Do you buy your own gear?

[arbogrunt]

Yep, I buy my own climbing/rigging/PPE gear, pay for my training, have no paid holiday/sick pay, have my own accident cover. When you deduct all of this, you normally end up with about the same pay as a climber who's 'on the cards'.

 

As for dropping my rates.....treework is'nt exactly the way to get rich as it is!...if I can't earn the rate I'm asking for now, I'd pack it in and do another job thats easier and pays more.

 

I also hold £5 million PL, one of the requirements for one of my clients, for them, my day rate is £50 a day more because of it. When I work for tree firms, I work on they're Pl (unless they say they want me to work on mine - then its £50 a day on top).

I do tree work because I enjoy it and because I'm good at it. I could earn a lot more money laying bricks!

[Heads up]

 

Hi frank, I use freelance climbers and it is very very few that have they own insurance, they all seem to want to work of of ours, funny that. They do not desive MUCH higher rate just a higher rate, think they are pricing themself out of the market in these hard times. Companies are having cut prices to win work, so when do the freelancer's cut they rate!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Regards

 

Wattie

 

I don't supply my own insurance as the insurance of the firms i work with covers me and other subbies, if someone wanted me to have my own i'd get its no biggy but right now i have no need to do so. and If i lowered my prices i wouldn't be able to live, my prices go up, not down. If i was or a friend was desperate then maybe ,but as long as there are firms happy to price me in to a day then my rates will continue to rise yearly.

I believe i'm worth at least what i charge a day if i didn't i'd charge less.

[turbull]

I could earn a lot more money laying bricks!. if you could find a site

[Andy Collins]

Ha, brickies are on 55-60 a day in these parts, the building bubble is well and truly bust:scared1:

[Marc]

IMO a self-employed person is just that, and should supply all the necessary kit to perform his duties, plus insurances etc. The cost of his hire should cover all his expenses plus his holiday fund, sick fund and so on. If you dont want to pay the money for a subbie, then put em on the books, pay them hol pay pay the taxes and NI costs.

 

Nicely put Andy.

 

Wattie i know with live in harsh times, its survival of the fittest at the moment, but i will not be cutting my rate at the moment i'm just delaying my pay increasee until the end of this year with my regular employer. Everyone else though my rate is higher.

As for much higher rate it depends its anywhere between 40-50% higher than your average employed climber, to me that is much higher.

 

Arborgrunt you charge an extra £50 a day to climb on your own pli? jeez my pli works out to about £2 a day. I work for an AA approved contractor they like to see him using subbies with there own pli, it works well for me as i also do my own work at the weekends which goes a long way to paying it off and then some.

I have it anyway so for me there is no need to burden anyone with paying it for me its part of my rate.

[skyhuck]

 

Arborgrunt you charge an extra £50 a day to climb on your own pli? jeez my pli works out to about £2 a day.

 

I have it anyway so for me there is no need to burden anyone with paying it for me its part of my rate.

 

True, buts whats your excess? £350?

 

So a fencing panel could ruin your day.

 

Just a thought

[Frank]

I dont see myself as freelance. I run a business. I am a sole trader, but can provide a 2 or 3 man gang with chipper for a specific day rate. I have all my own climbing kit (plus 2nd rescue kit), All own lowering kit. All own saws, all own clearing up kit. (blower and rake haha). I have my own PL insurance, I can remove waste / chippings / firewood etc.

I can also turn up in my car with just climbing kit and a 200t for a specific rate. The people I work for / alongside know what gear I have and what I am capable of, so they either ring and say "i've got a day or 2 for you in 3 weeks", or they ask me to do a site reccy and we agree a price. I would never use other peoples equipment unless they employed me. If a self employed person, i.e a snother sole trader came to work with me and could only supply their own boots, trousers and helmet, they wouldnt get more than £50 a day, and wouldnt leave the ground.

 

I also believe my rate to be at least 3 times that of an employed climber but that is fully justified in what I can bring to the "party".

[ozy vince]

brought all my own kit when I was a subbie, even if i was employed, I would want to choose my own kit regardless of who pays my. my kit selection, is part of the skill i have as a climber, good kit easy climbing, poor kit lots of swearing..

[Frank]

True, buts whats your excess? £350?

 

So a fencing panel could ruin your day.

 

Just a thought

 

Unless, like me you have various sized lap fence panels sat at yard from fencing jobs years ago, that are always poised to be put back to work.

[Littletree]

i pay 585 a year. 2 million pl, 10 million employers, 5k of tools:001_cool:

 

That is fair a chunk but I suppose if you look at it per month its not so bad depending how much work your getting if it was your part time job then it could work out expensive.

 

.From reading the posts it seems that the going rate an employee starts from 7 Ph up to around 10Ph if you work for someone/ company or if you work for yourself then it seems you can get anything from 10 to 25 Ph with all your own kit transport certs and insurance

 

From reading posts on here it seems that employment is hard to come by these days and you have to have loads of exp and certs even to get a low paid position so it makes start to think which route to go down long term .

 

Eastwater:001_smile: