Spotting missing items in a Bristol concrete quotation

Surprise extras are the most common complaint about domestic concrete work. The quote looked complete, the work began, and then the skip, the pump, the drain or the reinstatement of the lawn turned out to be someone else's responsibility or someone else's charge. Most of these extras are foreseeable. They arise from a small set of items that are either left out of a quote or described so vaguely that they seem to be included when they are not. This guide names the usual exclusions in a Bristol concrete job, explains why each one arises and gives the questions that will bring them out before the contract is signed.

Waste removal and skip hire

Waste is the first and largest source of surprise. Excavating a drive or a patio produces spoil, and the old surface, if there is one, produces broken concrete, tarmac or paving. That material must be removed and disposed of lawfully. Contractors handle this in different ways. Some include the removal in the rate, some charge by the load and some hire a skip and pass the cost on. A quote that says only "excavate and remove" does not say who pays for the lorry or the skip.

In a narrow Bristol street, the practical problem is as important as the cost. A skip may need a permit from the council to stand on the highway, and it may need a parking bay to be suspended. The quote should say whether the contractor will arrange these permissions, and if not, who will. Waste must go to a registered carrier, and the duty of care for controlled waste applies to everyone in the chain who produces, carries or disposes of it, not only to the firm that takes it away, as the government's waste duty of care code of practice explains. The Citizens Advice consumer information is a general starting point for buyers who want to understand their position when a trader is not clear about what is included.

Ask the contractor to state the estimated quantity of spoil and the number of skips or loads, and to confirm whether the figure is included in the price. A contractor who can give a number is more likely to have priced the job properly than one who cannot.

Drainage and edging

Drainage is the second common exclusion. A drive or patio that falls towards the house needs a channel, a gully or a permeable area to carry the water away, and each of these has its own cost. A quote may price the concrete without the gully, or it may include a gully without the pipework needed to connect it to a drain. The connection to a sewer can require consent from the water company, and that consent takes time. A quote that does not mention the drain should be questioned before the programme is agreed.

Edging is the companion item. A slab needs a finished edge, and the edge may be formed with a kerb, a line of block, a timber former or a laid edge strip. The choice affects both the look and the cost, and it is often left out of the rate. Ask for the edging to be named on the quote, with its material and its position on the plan.

The Building Research Establishment's homepage describes the work it does on construction and drainage, and the principles it covers are a helpful background for understanding why drainage should be specified rather than assumed.

Pump or access extras

The third common extra is the pump. A ready-mix lorry cannot reach the back of every property, and where access is restricted the concrete must be pumped or carried by barrow from the road. A pump is hired by the day or by the pour, and it carries a set-up charge as well as a running charge. A barrow run over a long distance needs more labour, and that labour should be priced. A quote that assumes the lorry can reach the pour when it cannot will generate an extra charge on the day.

Access extras also include scaffold or temporary protection, the cost of reaching a difficult site, and the hire of smaller plant when a larger machine cannot pass through the gate. Ask the contractor to confirm the access route and the method of placing the concrete, and to state the pump charge if one is needed. The principles of access and placement are the same whatever the method, and a contractor should be able to explain them clearly.

Making good lawns and boundaries

The fourth common extra is making good. Once the work is finished, the area around it may need to be reinstated. Lawns are damaged by vehicles and by the spoil heap. Boundary walls and fences may be disturbed by the excavation or by the passage of a lorry. The paving on the pavement, if the drive crosses it, may be broken. Who repairs these items, and at whose cost, should be stated in writing.

A quote that says "make good" without further detail leaves the question open. Ask the contractor to describe what will be reinstated, whether a lawn will be re-turfed or re-seeded, and whether a boundary will be repaired or replaced. Photographs of the site before the work begins protect both parties if a dispute arises later.

Other items to check

Several smaller items often appear as extras. Protection of neighbouring property, such as covering a path or a car, may be needed during the pour. Washout of the lorry and the tools is sometimes forgotten. Weather cover for the curing period may be needed, and the cost of the sheeting or the compound should be stated. Reinforcement, formwork timber and sealers are sometimes priced separately. And waiting time, where a lorry must wait on site because the crew is not ready, is charged by many suppliers.

Suppliers' charges for waiting time and washout should be confirmed in the order rather than discovered on the invoice. Protection of the new surface during curing is a separate item that should also be named in the scope.

Questions that bring out the extras

A short list of questions will expose most of these items before the contract is signed, and consumer advice on comparing trade quotes is available from Which?. Ask whether the price includes removal of spoil and old surfacing, and how that removal is carried out. Ask whether drainage and edging are included, and where the drain will connect. Ask how the concrete will reach the pour, and whether a pump or extra labour is needed. Ask what will be made good after the work, and to whom it belongs. Ask about waiting time and washout charges. Ask whether protection of the surface during curing is included.

A contractor who answers these questions clearly is giving the buyer the information needed to compare quotes fairly. A contractor who avoids them, or who says that the items will be "sorted out on the day", is leaving the buyer exposed.

Checking the final figure

Once the answers are in writing, compare the final figure against the scope. A quote that has been built up from a complete list of items will usually be more transparent than one that has been priced on the assumption that everything will be simple. The quote page on this site can be used to set out the scope in one place and to ask each contractor for the same list of items. The services page describes the concrete work covered. Surprise extras cannot be eliminated altogether, but when every item has been named and priced in advance, they become rare.

Dust, cutting and the scope of the work

Cutting is one of the items that appears in a concrete quote only occasionally, but when it is needed it carries a hazard that deserves a line in the scope. Joints, channels and make-good work often require the existing concrete to be cut, and that cutting produces silica dust. A quote that includes cutting should state the method, whether water is used, what extraction is fitted and what respiratory protection is provided. The controls are explained in the guide on safe concrete cutting and silica rules for Bristol crews, and an omission of those controls from a quote is itself a sign that the work has not been fully considered.

The full scope of a concrete job is clearest when it is set out before any quotes are requested, so that each contractor prices the same list of items. The guide on checking scope and spec in Bristol concrete quotes explains how to build that scope and how to compare the quotes that result. Working through the scope item by item, and asking each contractor to confirm the inclusions and exclusions in writing, is the most effective way to prevent the surprises described in this guide. Each extra that is named in advance is a cost that can be weighed, and each extra that is discovered on the day is a cost that must be accepted under pressure.

Sources and further reading

1. Citizens Advice: consumer information (Citizens Advice)
2. BRE Group (BRE Group)
3. Which? consumer advice (Which?)
4. Waste duty of care code of practice (GOV.UK)