Decided to relocate bathroom upstairs ,as no plumbing up that side of house the plumber has had a lot of pipe runs etc.
This chap was recommended by my next door neighbour he has had 2 bathrooms redone by this chap,
So agreed that he could do ours.
His daily rate is £150 per day .
When he started he came at 9 o/c 1/2 hour lunch left at 5ish.
Then he has started coming late up to 10 .30 .Its as he says that he has to go shopping for the stuff that he needs that day .
Also going early as he says he has to go order stuff that he requires later in the week.Could he not do this all at one time .Now I have OH & youngest son (both know it alls) telling me I am being ripped off.
I can see where they are coming from.  So is the plumber in the right to expect to do shopping for gear he is using on my job in my time or should he be doing that in his own time .
I have sourced bath ,sink ,etc on my own ,Have used B & Q for other stuff as the plumber has a trade discount for that store,as its on his account he has to go & get it himself.The store is within 10 mins of his house .Am I wrong to be getting a bit peeved now.
Also have booked him to refit old downstairs bathroom into a utility room,Plus gut & refit kitchen ,am now having second thoughts,I have no complaints about his workmanship he is clean tidy & through.So what do you think ?

Haven't had plumbers in as OH does it himself, but around here £150 per day is what we pay plasterers, so sounds about right. Can't comment on buying things as we buy everything in ourselves. Any people we have in usually start at 7.30am and go around 4.30pm with about 1/2 hour for lunch. Most builders merchants etc open early (Plumbase opens at 7am), so can't think that he would need to start with you as late as 10.30am :( Personally, I think he is taking a liberty !

I think he starts that late as he has a 14 year old that he gets to school(why at 14 he needs a escort to school is beyond me )His wife has a accident to her knee so cannot do it herself at the moment .

He should give you a price for the job and not just a daily rate.

That way it is in his own interest to get the job done :-)

£150 a day is about the going rate for tradesmen.

I'd keep a record of the hours that he does, work out how many hours and then 'negotiate' how much you actually will pay him. A minimum of 8 hours a day for £150. How many hours you allow him for buying things is up to you, but, if he is organised, he should have bought everything and, maybe, only need a few minutes to pick up extras as the need requires. If he isn't going to do a full days work, as Lucy says, get a price to do any other job. We're happy to pay our plasterers by the day as they work very hard and often stay late to finish what they are doing.

the other day he was short of pipe so had to go get some to finish the job,thats in my time that im paying him missing for over an hour,It was not my fault that he was short but feel miffed that I am paying him to go shopping for more .

>He should give you a price for the job and not just a daily rate.<br />

I agree with Lucy. We would never pay tradesmen a daily rate but always get a quote for the total job to be done. :)

I too go for price for the completed job,pay a third before starting, a third half way through and finish paying when I am happy with the finished job.

Paying by the day does allow him to drag his heels knowing he is still going to be paid regardless of how little he does each day.

Do you trust him?
There is nothing worse than a bad tradesman who is ripping you off and your own gut instinct will tellyou this.
However it is a pain if you have got others (husband and offspring) sniping at you, are they trying to undermine the job you are doing in organising it not them?
currently we have a builder in, he is paid by the hour, this does include him going off out for purchases, stopping for coffee etc..........but he is a really good worker, and |I have a lot of trust in him a whole lot more than others that have been here in the past, including family members doing 'fixed rate jobs'.
So my advice is trust your gut feeling. £150 a day is a fair rate :)

Karen

I've recently got a quote for a builders who have their own plumbers etc. They have given one set price and not a daily rate for work being completed. Not sure i'd like that as they can drag things out on a daily rate!!

> We would never pay tradesmen a daily rate

We only pay our plasterers daily because of the volume and nature of the work - and because we know them well :) :)

I trust in the work that he is doing as it is top notch,I am not sure about the time keeping,and as OH & offspring are more worried about the cost am getting agro from them daily !!!
Trouble is OH in years past would have done all prep work ,But as he is now 65 & still working a 5 1/2 day week is Knackered when he comes home & doesnt want to start again !! Son also works 5 1/2 days & with 3 young kids at home has'nt the time either .But they do want to complain !!!So I am paying £150 per day for sanding walls, tileing ,changing light fitments all jobs OH would have done in the past.They just cannot see that this has all got to be paid for if they cannot or will not do it for me ,
I did ask for a ball park figure before he started but he said he was unable to give me one as until he started he did not know if there would be any problems as no pipework at the side of house that I wanted the bathroom to be .

> He should give you a price for the job and not just a daily rate.<That way it is in his own interest to get the job done :-)

You'd think so wouldn't you, but I currently have an unfinished job that my guy quoted me a total price for. We booked a day that should have been enough for him to do the whole job (it's just felling some trees including stump grinding and removal). So far he's been for two or three hours on two separate days, and he can't fit the rest of it in until next month!

I haven't paid him anything yet - well the price was for the total job, and I don't think he's got the nerve to ask for part of it!

[url=]He should give you a price for the job and not just a daily rate.[/url]

Not really, its up to him and the customer to agree on what is the best rate to pay.

Personally, I would never pay on a day rate, because as you are finding out,    its to his advantage.

A price for the job, will /should ensure the job is done quicker, because if he messes about, he is the one losing money, not you.

If you agreed to a daily rate of £150 then that is what you've done, I wouldn't let other family members be winding you up about it, workmen have always including their 'shopping' as part of the hours it is normal to do so. :-) Very often they have to go home or shopping to get longer, smaller, larger parts which they find needed on their way throughout the job, perfectly normal.

What I will say is don't rock the boat if he is doing a grand job leave him be to do it, can't tell you the amount of times people even I know have hired someone and then had to hire someone else to re-do it, if you have a good, solid workman praise be, they are like gold dust.

You're not being ripped off at all the rate is pretty normal to me. Labour is very expensive today, he will work out what he can do in one day and what he needs to start in the next, he won't wish to start any bigger jobs and leave them, so will gage some days will be longer some shorter, again a perfectly normal way of working.

The end result is what matters and if he is clean and tidy too whilst working that is great, look at the quality of work and tell everyone to stop mithering you. :-)

Well put Carrington............The other people seem to be the nuisance factor here.

Karen :)

OH is a builder and although most jobs are estimated on a compete job some he does on a day rate. It often depends on what the job is, It is hard to give a set price for a job that has hidden possibilities. He includes provisional sums and so if lets say digging footing to a depth of 1 mtr turns out to be too shallow and the building inspecter wants them 2 mtrs (They do..sometimes!) then obviously the price will have to be altered especially if it is a hand dig!
Day rates will have to include trips to builders merchants etc. you cannot expect your chap to do it in his time. Most will factor this in and £150 per day seems about right to me. I cannot tell you how many times things are delivered or picked up only to prove to be the wrong bit/too big/too small/broken/damaged etc... As others have said if you are happy with his work and he is putting the effort in while on the job then you are probably doing OK.
Aileen

Thanks for all replys,now feel better as to what is happening is as most say is normal ,Have other work for him after upstairs bathroom that I didnt want to book for if I felt that he was taking the mickey .Work is fine ,Price is ok by me as most have said going rate .
I have never had work done for me before as OH is a very good handiman & cheap !!! Son just agrees with what OH says ,so am getting grief from both,will tune them out & continue to spend OH's money lol