Builders. Compulsive liars or eternal optimists?

Question

My building work was due to be finished by Christmas Eve. Do you think they meant Christmas Eve 2008?

Update... I'm very satisfied with the work thats been done so far and have told the builders that. What I don't appreciate is being told that something is going to happen then come home to find it hasn't with no explanation, again and again. I feel sometimes like i'm being treated like a stupid woman and being asked to pay 25K for the privilege. This question started off a bit tongue in cheek. I'm not a fool and realise that there are loads of things to take into account. My 4 week job is now on its 5th month though. My original question was just a way of letting off a bit of steam.

Answer 1

Problem is that people live on planet La La.

They haven't a clue when it comes to the tradesman. They think the trade sit at home tapping their fingers on the table just waiting for your call. That's why people huff and puff when it will be a few weeks before we can make a start. Then when the concrete is put in the foundations they expect us to sit and wait for it to go off then run back to the job which can be two days or so. So you don't have down time, you have 2 to 3 extensions on the go. Don't say you're yet another one that believes it's possible to do one job at once!

Then when it rains, you go to do a 2 day job elsewhere and when the 2nd is sunny, the first customer huffs and puffs because they can see it's sunny and you're ain't there.

If you don't pin a tradesman down to a realistic date, book the carpets in for then and come to a financial penalty clause for going over the deadline (ie. builder to pay carpet fitters) then they will just slot their work in where they want.

Yes, you will get cowboys, but equally there are far more people who don't have a clue how the trade works.

If you go self employed, you CANNOT afford to be taking the odd afternoon or day off, you have to keep busy and going, and by trying to live up to peoples expectations/dreams, you'll go bust.

Answer 2

They are eternal optimists! I don't think any work I have had done has met their estimated timescale! however I've never grumbled much as I'd rather have a good job than a rushed job! I guess it depends on the scale of work how long over the estimate is reasonable - I have always told anyone working in my house that I do not expect them to 'disappear' to work on something else they have on the go and to pencil in exactly how long the job will take, which to be fair they have. I currently have a fantastic plumber, an electrician and a general builder (who is a great plasterer!) a good team for when/if we ever find the plot of land for our house! I'm sure I probably pay over the odds, but I do trust all of them to a) do a high standard job and, b) no to totally take the p**s! + they have all had a fair amount of work from my recommendation (particularly the plumber!) who installed my 'instant house sale bathrooms!

Answer 3

Well......I have been in the business for 12 years and I have seen one (1) project get done on the "ESTIMATED" date. There are many factors that play into getting a building project done one time......weather, trades, holiday's, and the holy of all holy EXTRAS.
I'm not a builder but I am a cabinet maker who's business is 90% builders and 10% homeowners. I always seem to get close with the builders clients and being honest with them about the estimated date.
I would have to guess that only 10% of home building projects are completed on time. It's just how the industry works. I know builders that will be the lowest bidder to get the job knowing that in the end b/c of all the extras they will be higher than the highest bidder to begin with.
I hope your project turns out well!
Happy Holiday's!

Answer 4

Agreed. It's not magic. I have had a few cowboy clients in my time too. Some people need to stop and honestly recall why things are the way they are, and not just keep harping back to an original completion date. Some clients seem to think that because they employ your services, that they become your boss, and at times I have just been plain messed about. I plan jobs around what I am asked to achieve, and as a quantity surveyor some ten years back I think I'm rather good at it, and sometimes, you know, I'd actually rather NOT have a load of extras added at the whim of my client, who now expects me to stay on for as long as it takes. Show your builder a little courtesy, and you'll get it back.
They are of course some frankly criminal characters out there posing as builders, but that is just what they are, criminal characters, and you'd do well to protect yourself with the usual advice. Word of mouth recommendations, and multiple quotes

Answer 5

eternal optimists plus building work is chock full of unforseen difficulties like suppliers being out of certain material constant rain etc. So many variables to juggle with.
I used to be in a building co-operative and we were totally straight and moral and only got it right about 40 percent of the time. It sort of makes you optimistic though becasue you are always thinking- oh it has to get better than this.

Also oyu woudl go bankrupt if oyu didn;t accept every job and old customers to please so you are always being pushed by events - A builders lot is not happy one -

Answer 6

They do in the main actually mean to be genuine, just very optimistic, but customers are as much to blame for the eternal pressure to be there, approximately 50% of customers seem to be of the opinion that they are the only customers a tradesman has, and that he is just hanging about waiting for the one customer to ring. They know you don't want to hear 'it will be next week' or 'next month', and will cause an argument, so it is easier to tell you what you want to hear, rather than actual facts.

Answer 7

It is a well known requirement that all builders give optimistic quotes and time scales otherwise they would never get any work.. I'd love to see a builder forced to be compulsively true for a few days. a bit Like Jim Carey in Liar Liar...

Answer 8

most of us are dead honest ..i cant remember when i did a job ..and only done the work i had priced for ..there always extras ..and that all ways pushes the next job starting date back ..on my last job it started out as £35000 of work ..and ended up as £60000 ..plus vat of course ..so give us a break we are not all bad !

Answer 9

What do they say the problem is? Did they come accross unforseen problems with your building? Did they give you a timeline of events and didn't follow it?

Answer 10

Did you do all the necessary checks, phone a friend , references etc

Silly you, ex cowboy