Left Over Materials

kubie

any of you run into this? you do a project and have materials left over and the HO wants to keep them. they say that they belong to them cuz they payed for the job. true they paid for the job.....but really not the materials. i always order more than i need...just in case. now if i was short on materials, shouldnt i be able to collect money?.....prolly not i tell the HO....if the materials are installed on your home,ect... then they are yours, but some people just dont understand.

loneframer

You are correct. if it is not installed on the project, excess material is your property.

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Leo G

The materials are yours unless it was a time and material job. I think your analogy of running out and asking for more money is pretty good.

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Custom Cabinets in Hartford County Connecticut

deckman22

Start clearing out all the leftovers before the end of the job.

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Deckman
www.alscustomdecks.com

HSConstruction

my contract states that as soon as material is dropped on-site it is theirs, this protects me from stolen material. It also states the unit dimension (SF, LF) of each line item, as long as the job is done the excess is mine.

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RayGoerdt

quick look at the contract, Did they pay for a deck, or x# of boards?

Ray

dkillianjr

Yup thats what I do. I take stuff as I have it left over through out the job. Like the time I over calculated some Hardie siding by about 50 pieces and they were already painted so no returns I had to do a covert operation on that one


Dave

woodworkbykirk

i always ask no matter what if they want to keep it, or if they mind if i take it even if its going to the dump. if its useless offcuts ill take them for firewood if going camping unless they burn via fireplace or chiminea

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custrel

How does that work? Do you just present a total bid price - all inclusive?

I break out materials and labor, and the HO usually pays for a significant part of the materials up front, so anything left over that I can't return belongs to the home owner.

It's his to store, sell, throw away, whatever. If he has extra material I know he won't want/need, I might ask if he wants me to take it off his hands. Usually they say yes, since they haven't the slightest clue what to do with two pounds of 16d sinkers or half a roll of drywall tape.

Leo G

Because you are selling a product, you know, a new room, a bunch of cabinets, a new paint job etc. That is what they paid for. Anything left over is your profit, not that the bank will put it in their vault. You can reuse the materials on another job, leave them their (if they want them) or throw them away. You choose.

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Custom Cabinets in Hartford County Connecticut

RobertCDF

Its mine... I may offer it or some to them depending upon the situation. I order excess so I have more flexibility and many things I buy in bulk. Of course my contract is for a COMPLETED PROJECT using certain materials and the 1 line price never a breakout. Now I have had customers request that I order a couple extra boards for them and I certainly oblige them. Not out of my pocket of course.

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Robert Shaw
Colorado Springs Custom Decks
Colorado Custom Decks
Custom Composite Decks

WarnerConstInc.

I should start leaving stuff behind. I might have some room in my garage for my things.

I used to keep everything. Now I just keep most things.

Ok, I am a pack rat. You never know though.

ModernStyle

got any old T1-11 ? I need a small used piece for some samples.

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MJW

Never had this situation I'm going to explain, but have read about other HO's saying this..........

Say you bid a job for 30 square of siding or roofing. The job only takes 28 and a few extra. Now the HO wants to only pay labor on the 28 square instead of the bid price, plus they want the extras.

Now that is just plain being cheap!

Never bid material and labor. Bid the project.

Like said earlier, if you run short on material and bid it wrong, you have to eat it, right? (most times)

We have come back to jobs years later and the HO still hasn't moved the shingles or siding or wood. They usually ask to throw it in our dumpster.

Dustyrose

If you charge the customer for the additional materials upon creating your bid, technically those materials belong to the customer. Are you offering a credit to the customer for unused materials? Probably not.

If a customer ask to keep the the left overs and you know that they were charged for it. Suck it up and sacrifice the material. It's ethical.

Honestly, how often does a customer make this request? More often then not, left overs are considerd bonus in favor of the contractor.

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WarnerConstInc.

I bet so, planning on cleaning the garage this week.

CScalf

in my contract, materials are mine except what's installed and the price stays the same.

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ModernStyle

I dont do technically, if I say it is mine then it is mine, I will leave a HO a gallon or less of paint depending on what I have left. anything more then a gallon is mine. I am selling the service not the product, I dont hit them up when I need more then I figured, and I dont expect them to think that they can hit me up for any extra I might have. I will leave them all of the water I clean my stuff in if they want all the leftovers, I mean there is paint in that water.

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WarnerConstInc.

I save all my empty cans of SW and just pour cheap crappy paint in those cans. Saves me a ton of money and I get to buy sweet ass tools!!

custrel

This is an interesting thread.

So you don't charge a mark up on the paint?

If you do charge a mark up on the materials, doesn't that mean the customer bought them?

I give my residential customers an estimate, which means the actual cost may be slightly more or less than the estimate depending on my waste, add ons, etc. If I need more materials, I will add that to their final bill. If I have extra materials I can return, I will return them and subtract that cost from their final bill.

For me, the 'service' I sell is separate from the materials and I generally break it out that way on the estimate and bill. Haven't had any problems so far.