Changes Cost

 

“But you're already here, why would you charge me extra for requesting extra work?”

I'm asked the above question pretty frequently. So to clear things up let's have a brief discussion on requesting additional work, as well as changing the work that was requested.

There are a lot of reasons to spend more time thinking about your remodeling project in the beginning rather than during construction. The first is time, that's obvious. But the real cost of changes once the project has started can only be realized at that time. Which puts customers at risk of going over budget and puts contractors at risk of long, costly delays. There are a few things to keep in mind, such as contractor scheduling and project budget, to really consider before your project begins. In all honesty it's best to consider these things well before you even begin contacting contractors. If you're thinking about making project changes and the work has already started these points may help you decide whether the change is really desirable in the long run.

We'll talk about budget first and use a simple example to outline why changes may not be a good idea. Let's say you hire someone to install wood trim in your living room and paint the walls. After you return from work you see that the project is completed and the work was done well. But the natural finish wood trim doesn't look right to you and the wall paint color is darker than you thought it would be. You would like the trim replaced with pre-painted moulding and you would like the wall paint redone with a lighter color. There are two issues with this that will make the project cost 3-4 times the initial project price. The first problem is trim replacement. The contractor will need to charge for trim removal as well as re-installation. The price for trim installation labor just increased 100-200%. The other issue with this situation is repainting. Initially there only needed to be 2 coats of paint applied to the walls. But because the color will be replaced by a lighter one, the walls will need to be primed before they can be painted. The initial contract specified 2 coats of paint. Now the project requires two coats of primer and two coats of paint on top of the two that were already finished. So now the project requires six total coats of labor. Depending on the size of the company and the size of the home this can be very expensive. A project that initially cost $1,000 in labor may now cost $3,000 and that doesn't take into account the changes in materials needed and the associated prices with that side of the contract.

The next example is scheduling considerations. On the one hand your contractor probably has a job scheduled after the date you agreed to on the contract. When changes happen it generally results in delays. Either materials need to be changed out, work needs to be undone or the additional request adds labor time to the project. If your contractor's next customer set a specific start date that is non-negotiable, and a clause was put in place that specified cancellation and/or refunds given should the contractor not start at that time, the contractor may attempt to add charges to work that would have cost less in the beginning. On the other hand, you may have requested a specific completion date. If, for example, you're wanting to spruce up the house before the holidays and have an anticipated completion date of November 15th, delays will make completion before Thanksgiving a difficult task. In some situations you may have to wait for the additional work to be completed. In this case, if the contractor has 2 customers scheduled after you, one the week before thanksgiving and the other for two weeks in December, Your contractor may not be able to return to the job site until the beginning of January (depending on holiday and/or vacation time taken by the contractor).

Changes and additions to any project cost money. As contractors we always welcome additional work requests but it will change the project cost and time-line for completion.