First Builders Clean - Ouch!

So I got  call to price up an end of build clean on a school building. First one I have ever done, quoted £500 thought I would be in and out in 2 days. 

As we speak I've put 30 man hours into it, had to ask a friend to help for 2 days and I've still got about 6 hours roughly on it to tidy it up.

All in all I've completely shafted myself. 

However...

I am determined to learn lessons and move on. 

This is my plan if one comes up again and please advise if people have different thoughts.

1. Quote higher next time, but also add a clause that if it goes over specified time then its a day rate charge. That way i don't loose money.

2. Be more specifc and honest with the client, ask what he wants me to do. Just clean windows? remove plaster from windows? remove stickers etc?

Again price accordingly. Window clean is £X, to remove all render from frames is £XXX.

Any other thoughts would be appreciated. I know alot of people say run a mile and i appreciate that, however i think there is a market for it if you price right and willing to walk if they say no. 

DJT said:

Any other thoughts would be appreciated. I know alot of people say run a mile and i appreciate that, however i think there is a market for it if you price right and willing to walk if they say no. 

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I went to see a big job for a rich professional and all I did was double the price. If I got the job then it would be worthwhile, if not, then I would also be happy or as the case turned out, happier. I look for a win win situation.

If I priced for your builders clean then I would probably triple the price because they jobs are time critical and need it done right away. They are spoiling your diary and you are bending over backwards to accommodate them so the price must be at least double to reflect this.

After visiting the job you should have went home and slept on it. The next day you write down what's to be done and count the days to do it and materials used. Come up with a price and double it or triple it if you don't want the job and email the quote to them. Sounds like £1500 was the true quote. fwiw

DJT said:

So I got  call to price up an end of build clean on a school building. First one I have ever done, quoted £500 thought I would be in and out in 2 days. 

As we speak I've put 30 man hours into it, had to ask a friend to help for 2 days and I've still got about 6 hours roughly on it to tidy it up.

All in all I've completely shafted myself. 

However...

I am determined to learn lessons and move on. 

This is my plan if one comes up again and please advise if people have different thoughts.

1. Quote higher next time, but also add a clause that if it goes over specified time then its a day rate charge. That way i don't loose money.

2. Be more specifc and honest with the client, ask what he wants me to do. Just clean windows? remove plaster from windows? remove stickers etc?

Again price accordingly. Window clean is £X, to remove all render from frames is £XXX.

Any other thoughts would be appreciated. I know alot of people say run a mile and i appreciate that, however i think there is a market for it if you price right and willing to walk if they say no. 

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In sales we would never call it a quote - it was called an estimate and would be given an 'expiry' date.

The trouble with builders cleans is that the builder wants them done for nothing and, as you never know how long it's going to take, you need to quote the worst case.

I don't believe that you should quote a time limit and anything over that time will be added on as it doesn't reflect well on you. What you also have to consider is that any glass damage such as scratches will be blamed on you.

We don't consider quoting for these types of cleans any longer.

We do/did a school clean which includes some inside windows. I under estimated the time it would take for the external clean but over estimated how long the internal clean would take. So it's balanced itself out these past 10 years we have done the job. 

In early days we often under quoted. With residential we could have the option to go back to the customer 'cap in hand' after a couple of cleans. Most were understanding. One wasn't and we parted company with him threatening to sue me for breach of a verbal contact. 

spruce said:

I don't believe that you should quote a time limit and anything over that time will be added on as it doesn't reflect well on you. What you also have to consider is that any glass damage such as scratches will be blamed on you.

We don't consider quoting for these types of cleans any longer.

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I have never did a builders clean but going by what I have read on the forum they are not worth the hassle. I don't think I will quote for them in future unless I have no work. All they seem to do is mess up ones business diary and the money you get is rubbish. tbh

I just remembered why a builders clean are so poorly paid. The job has usually went over time & budget so they try to save a few bob on the clean. Then we will be last on the job so we are an easy target to get blamed for all the scratches and minor damage. Better to avoid at all cost. fwiw

DJT said:

So I got  call to price up an end of build clean on a school building. First one I have ever done, quoted £500 thought I would be in and out in 2 days. 

As we speak I've put 30 man hours into it, had to ask a friend to help for 2 days and I've still got about 6 hours roughly on it to tidy it up.

All in all I've completely shafted myself. 

However...

I am determined to learn lessons and move on. 

This is my plan if one comes up again and please advise if people have different thoughts.

1. Quote higher next time, but also add a clause that if it goes over specified time then its a day rate charge. That way i don't loose money.

2. Be more specifc and honest with the client, ask what he wants me to do. Just clean windows? remove plaster from windows? remove stickers etc?

Again price accordingly. Window clean is £X, to remove all render from frames is £XXX.

Any other thoughts would be appreciated. I know alot of people say run a mile and i appreciate that, however i think there is a market for it if you price right and willing to walk if they say no. 

