Day rate for a groundie......

[Big T]

Some good points here, thanks for the replies! I have all of my own PPE and a small saw, a bigger one will be bought before I work for anyone else. Its interesting that PPE/saws are such an issue to people, why shouldnt self employed people supply their own? My PPE was about £300 all in and the saw wasnt much, once its bought then there will of course be running/maintenance costs but its not that much! I dont understand peoples obsession with having these things supplied, you wouldnt turn up on a building site without having your own Hi-viz, Boots, Hard Hat etc..............

[felixthelogchopper]

Some good points here, thanks for the replies! I have all of my own PPE and a small saw, a bigger one will be bought before I work for anyone else. Its interesting that PPE/saws are such an issue to people, why shouldnt self employed people supply their own? My PPE was about £300 all in and the saw wasnt much, once its bought then there will of course be running/maintenance costs but its not that much! I dont understand peoples obsession with having these things supplied, you wouldnt turn up on a building site without having your own Hi-viz, Boots, Hard Hat etc..............

 

Once you see how hard this job is on PPE, in particular trousers, you will understand how big a deal it is. Standard building site PPE can be had for about £50 and doesn't have to take any of the abuse of brambles, barbed wire etc so consequently lasts longer. Only got 1 saw? If that doesn't work, neither do you so you need a second saw and the costs that come with it. Who pays for your sickness or holiday? If you are self-employed, it's you. You are also employed on an ad-hoc basis and so have no job security, as well as having the responsibility for doing your own NI and tax. It's not just about PPE so you can't compare employee and subcontractor as like for like.

[Big T]

I accept your points but like I said, I wouldnt work for anyone if I didnt have another saw as well. From a self employed point of view the cost of replacing PPE etc is an overhead, it dosent matter if you are working in the Arb world or not, if your self employed you will have overheads, the cost can partly be passed on by what you charge for your services. The sick pay and holiday issue is the same, its all part of being self employed, rough with the smooth and all that, thats my problem as Im self employed. The bonus of that is that if I sub out to someone then they dont have to worry about any of that, they call me and Im there, ready to go with all my own gear. I might be slightly more expensive than someone on the books but they will have a saving because Im only used when im needed and there is no hassle over holidays/having a runny nose, etc,etc. Im taking the stress, NI and Tax issues, no job security and finantial burden on myself, again thats the self employed world! Im a big believer that you get out what you put in so Im happy to do this, build a good reputation and hopefully reap the rewards that this will bring! Its proven that contract staff are cheaper in the long run, look at industry as a whole, especially the MOD, while initial costs are more its overall cheaper. Just my opinion..............

[Will Ayers]

i love sub contracting, PPE and saws are a must. i cant expect other people to pay for them, yeah so they get wrecked, thats why we earn so much, things get broke!

 

and you have to be as happy with a day on the ground as you are spinning around a canopy, i charge £130 a day and feel that is fair. i'm going to have to put my rates up for some of my further away firms in the new year as fuel is eating in to my rates too much, but im sure they'll be more than happy to pay it as i work my hardest to ensure we go home having done what was on the list and regularly more!

 

a subby can never begrudge the amount a firm is making in a day or for that matter, how much others on site are earning. that is your job, to make money for other people. if your good at it, you deserve a bigger cut. but that takes time effort and experience before your good enough to get proper money.

 

im investing money in some more gear that i think will make work easier, new rigging gear and a little tipper for extra chip capacity on jobs. i think once those things are in place i can easily charge £150 a day if not more for those far away jobs.

[felixthelogchopper]

i love sub contracting, PPE and saws are a must. i cant expect other people to pay for them, yeah so they get wrecked, thats why we earn so much, things get broke!

 

and you have to be as happy with a day on the ground as you are spinning around a canopy, i charge £130 a day and feel that is fair. i'm going to have to put my rates up for some of my further away firms in the new year as fuel is eating in to my rates too much, but im sure they'll be more than happy to pay it as i work my hardest to ensure we go home having done what was on the list and regularly more!

 

a subby can never begrudge the amount a firm is making in a day or for that matter, how much others on site are earning. that is your job, to make money for other people. if your good at it, you deserve a bigger cut. but that takes time effort and experience before your good enough to get proper money.

 

im investing money in some more gear that i think will make work easier, new rigging gear and a little tipper for extra chip capacity on jobs. i think once those things are in place i can easily charge £150 a day if not more for those far away jobs.

 

Where did I say I begrudge a contractor making money? After all, if they don't make money from my work then my relationship with them won't last. How they price a job is up to them. I know how much I need to make in a day. What they need to make is up to them.

[APC]

£10.00 an hour, standard. If you can keep up with the climber, keep the ground tidy, keep any grunts moving and be be able to talk knowledgeably about the job to anyone who asks, then £10.00 is a minimum.

 

Anyone who takes pride and is efficient is worth £10.00 minimum. If a climber takes the same or less then they are charging too little.

[Mark Bolam]

Some good points being made here fellas.

 

It's almost like a discussion between adults!

 

I'll whap a few Stellas down and see if I can drag the thread into a screaming argument!

[blazer]

My son has just started as a groundie to a local company and is on 65/day, using there saws but has his own PPM.

[Hodge]

Some good points being made here fellas.

 

It's almost like a discussion between adults!

 

I'll whap a few Stellas down and see if I can drag the thread into a screaming argument!

 

Looking forward to that Mark. LOL!!

[AlexB]

90-110 a day and they are providing saw fuel and own transport?

 

so about 70.00 a day then lol

 

Not quite, it's a bit more on average. and the longer you work the more you earn....

 

Now, apply your calculations to every other offering and let us know what you come up with Phil.

 

As i said, it's not for an arb groundie but what you could earn on the harvesting side of things with a 30/31 ticket.

 

Alex