Contract work makes sure any job fits the bill

“I KNOW the final bill is higher than my original estimate. But it was only an estimate I gave you, it wasn’t a guaranteed price.”

This is a situation that faces consumers every day when we get hit with a bill for having work done on the house, that bears no relation to the figures discussed when a job was initially priced.

“How can a job that was only going to cost £1000 suddenly end up costing me three times that?” is a question I am often asked.

It could be because more work was done than was originally discussed, perhaps because the customer’s view of what they wanted changed.

Sometimes costs spiral out of control due to poor communication between builder and customer.

It could also be due to a lack of understanding on the customer’s part that a simple request to “just move that radiator from that wall to that one please” could involve also sorts of extra plastering and pipework and therefore extra costs.

The problem and associated confusion usually goes back to the very beginning of the job where the builder thinks he is doing X work for Y money but the customer thinks he is getting A work for B money.

A recipe for disaster indeed but one that can be rectified easily.

It would make sense that anyone getting work done of any significant value should enter into a contract with their builder before the work starts.

There are standard contracts available online or you may want to contact a solicitor if the work you are having done is particularly expensive.

What often happens is that a quick estimate of the job to be done is given after a cursory look around but, of course, a builder is unable to second guess any trouble that may arise when walls are stripped and plaster removed.

A contract can help here as well. You need to make it clear that anything that is done in addition to the original contract needs to be agreed and added to the back page of the written contract.

That way there can be no dispute over extra costs.