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I feel your pain been there and done that years ago , wouldn’t touch a job like that now at any price more hassle  than it’s worth , never did like doing them . My advice would be learn from it and don’t do in future , but if you are keen to do it then however long you think it will take add a fair bit of time to it just in case , as for price I would want 3x at least as a minimum per day for doing a job like that compared to what I earn on the windows ,the last job I did like this was £1500 on two houses still waiting to be paid it’s gone to court and I have a  ccj but still no money !,,, 

Pjj said:

the last job I did like this was £1500 on two houses still waiting to be paid it’s gone to court and I have a  ccj but still no money !,,, 

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Seems like you avoid them now, just a headache. I will just avoid in the future, give me a gutter clear any day of the week.

Defo lads, lesson learned. Next time I'll know to price very high and be prepared to walk. 

The problem is money is to good on regular residential cleans. Makes other work look **** lol 

I've been caught out a few times n you have to go through the pain to become wiser. Some builders clean s I've done, which I now would avoid unless one cleaning company asks me to do a job, i just say its £40 an hour per person on the job. Yes or no. It's really hard work n needs to pay  you whatever you want an hour.

DJT said:

So I got  call to price up an end of build clean on a school building. First one I have ever done, quoted £500 thought I would be in and out in 2 days. 

As we speak I've put 30 man hours into it, had to ask a friend to help for 2 days and I've still got about 6 hours roughly on it to tidy it up.

All in all I've completely shafted myself. 

However...

I am determined to learn lessons and move on. 

This is my plan if one comes up again and please advise if people have different thoughts.

1. Quote higher next time, but also add a clause that if it goes over specified time then its a day rate charge. That way i don't loose money.

2. Be more specifc and honest with the client, ask what he wants me to do. Just clean windows? remove plaster from windows? remove stickers etc?

Again price accordingly. Window clean is £X, to remove all render from frames is £XXX.

Any other thoughts woi totallyuld be appreciated. I know alot of people say run a mile and i appreciate that, however i think there is a market for it if you price right and willing to walk if they say no. 

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Are you sure you have learned a lesson ,you said next time, is the glass new glazing, is it clear or is it tinted, if it is tinted it's  so easy to scratch , glass is far too soft these days,  my guess is why did they phone you, probably had a few quotes, you were the cheapest , so snapped your hand off,  like spruce said  speak to them  Monday first thing, there is plenty of room to negotiate a fair quote, research the building companies reviews, do your homework , good luck

windowsurfer said:

I've been caught out a few times n you have to go through the pain to become wiser. Some builders clean s I've done, which I now would avoid unless one cleaning company asks me to do a job, i just say its £40 an hour per person on the job. Yes or no. It's really hard work n needs to pay  you whatever you want an hour.

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Lol who would do builders cleans for £40 per hour you can easily make that doing normal regular window cleaning , you need to earn double your normal hourly rate as a minimum for builders cleans or there is no point doing them , I wouldn’t do them now for any amount of money 

Pjj said:

Lol who would do builders cleans for £40 per hour you can easily make that doing normal regular window cleaning , you need to earn double your normal hourly rate as a minimum for builders cleans or there is no point doing them , I wouldn’t do them now for any amount of money 

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I would do it for 40 if no other job kicking about, I wish I could get 80 an hour, I know I'm doing something wrong, I got accused of ripping of a new customer in their 1.2m house charged them £85, when I thought it would be £100, ended up giving them back £20, might not return again

windowsurfer said:

I would do it for 40 if no other job kicking about, I wish I could get 80 an hour, I know I'm doing something wrong, I got accused of ripping of a new customer in their 1.2m house charged them £85, when I thought it would be £100, ended up giving them back £20, might not return again

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What Ime saying is most can earn £40 per hour cleaning normal regular 4-8 weekly jobs nice easy work , so why would you do a difficult time consuming awkward job like a builders clean for the same money? It’s madness  ,the worse the job the more you should charge , we wouldn’t take that type of job on regardless of price but it would have to pay me 3-4 x normal hourly rate if we did that type of  work otherwise it’s not worth the hassle , better off spending that time canvassing getting more regular window cleaning jobs not doing a one off builders clean 

Pjj said:

What Ime saying is most can earn £40 per hour cleaning normal regular 4-8 weekly jobs nice easy work , so why would you do a difficult time consuming awkward job like a builders clean for the same money? It’s madness  ,the worse the job the more you should charge , we wouldn’t take that type of job on regardless of price but it would have to pay me 3-4 x normal hourly rate if we did that type of  work otherwise it’s not worth the hassle , better off spending that time canvassing getting more regular window cleaning jobs not doing a one off builders clean 

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I totally agree, with your pricing,but you do need a ceiling tho for pricing,as don't want to be greedy either,. Happy balance,but I think if a builders clean takes a day then it should make you enough to pay for at least a day off to recover from it. And you should have a smile on your face,or possibly a small smile, not lying on the bed angry not being able to move cos youve killed yourself for not much monetary gain,been there.