Firstly, our builders are fantastic guys – couldn’t rate them highly enough. Top notch, good work…

They’ve done a cracking job of cladding out dormer extension with cement board.
This has inspired me and I want to (myself) clad a portion of the front of the house.
The cladding was ordered, and is ‘extra’ to the original cost they quoted (for hung tile). I’m happy with this.

I asked if any was left over, and the builder said there was. I said “oh good – i’ve paid for it, so I suppose it saves me ordering for my little project”.
Builder looked a bit sheepish and said he was thinking about using it to do a bit of work at his place….

Hmmm… so is this normal – for builders to use the additional stuff for themselves? (I don’t think for one minute they purposefully over ordered). Would he have taken it away but not billed me? Will they now wee in my water tank (joke’s on them – there IS no water tank…)

There’s about 8 planks left, BTW…

DrP

Who paid for it? = owner, shirley…

I’d be wanting it if I had a use for it and had paid for it.

Well I suppose at present they own the whole lot as I haven’t settled the final bill!
I might just say “well unless it’s being returned and refunded off my invoice, it’s mine sunshine”. Then urinate on it to show ownership?

DrP

It’s yours ….

As your instincts really. If he’s quoted a fixed price for the job inc. materials, then it’s his, over ordered or not. If he’s quoted for labour and you’ve supplied/paid for materials then it’s yours.

I’d say its common for left overs to be used on other / personal jobs but if you’ve paid for it then I’d say you have first dibs so to speak.

Blazing saddles has a good point actually.

I can see both sides TBH, hence the question..

It just seems a bit ‘unfair’ to quote a price, over order (accidentally or not), then not return and refund/amend the quote.

I mean, if they’d under ordered, I’d be the first to be told about the additional money/stock needed!!

DrP

If its a fixed price thow that is the point if you over estimate the time / materials you have made a bit more money if you underestimate you make less money. Hence a fixed price has a buffer built into it…

Edit: when I say you I mena as the person operatign the buildign firm

I agree. but how is the bill being worked out? Did he quote fixed, or did he quote plus materials? It’s often difficult to get a qty exactly right hence the over supply.

I tile a lot and I quote based on a fixed price for labour and an estimate for materials. I buy the tiles, sometimes I order too many which I return for refund/use myself on other projects, the customer only gets billed for what I used, not what I ordered.

TBH, I’d have been happier in a state of ignorance…..!!!

DrP

Also when ordering larger amounts you get a better rate so may have factored in his own little project when initially ordering. If he’d given you a price then it’s his. Boot on other foot say he’d left 6 bags of plaster out and they’d got damp so no use, would he expect you to get rid of them?

Boot on other foot say he’d left 6 bags of plaster out and they’d got damp so no use, would he expect you to get rid of them?

He does now!
“you payed for them; they’re yours!”

As blazinsaddles says. If they’re good then have an honest conversation and everybody will be happy and ok to work together again if needs be.

Have this quite often, if price is inclusive of materials and labour then its mine as ive bought it and if i havent ordered enough i never charge the customer more.

If the customer has bought the materials and had it delivered then its theirs, sometimes they have to much stuff and offer it to me for use on the next job, as they dont want/havent got the need for the surplus stuff.

If there is a restocking fee from the supplier and there most probably is it can be around 20% so taking it back can be painful.
I just took and kept it at my workshop and knocked the bill down. I offered to leave stuff but it would never get used most of the time and would end up going to the tip 6 weeks later. Complete waste of materials tbh.

A #2 would be a more dominant display.

I think this shows how little I know about social interactions and unwritten rules!!

DrP

I think the grown up way to settle this is to offer him out and let a bare knuckle fight decide who gets the cladding.
Have a chat with the missus and see if she’d stand in for you.

A #2 would be a more dominant display.

Not forgetting to look the building straight in the eye as you’re doing it.

I can kinda see both sides of this too, I’m not sure what the answer is.

My thinking is, you commission a builder to do a job, they quote you (random figures) £100 for 50 items. They use 40 items, then the final invoice should be £80 rather than the £100 on the original quote, yes? Or if they still charge you full whack, then the surplus is yours, you’ve paid for it.

If they go, “labour plus materials, that’s a grand,” then use less materials than they thought, they’ve overcharged you. But you’ve agreed to the price beforehand, and got the job you’ve paid for. I’m thinking P&P on eBay as an analogy here; you charge a fiver for delivery, it actually costs £4, has the buyer got a right to complain? I’d say not because that’s the price they’ve agreed to. The price of a stamp doesn’t account for travel to the post office, time out of your day… so perhaps similarly, the builder is within his rights to turn a small profit on materials given he had to source it, pick it up, etc.

I don’t know. I guess what it comes down to may be, did you have an estimate or agree to a fixed price beforehand?

If you’ve accepted a price for the job and are happy with it then surely the amount of time spent or materials used on it are irrelevant to you? The price was agreed.
If the builder over ordered on materials that’s his problem as the material costs are part of his profit margin and his to do with as he pleases.
Conversely, if the job takes longer than expected or more material costs are involved that’s also his problem.

It comes down to how the job was quoted/estimated (there is a difference between the two btw, but that’s another discussion).

I may estimate a job in two different ways for a client, thus:

Say the job was 30sqm of Oak flooring, I may say:

To supply 34sqm Oak @ £x per sqm
To fit & finish oak @ £y per sqm

In which case, if I’m efficient, don’t waste too much, and there’s a few sqm left, it’s the client’s to do with what he or she wants.

If I say:

To supply, fit and finish 30sqm Oak @ £z per sqm, then I order what I think I need and what’s leftover at the end is mine to take away.

So, really, it depends on how the job was estimated. If he’s purposely over-ordered, charged you for materials, knowing there’d be some left over for his private job, then he’s done a naughty IMO. If you accepted his price to do the job supply & fit, then the stuff is his (again IMO).

This is why I encourage any friends and acquaintances to get a reasonable breakdown of costs in the first place. The stuff I’ve seen disappearing off site when a client’s not paying attention…

You want to try your hand at building?

Be wants something at his house withthe cladding?

Easy solution…

.. go round and build it for him.

Winners all round.

Have this quite often, if price is inclusive of materials and labour then its mine as ive bought it and if i havent ordered enough i never charge the customer more.

I bloody hope not too.

To me they’re yours as it’s paid for no matter how you got a quote.

what £? are we talking about

As has been said above, it will depend on how it was quoted. If it was a fixed price (including all labour and materials) then you pays your money, and get your wall clad in cement board, end of. Doesn’t matter what materials turn up on site, at the end of the job you only own what’s on the wall. Customer and builder know what the cost is upfront, and its fixed. Builder does it more quicker than he thought, used less materials than he calculated or payed less than he thought then he makes profit. On the other hand if it takes longer, uses more materials and the materials cost more than he thought he makes less profit or even a loss. Either way it costs the customer the same.

This is how we work, and often excess materials are offered to the customer if we have no use for them (minimum order quantities, pack quantities, over ordered and not worth returning etc…) or we take them onto the next job. However if you are paying labour plus materials then anything which can’t be returned and knocked off your bill is yours as you have payed for them.

There is always the possibility that they ordered it in bulk (more than is required) for a better price, and will only bill you for what they use (IMO they would be well within their rights to bill you normal price although would be nice to pass on some saving (how regular are your tea and biscuits ;)) A deliberate over order at customers expense would be out of order… Also excess materials would be no use to the customer more often than not and so would be taken onto the next job instead of going in an (expensive!) skip, obviously some discussion client to builder would be needed to confirm this!