What do builders material costs include?

Question

Do builders add any sort of surplus to the price of materials when they supply them for a homeowner as part of a project or should the cost of materials be just that, based on what the cost is in store?

James · Accepted Answer

Builders will always allow enough materials to cover themselves. So you will always pay slightly more than the true cost of materials. Builders also have to spend time sourcing materials and collecting them so you could say it covers time and fuel costs

Ace · Answer

I think this depends on the builder, I personally think, that on smaller jobs the materials should cost the same price the client can buy them for themselves.

On larger jobs, I take any discount as money towards the admin work.

I fine I'm regularly working nights and weekends on quotes and logistics of current jobs.....and it's difficult to charge for that so when there's lots of ordering on big jobs....I just keep any discount to go towards paying for my time, but let's face it....I don't take the same as on the job wages at all, we just don't get those kind of discounts!!

Paul · Answer

Although I do t personally add a percentage on material costs you will find a lot of traders will charge you full price plus a fee for the admin work getting the material 

Also, be careful as a lot of traders will get materials at trade price but still charge you full shopfloor price

Robert · Answer

I do Materials just based on cost and charge just for labour

Kevin · Answer

You have to take into consideration the time spent processing a quote and organising materials. These can sometimes be time-consuming so therefore the builder is billing for his time spent or maybe covering additional costs to any mistakes that could happen.

Michael · Answer

Hi Patrick,

Most good builders will work with you to find the cheapest materials for a job. They do not usually add a cost to this as the labour for the building is considerable. Some add a markup of around 10% having said that. What is standard is that on top of any quote you should expect to pay 10-15% more as a sort of contingency fund. This is because the cost of materials is so unpredictable (timber, for example, has gone sky high lately) that the price we quote at the beginning of a big job might not be what the price ends up being when we order the material 3 months later. 

Hopefully, that helps you.

Mihai (Nistor Construction Ltd)

Tim · Answer

I would do the materials at cost but will add fuel money if I’m running around picking it up

Gene · Answer

same as what they cost in shops sometime its better getting yourself as some builders will add a lot more others are fair

Amos · Answer

Some do cost+ or if they VAT registered the materials are priced in the job.

Allan · Answer

This is something that varies from project to project. 
When there is a good relationship between builder and client ( 50/50 chance 😀) client gets even better prices from the builder than he might get from the shop. 
But in most cases, it's wrong to assume the builder is not supposed to charge surplus. He still needs to use his own time to visit the shop, load materials, deliver. As long as is not discussed before and confirmed do not expect service like that for free.

What do builders material costs include?

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