Do I offer my plumber more money because a job is taking longer than he had thought?

[why100000]

Hi

A plumber was here all day yesterday attaching two new radiators to the heating system.

Before coming he had previously quoted me a price for the job which I was happy with.

Now he has to come back this morning as the job is taking longer than he thought in terms of locating pipes and getting through tiles and flooring.

Should I offer him more money because the job is longer? He had initially said a day.

If he'd finished early yesterday would be have charged you less?? If he quoted for the job then it doesn't matter how long it took.

No!

You don't have to, he quoted for the job so it is what it is no matter how long it takes. Having said that, where I live it's VERY hard to get plumbers. So I would probably give him more to compensate for his extra time in the hope that he would remember & be available quickly should I need a plumber in the future.

Okay phew I don’t think I will as I am not awash with cash.

When I have more funds I will probably ask him to do the whole bathroom which is in an utterly pitiful state - so he would then get more work out of me.

It’s not exactly that his quote was wrong. It’s more that he’s encountered unforeseen circumstances. I assume it would have come in on budget if he hadn’t had these problems. He should have accounted for unexpected problems in his quote? I wouldn’t offer more but I’d be surprised if he doesn’t charge more.

Can he do that - charge more?

I hope he did build unforeseen problems into his quote.

If he had misquoted and the job was the same but he’d underestimated the time and work, I’d expect the price to remain the same because that’s his fault. But if he’s given an accurate quote and now extra work has been added due to unforeseen problems I’d expect to be charged extra because that’s not his fault, it’s yours (well your house’s fault anyway)

Most tradesmen would have a conversation with you when things started to go awry and say look, this is beyond what I quoted for, this extra work will cost an additional X amount. Or sometimes they specifically say at the start (or put in the contract) this quote is for a straightforward job assuming nothing extra is required. What does your contract say about unforeseen circumstances?

It was just verbal - he’s a really nice guy and I’ll see what he says. He didn’t leave late at all last night - in fact he could have stayed later but had to go to another job / or to quote for someone else. So if he stays for an hour or so today I would think it would be ok to pay the same. If he stays longer I might offer a little extra if he doesn’t ask for it but I can’t offer loads.

He did a job at my sister’s, came back 4 times to try to find a leak - and did not charge much at all, so if anything I think he undercharges.

#feelingbadnow!