Time+materials contractor
I’m interested in feedback from people who have hired contractors on a time basis (where there is a weekly rate and the homeowner pays suppliers directly for needed materials, no markup, but possibly a trade discount), and whether the job came in more, less or equal to what fixed-price general contractors quoted. We are getting fixed price bids for adding a kitchen in an old brownstone (where currently it’s just a laundry room, as the prior owners pulled out the old kitchen), from all but one person, a smaller operator who is more like a carpenter who does everything else in interiors except plumbing/electric and has a great eye for detail, who has a daily/weekly rate plus direct-pay for materials and whatever the electrician and plumber cost separately (he has people he works with who friends love and now swear by, or we could use different people). The time+materials guy does good work, I’ve seen more than one example, and heard from others positively. I’m told he guesstimates how many weeks it will take him and rarely is wrong. But it is still harder to budget for. Thanks for any feedback.
jeanmarine2
in Carpenters and Woodworkers 12 years and 2 months ago
2
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2 replies
greenmountain | 12 years and 2 months ago
http://www.nyc.gov/html/dca/html/initiatives/contractors.shtml#tips Time and materials is not allowed by the DCA, so contractors working this way are not licensed. There is no penalty for the home owner, but you have far less recourse in the case of a dispute. Still, with or without contract, the cost of workers comp is the killer. Are you willing to pay more for a licensed contractor who protects their workers? If they have a license, it is harder (not impossible) to avoid payroll taxes and comp insurance.
jcarch | 12 years and 2 months ago
In the end, you have to choose whether you want to be protected if the project takes more time to complete than anticipated, or if you want to save $ if it takes less time than anticipated. With a fixed price contract, it’s not your problem if the work takes 200 man hours instead of 150. But contractors definitely hedge their bets when calculating a fixed price bid – you’re not getting a quote for the best case scenario where everything goes smoothly, and if things do go smoothly, you don’t get money back from the contractor. With time and materials – or in your case just time – you avoid the bidders hedging on their prices, but if the project takes 200 hours rather than 150, you pay for the 50 extra man hours. In my experience, there’s a much bigger potential downside for you if you go the time and materials route…what happens if the job takes 300 hours instead of 150? What if you don’t feel the guys on site are working particularly hard, or taking long lunch breaks? These things would anger you if you were paying a fixed price, but not cost you $. And I always worry that anyone who’s pricing out a time/materials job will lowball the hours, knowing that once they’re halfway through, they’ll have you over a barrel when they find a reason that more time will be needed. Some owners do try to get the both of best worlds – they do time and material w/ a cap the hours. But most contractors aren’t interested in that offer, as it’s heads they lose, tails you win. Good luck. jcarch ———————— James Cleary Architecture