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Fixed quotes?

Hi All.

I always tended to try and offer the client a fixed price quote so they could budget ok.

However, i keep overrunning and incurring extra costs which im currently absorbing, but im wondering whether i need to actually offer fixed price jobs.

For instance, a brick weave driveway ive just completed needed an extra 11m2 Marshalls pack, at a cost of £150 which i couldnt pass onto the client and nearly wiped out by profit.

I do hard landscaping and groundworks (no plantings) and have a 2-3 man team depending on the job.

So, should i be offering Estimates or Quotes? How do you all do it?

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  • PRO
    HI David

    A quote is fine providing that it is chargeable pro rata.

    If you base a patio on a fixed price based on 'x' square metres but the client has specified the area and you make an error in measuring/calculating and you overrun on materials and time then you have to absorb the cost.

    If a client specifies that they want an extra 'x' square metres then they pay a price pro rate to the costs already supplied.

    This is where your T&C's are a valuable addition to your quote.

    Hope this helps?
  • Hi David

    £150 or thereabouts profit on a driveway means the price was too low to start with. We look to clear £2k a week per job clear profit after we have paid all our overheads - otherwise the business cannot sustain itself.

    The going rate in this neck of the woods for laying blocks is £40.00 per metre excluding materials. The best investment you can make is in an A3 pad of graph paper and a digital measuring wheel - approx cost for both about £62.00. There is nothing to beat getting the perimeter measurements to the mm before you start costing a project out. Once you have the site plan sorted you can't go wrong unless you don't double check your figures before sending the proposal out to the client.

    Another key thing we do is provide proposals which specify everything to the customer which is included. Any extras have to be agreed in writing prior to them being accepted, and if we are too busy to accommodate the extras they have to be booked in when we have the time - that avoids any overruns.

    Hope that might help a bit - it was a bitter lesson when we learnt it !

    Lara
  • Lara Warner said:
    Hi David

    £150 or thereabouts profit on a driveway means the price was too low to start with. We look to clear £2k a week per job clear profit after we have paid all our overheads - otherwise the business cannot sustain itself.
    Lara

    Thanks for the input Lara,

    Wow, im working far to cheaply, which might explain why im so busy, but so poor.

    I will go and get a measuring wheel, its a great idea.

    I asked the lady in question who's driveway we had just finished what the other quotes were... Turns out my quote was some £5,000 cheaper than the two other companies that also quoted. Saying that, it was only 38 sq meters of Block paving, but it also took us 3 days to break up the old concrete driveways, paths and remove the existing turfed garden but even so, the other two quotes were very high in my mind.

    regards

    David
  • Hi,

    The work was as follows:

    Dig up re-inforced concrete driveway and dispose of spoil
    Dig up re-inforced concrete pathway and bin area and dispose of spoil
    Dig up lawn, level whole area and dispose of turf and excess top soil.
    Lay 100mm subbase under driveway area, 50mm subbase under rest of garden.
    Brickweave 36m2 with Driveline Excell blocks.

    Included lowering of all manhole covers and replacement with block paving hiden covers.

    Total price quoted was £2200 including all materials and it took us 6 days.
  • thats 366 per day for a 3 man team even if you didnt include materials in that price. you seriously need to look at how youre pricing. if youre pricing a job so tight that you cant absorb the cost of an extra 150 then your pricing way too low. Maybe you should look at your methods of working to see if you can be any more profitable. We did a similar sized heavy duty driveway with 12" thick reinforced concrete broken out and excavated in a day recently, and i would normally expect to have most average drives we do broken out and dug out in a day.

  • Break the project down into individual components and think about the build procedure, once you have done so and noted the exact task in hand work out all the materials / plant required for the individual areas.

    Put to one side and do the same again after a day.... There is no easy way to learn but hitting yourself in the pocket......

    Measure twice and cut once.....

    £5 k cheaper for 38 sqm?? someones taking the client for a fool.....no wonder they came back to you.....

    No mention of soakawy or aco drains...... what do you do with the surface water from the driveway??

    Good luck

  • This thread is 5 years old! Im pretty sure hes sorted out by now!

    Thermo said:

    thats 366 per day for a 3 man team even if you didnt include materials in that price. you seriously need to look at how youre pricing. if youre pricing a job so tight that you cant absorb the cost of an extra 150 then your pricing way too low. Maybe you should look at your methods of working to see if you can be any more profitable. We did a similar sized heavy duty driveway with 12" thick reinforced concrete broken out and excavated in a day recently, and i would normally expect to have most average drives we do broken out and dug out in a day.

  • PRO

    Chris

    Yes, it is an old thread but I brought it to the surface because it might be of interest to others.

    Chris Auld said:

    This thread is 5 years old! Im pretty sure hes sorted out by now!

    Thermo said:

    thats 366 per day for a 3 man team even if you didnt include materials in that price. you seriously need to look at how youre pricing. if youre pricing a job so tight that you cant absorb the cost of an extra 150 then your pricing way too low. Maybe you should look at your methods of working to see if you can be any more profitable. We did a similar sized heavy duty driveway with 12" thick reinforced concrete broken out and excavated in a day recently, and i would normally expect to have most average drives we do broken out and dug out in a day.

  • didnt spot that as it was sitting at the top of the pile in the threads! ill get my coat!

  • No need for Suds in June 2008..... the regulation came into force in October the same year.... not that it means a toffee to some still !!

    But I but stand firm with the measure twice cut once method

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