Day rates when things go wrong..

[oldwoodcutter]

Quoting days rates are, and always have been, frought with pitfalls, and are invariably a set of dice loaded heavily in the customers favour.
And the old chestnut of offers of plenty of future work if you don’t charge too much should be seen as an insult to your intelligence as this is what they say to all contractors who they think has mug tattooed on their forehead.

[woody paul]

I have quoted day rates on a number of jobs where work can be changeable, and eveytime it's worked in my favour. 

 

[agg221]

I have a number of large trees at my place which are beyond my ability to access. Sometimes I need work done (need because they need reducing/removing to avoid damage to something else).

 

I have a steady supply of work at the rate of a couple of days a year. It does not all want doing at once - it can be spread over months/years.

 

I have had a day-rate arrangement with several people (who may still be on here). They climb and cut, I drag brash and feed it through the chipper. If they have a chipper and include it in the day then that's great, otherwise I hire one. They fit in days as they are mutually convenient. A job price would not work because the requirements are constantly evolving. They get to fill in time, I get a clear figure and can prioritise.

 

From experience, day rates do require you to define what a day is. It also requires defining what happens if it doesn't work out as planned - when I am hiring a person plus the chipper, what if it breaks down? What if that is because I feed it a house brick (no, I am not that stupid)? Basically, a day rate relies on either a lot of contractual paperwork to cover all eventualities, or mutual trust. So far, the latter has worked for several parties, but we are both careful who we choose.

 

Alec

[topchippyles]

17 minutes ago, agg221 said:

I have a number of large trees at my place which are beyond my ability to access. Sometimes I need work done (need because they need reducing/removing to avoid damage to something else).

 

I have a steady supply of work at the rate of a couple of days a year. It does not all want doing at once - it can be spread over months/years.

 

I have had a day-rate arrangement with several people (who may still be on here). They climb and cut, I drag brash and feed it through the chipper. If they have a chipper and include it in the day then that's great, otherwise I hire one. They fit in days as they are mutually convenient. A job price would not work because the requirements are constantly evolving. They get to fill in time, I get a clear figure and can prioritise.

 

From experience, day rates do require you to define what a day is. It also requires defining what happens if it doesn't work out as planned - when I am hiring a person plus the chipper, what if it breaks down? What if that is because I feed it a house brick (no, I am not that stupid)? Basically, a day rate relies on either a lot of contractual paperwork to cover all eventualities, or mutual trust. So far, the latter has worked for several parties, but we are both careful who we choose.

 

Alec

Plain common sense alec from both sides.