Grounds maintenance - Quoting

[bodgeitandscarper]

When quoting on Grounds maintenance what is the best way to go about, I have been told to do it per m2/LM (this maybe suitable for commercial contracts but at the moment it just domestic) but unless its massive i cant see that being any good. Or do you do it based on the time it takes to do the following :

Borders
Hedges
Trees
Lawn

Then work out hours and add a percentage for fuel + costs.

This is for a social enterprise none profit scheme so any comments would be great.

[IanMelb]

Just for clarification, are you the social enterprise or are you quoting for one?

Ian

[lutonlagerlout]

on small stuff i would imagine it would be better to say 1 man +plant for 4 hours every week/fortnight @£15 per hour or whatever you deem to charge
LLL

[bodgeitandscarper]

Any more advice would be great.

[Rich H]

I always price each job on its own attributes in increments of 2 hours plus waste at £50 per load of green which I mulch at the yard.

If the job is 4 hours per two weeks March - November (October if not too many leaves) and then one visit of 4 hours/month in Dec - Feb I total the lot up, divide by 12 and offer a contract paid by standing order of equal amounts. With rising costs, £20/hour these days.

[Tumshie]

per m2/LM

For the un-educated what does the LM mean?

[seanandruby]

per m2/LM

For the un-educated what does the LM mean?

Hopefully it stands for linear metre. that is measurements in lines rather than squared. length plus width. divide the area by the width to get linear meters....i think ???

[Tony McC]

I always quoted in rates: so much per square metre, so much per linear metre, so much per unit, etc. Although this is standard practice in the civils sector, for the residential project it allowed me to show customers how the price was determined, and, more importantly, it clearly defined how many square metres of whatever I'd be providing. If the client then decides to add the bit at the back of the garage, there's less likelihood of there being a misunderstanding that an extra 15 square metres will cost 15 @ so much.

Some contractors of my acquaintance have come unstuck in providing a job price without defining the scale of the job...To supply and install block paved driveway: 5,000 quid. Then the customer adds the bit at the back of the garage and assumes it's all in the price.

If you do quote a job price, define the limits: To supply and install block paved driveway not exceeding 25 square metres.

There are sound reasons why we use item descriptions, quantities and rates in the civils sector - it makes sure I know what I have agreed to provide and at what cost, and that the customer knows exactly what they are getting and for how much.