Currently employing the services of a lime plasterer and we had some days work done last week which was insulating and boarding ahead of plastering in a few weeks. Agreed rate is £40/hr (+VAT), which is steep, but the guy worked on a previous phase for us (contracted via carpenter so issue of pay didn't come up before) and they did a great job and obviously know the house now. And finding other good lime plasterers at less than a years lead time is like hen's teeth.
I've quibbled on a couple of days hours' tally because they don't add up to me, and I mentioned the time on site as a maximum - i.e. before any lunch break - compared to what was billed, and the time billed was 3 hours more than being on site. I mentioned too that maybe 30 minutes should come off for lunch as well as the other time not on site.
Firstly he's said they (2 guys this is) needed to collect fixings and consumables - which is sort of fine but on hourly rate I'd wish for a very standard job like this they'd have that to hand.
But secondly he's said that I'm the first person in 20 years that has 'tried to knock time off for lunch'. I am paid by the hour myself, I work a professional office job but as a contractor, and if I am paid for 8 hours in a day, I work for 8 hours. However long I take for lunch is up to me, but is certainly not billable. In my mind that's really clear.
If he was a jobbing handyman charging £200 as a day rate or whatever, I wouldn't quibble anything hours related, so long as it seems a day's work has been done. But at £40/hr + VAT - and this is just insulating and boarding at this point, hardly highly skilled stuff - am I not entitled to think that I should only be paying for time actually spent working? - separately I know tea breaks are fine to be taken while on the clock, no issue with that. I am quite sure in myself here, but apparently that puts me at odds with every other client he's ever had in 20 years.
Any input, especially from tradies who charge by the hour would be helpful.
I've quibbled on a couple of days hours' tally because they don't add up to me, and I mentioned the time on site as a maximum - i.e. before any lunch break - compared to what was billed, and the time billed was 3 hours more than being on site. I mentioned too that maybe 30 minutes should come off for lunch as well as the other time not on site.
Firstly he's said they (2 guys this is) needed to collect fixings and consumables - which is sort of fine but on hourly rate I'd wish for a very standard job like this they'd have that to hand.
But secondly he's said that I'm the first person in 20 years that has 'tried to knock time off for lunch'. I am paid by the hour myself, I work a professional office job but as a contractor, and if I am paid for 8 hours in a day, I work for 8 hours. However long I take for lunch is up to me, but is certainly not billable. In my mind that's really clear.
If he was a jobbing handyman charging £200 as a day rate or whatever, I wouldn't quibble anything hours related, so long as it seems a day's work has been done. But at £40/hr + VAT - and this is just insulating and boarding at this point, hardly highly skilled stuff - am I not entitled to think that I should only be paying for time actually spent working? - separately I know tea breaks are fine to be taken while on the clock, no issue with that. I am quite sure in myself here, but apparently that puts me at odds with every other client he's ever had in 20 years.
Any input, especially from tradies who charge by the hour would be helpful.
