When you get three quotes for the same job and one of them is thirty per cent cheaper, the right question is not “why is this one cheaper?”. It is “what does this one not include?”.
Almost always the answer is in one of these twelve questions. Ask all of them to every company and compare the answers, not the numbers.
About the quote
1. Is the quote broken down into sections?
A quote with a single line — “flat renovation: X euros” — lets you compare nothing and gives you nothing to cut if the figure does not fit. Ask for demolition, services, plaster, finishes, painting and cleaning shown separately.
2. What is included in materials?
This is where half the arguments start. A quote can say “supply and fit ceramic tiles” and have allowed for a tile at twelve euros a square metre. If you choose one at forty, the difference turns up later. Ask for the rate allowed per square metre for each material.
3. Is the preparation included?
Hacking off what is loose, levelling walls, levelling floors. It is the part nobody likes paying for and the only one that makes the finish last. If it is not written down, it is not included.
4. And taking the waste away?
A bathroom job produces more than a tonne of waste. The skip, the haulage and the tip fees all cost money. Confirm who pays.
About dates
5. What is the start date and the handover date?
“We start in a couple of weeks” is not a date. Ask for both dates in writing in the quote.
6. How many people will be on site, and when?
A job with two people full time moves; a job where somebody turns up on Tuesdays does not. Ask, and ask as well how many jobs the company has open at the same time.
7. What happens if it runs late?
Delays happen. What sets companies apart is telling you beforehand, rather than you finding out when you go and look.
About who does the work
8. Are the crews yours or subcontracted?
Neither answer is wrong — almost everyone subcontracts electrics and plumbing. What matters is knowing who answers when something goes wrong, and whether somebody is on site every day coordinating.
9. Who is my point of contact?
There should be a name and a number. If you have to explain the same thing to three different people, the job is going to cost you time as well as money.
10. Does the company have employers’ liability insurance?
If somebody is hurt in your home working without insurance, the problem becomes yours. Ask for the certificate. A serious company sends it without taking offence.
About afterwards
11. What guarantee do you give, and in writing?
Ask for the period and ask what is covered. A guarantee that does not distinguish finishes from structural work usually has not been thought about.
12. Will there be photographs of the services before the walls are closed?
It is the cheapest request you will make and the one that will be worth most in five years, when you want to drill a wall to hang a cupboard.
The cheapest quote is almost always the one with the fewest things written on it.
And the price?
Once these twelve questions are answered, the quotes stop being comparable by the total and become comparable line by line. That is when you see which one is really the cheapest.
