs are NOT suitable for freestanding walls
but client gets what client wants

LLL