Snow Clearance

[TFOCH]

Hi

I've got a builder on site at the moment doing a house extension. During the spell of bad weather, he was prevented from working for almost two weeks due to snow. Since I couldn't get out of the drive (and I'm on a main road), I didn't really blame him for this.

Some three months later, he's now added a sum of money to my bill for "snow clearance", saying this is industry standard. I never asked him to do this, and never agreed to pay any costs for this. In my opinion, it's to his advantage to clear the snow to allow his guys to work, otherwise they're sitting around doing nothing.

Can anyone comment on whether this is standard, or is he just chancing his luck?

Thanks

 

[moggridgeplumbing]

I'd say chancing his luck. Now if you asked him to clear it then that would have been a different matter.

 

[1john]

New one on me, I dont think you should be billed for anything not agreed before hand, thats how I work anyway. Have you been charged additional costs for unbrella usage too if it was raining??

 

[joinerjohn]

Seems to me, that as he didn't work for two weeks, there could have been no snow clearance. Did he actually clear some snow out of his way, or just didn't turn up whilst the snow was there? How much has he added to the bill?
If you feel this is excessive, then present him with a bill for using your electricity whilst on your job. (don't forget tea and biscuits etc)

 

[TFOCH]

Thanks for the quick replies!

The snow had eased, he'd stopped work because the roads were impassible. Once he could get to site, we still had 6-8" of snow. There's no dispute he needed to clear the snow, but we'd never agreed to be charged for that.

There's a couple of other little gems he's thrown in too, including additional scaffolding required following an HSE inspection. He seems to think that's chargable to us too. As far as I'm concerned, he should have priced for satisfactory scaffolding. I'm pretty sure he's pushing his luck, trying to get what he can.

(edit to add - it's another £300. Total project value is about £110k. Small beer in the scheme of things, but there's an endless lists of "extras" we're being presented with)

 

[1john]

Extra's eh, what can you do, the problem is that if you tell someone to carry on and do extras but dont agree prices upfront then things can start to spiral out of control without you even knowing about it, it may be alot of faffing around but I always confirm extras in writing with my customers and make sure they are certain they want them before comencment.

 

[Mw Roofline]

Snow clearnace, brilliant. Tell him youre not paying and you want the snow putting back.

 

[WoodYouLike]

Snow clearnace, brilliant. Tell him youre not paying and you want the snow putting back.