Finishing touches on job - Contractor Talk - Professional Construction and Remodeling Forum

Msargent · 12-25-2008, 06:49 PM

Xmas eve day Tile guy marks my wall repaint that .Ele put hole in wall where light is supposed to be ,then countertop guy pulls his tape screws up my wall GRRRRR.Everybody wants a freebie. Some times it stinks to be last on the job.

Danahy · 12-25-2008, 09:10 PM

Only a couple of my projects a year involve working around other trades, I've been meaning to add something into my contract to cover these, just in case items should they ever get out of hand... Something like....

'In the event that any additional work, as a result of previous trades, homeowner mishaps or the like should occur before, during or after the paint application to any of the surfaces outlined within the original agreement are to be deemed as extra work, and will be billed accordingly to the homeowner and/or GC at the rate of $ xx.xx / hr plus any/all materials required to repair any/all noted deficiencys'

... Probably also put in there something about the extra's being billed seperately, and that the original terms still apply to the orginal portion of the contract. Meaning, I bill for the original project before I begin working on any 'additional work'

Workaholic · 12-25-2008, 11:25 PM

If it is an on going problem or an obvious lack of concern for my work i have no problem back charging.

Dorman Painting · 12-26-2008, 09:24 AM

This is the one of the nightmares us painters deal with in the new construction field. A builder absolutely feels it's on the painter to touch up any and every goof up from electricians to plumbers to a damn stray dog in the house. I've spent many Saturday's doing touch ups for virtually nothing other than making sure we recieve the last ten percent of the payment.

I need to reword my contracts too, I hate spending four to eight hours in a house doing freebie work. That certainly doesn't keep the cash flow healthy and doesn't pay the bills. I do little new work though, not a big deal at this point.

vandyandsons · 12-26-2008, 11:21 AM

brother, damage by other trades to your finished project must be taken care of on a T&M basis. we gotta give a little from time to time but not blatant damage. charge the GC and he can backcharge the other subs.

MMC73 · 12-26-2008, 01:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vandyandsons

brother, damage by other trades to your finished project must be taken care of on a T&M basis. we gotta give a little from time to time but not blatant damage. charge the GC and he can backcharge the other subs.

Thats what I do, definately does not help win any popularity contests but popularity contests don't help pay the bills.

WisePainter · 12-26-2008, 03:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Msargent

Xmas eve day Tile guy marks my wall repaint that .Ele put hole in wall where light is supposed to be ,then countertop guy pulls his tape screws up my wall GRRRRR.Everybody wants a freebie. Some times it stinks to be last on the job.

Not to mention there is very little patience left over for the painter after every other contractor completely drained it from the job...

Msargent · 12-26-2008, 06:54 PM

So i went and put switch plate covers on the walls touched up from counter top guy said good bye to ele who was there . Then i get the call from carpenter/gc ele made mistake on placement of microwave more holes GRRRRR i said who is going to pay?. Not the gcs fault he has already final paymented the ele. I have made up my mind after the ele ,tile guy, counter top guy i will wait for the plumber to finish then im hitting him with 175 etc bill for 4 walls and 1 gal paint I agree will all of you and i need and have been looking into contracts anyone with good site or store. The gc/carpenter and i have had agreement that anything different from my est is tm i Feel bad for him to eat my extra bill but hey i need the money like everyone else. Sorry for the rant but if they actually cared a little bit about someone else and what they did like i care about my job and the peoples house im working at.

WisePainter · 12-27-2008, 11:12 AM

My GC knows better than to leave me hanging.
He understands that my job is the most important at the end of the day when he wants to collect...

Damon T · 12-29-2008, 10:54 PM

this is exactly what the PDCA standards for trade damage and touchup was created for. This is an industry standard, enforceable in court, defining who's responsible for trade damage (i.e. not the painter). The standards are now available to non pdca members, although I would encourage you to join. You will save way more, perhaps even on one job, using these standards and the other resources available to you than the membership will cost.
As there is no way to determine how much trade damage there will be, and there always is, we have it spec'd in our contracts that additional work and trade damage will be done on a T&M basis. our GC's understand this is just part of their overhead. Make sure to get this clarified up front with GC's you haven't worked for (or had this agreement with) before.

RCPainting · 12-29-2008, 11:03 PM

You can download the standards without joining, although you should!
http://www.pdca.org/Standards.htm
I refer to it in my contract and also stipulate trade damage will be billed out.

Wolfgang · 12-30-2008, 05:29 PM

Back charge them at THEIR rates. They tend to get a lot more careful after that. I have a paragraph in my contracts that state exactly that. That is time and material that I did not bid or contract for. First time one of the GC's saw it he wasnt real happy, but it was written into the bid he signed and accepted. They havent crossed it out yet.

George Z · 12-30-2008, 08:43 PM

We use this:

Quote:

The contractor is not liable for any damage caused to the work by anyone other than the contractor's employees. Any request to correct such damage will be gladly accommodated with a signed change order authorization form and additional charges will apply.