DIY kitchens fitting quote - cost plus 15%

[ISeeTrouble]

Hello all. We are due to start our extension on Monday and our builder has offered to fit the kitchen also. He is familiar with DIY kitchens (which is our preferred choice) and has quoted cost of kitchen plus 15% to supply and fit. Worktops will be ordered and fitted separately.

Does this sound reasonable as I'm pretty clueless?!

Thanks

I'd want to know how many days work it was for him so I could tell what his day rate was.

why would you want to know that?
15% of 5k is still very cheap to fit a kitchen
unless the kitchen is 20k + then the amount of days would be worth asking

If he's supplying the kitchen, ie he's asking you to pay him to buy it for you, then, as he's in business, he will need to be making a mark up on the kitchen to cover his costs.

Most retailers have a trade discount that builders can access. So ask if he's charging based on his trade price or the retail price first off ... then ask what happens if there's a problem with the kitchen as your contract will be with him - not DIY kitchens - so what happens then ?!

And ask what timeline of payment is he wanting to work to. Make sure everything is in writing.

Personally I'd suggest you buy direct from DIY kitchens yourself and ask him to give you a cost to fit it based on the amount of work involved - not how much you've chosen to spend on the product !!

So if your kitchen would cost 10k from DIY Kitchens is he proposing you would pay 10k for that for materials, then £11,500 to him for fitting? That's a lot isn't it?? Or 10k for materials then only an additional £1500 to him for fitting?

£1500 for basic fitting (no gas, electric, wiring up appliances etc.) sounds very fair, however if the kitchen were only 5k you'd only be spending £750 on fitting - which is cheap IMO (not an expert).

I also think better to get a quote based on the work involved rather than the cost of the kitchen; I'd just feel better about it myself in case there was any confusion as to what's included.

user1469117700 I would want to know that because it's a weird way of costing the fitting. Most fitters cost fitting out according to the number and type of units they are asked to fit.

Get a day rate for fitting. £150+ is the average. If he is not prepared to do that then find one that will. Could save some money there.

It's possible that after a bit of practice he's decided that's a simple way of making a reasonable living, assuming a typical mix of products, and maybe he finds pricing difficult.

However, if you were to choose an expensive range, I think it would be about the same amount of work as a cheap range.

Trade discounts can be about 60% off "retail list" but nobody pays retail price anyway. Is he going to supply the units and charge you retail price for them?

Do DIY even offer trade accounts?
Also, bare in mind the units come already preassembled so shouldn't take him as long to fit than if he had to attach the doors to the carcuses etc.
I think you need clarification from him to be honest.

Agree with Ramona75 on the rate (I'm in South East). My DIYK took about 3 days to install (no services or worktops, just units) and it was pretty large, including a wall unit, three 'runs' including two corners, a large island, an 'up and over' set to house an American fridge, cornices and pelmets. The thing with DIYK is that they come fully assembled, including the doors (assuming you've selected that option when ordering) so, and without wanting to underplay the skill involved (I couldn't do it!), 'all' the chippy has to do is unpack them, line them up, level them and install your handles. Their time / skill will be in the levelling so if your walls / floor aren't true, it'll take them longer. They may also have a chippie's mate to speed things along - maybe £60-£70 per day. So, my guess is that something around £800- £1000 for installation wouldn't be far off the mark.

Thanks all. We're planning to visit the showroom ourselves to plan the layout and list of products needed so will price that up ourselves. I'll then see what his proposal includes and see if it matches up with an average day rate. Our kitchen is quite large so suspect the units etc will come to approx £8k.