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"Can you send me a quote before?", a perfectly reasonable request, an idea of how much a job is going to cost and possibly some ideas from different professionals with different methods to accomplish a task. One of the most difficult jobs is writing quotes, they require time & concentration, unless the person quoting is very familiar with the boat they are quoting for, such as maybe having done some previous jobs on it, a visit and inspection of the proposed works is usually in order.
Paid for quotes
I know quite a lot of tradespeople and have been told that it is common practice now to get paid for making quotes, although I have never charged for quoting I do understand why this happens, in between travel time, expert advice, measurements, photos and then drawing up the final quote or proposal, it can start to take up a lot of time, the other practice is to visit potential jobs outside of normal working hours, evenings or early mornings, these hours may or may not be charged.
Underquoting or undercharging trend
You may have well seen this on social media, some professional tradespeople have been speaking about underquoting, not low bidding and then ramping the price up when the work started but simply not valuing their time enough, I don't see this as a trend in boat repairs, there were a lot of cowboys before, strictly cash payments off the books with no comeback for the boatowner, thankfully a lot of that seems to have disappeared, there is still a large gap between something done in the best and safest way possible versus the cheap alternative, some typical examples of this in boats;
Thru hull fittings and seacocks, these are absolutely critical for boat operation, as in your boat could potentially sink if these are not fitted correctly or made of the right material, this is an area you really do not want to scrimp on, the typical example here is bronze versus brass, for below the waterline and for boats staying in the water, brass is not acceptable for thru hulls and seacocks, bronze must be used (there are also DZR and plastic composite alternatives, but definitely do not use brass), brass is cheaper and so two similar quotes, same amount of time, but one has a material costs that is considerably cheaper than the other. If the type of fittings (not just sizes but construction) is not written explicitly on the quote, ask why, make sure you are getting the right products.
Anything electrical, this is obviously quite a large area, but it is also the one where some of the worst installations are seen, everything from just not good to unsafe. The greatest differences are again in materials. Electrical, as I have written before, is the number one cause of calls to the service department and also the number one cause of fires on boats. There are regulations in place of how electrical installations must be done, like thru hulls, it is not an area that you look for bargain basement materials or installations.
Closed quotes
A closed quote is when the price will not vary at all, it is fixed. Mostly used for known jobs or when fitting in work around other projects, boatyards use these a lot, some typical examples of closed quote works include polishing, sanding hull bottoms, sanding decks, recaulking teak. These jobs do require skill, but rather than charging out every hour invested into a job, a blanket amount is quoted, this works well for both parties, the boatowner knows the final price and the yard knows they are not watching the clock. These sorts of jobs are often performed out of the high season and make great "fill ins", yards get some work and boatowners can get a better price, really a win win.
Clauses
Read the clauses carefully, there are two that are very common, one along the lines of "this quote is given in good faith and an extra work from unseen anomalies will be charged extra....." or something similar, ask any mechanic or technician, every scheduled job is just one broken stud, stripped screwhead or seized bolt away from becoming a nightmare, sometimes you can foresee problems, an inspection to quote for the works gives an idea of what to expect, some problems are often hidden and completely unexpected.
The second clause relates to payment, it is standard practice to ask for a deposit, this shows the yard you are serious and they will schedule the boat in. Final payment is usually made when the work is completed and possibly inspected and tested with the boatowner. A proper company will issue a receipt or a statement of account to show payment has been made.
Blind quotes
This is something I try to avoid doing at all costs, unless (and even then I am reluctant) I know the boat very well, giving out figures without seeing the boat is a recipe for problems, I may well give parts prices after a talk with the boatowner, see what best fits their needs and budget. I am suspicious of quotes without an inspection or in written form.
A typical example of verbal quotes is antifouling, crane movements are a fixed price based upon the boat size, power washing the hull, the required amount of antifouling paint itself can be very accurately estimated, so the boatowner agrees, however, here's we things go astray, the verbal quote was based upon the information given, the typical one is, "It's only been in the water a year", what that interprets to is, it's been on that berth for a year but was not previously lifted and cleaned for years prior, this is not the annual haul out, clean and paint, it is a team of boatyard staff scraping for a day or more. The original quote is now null and void, then there is that awkward conversation of "you told me X".
Just say no
This applies to both the person giving the quote and also the person receiving it, let me explain this a bit more. Boats and boat repairs are never considered "cheap", for a lot of repairs, upgrades and installations there are very specific rules in place, let's say as a boatowner you get a couple of quotes, maybe the same service, maybe a few variances, but broadly similar in scope and range, then, a different quote comes in, but this time vastly different in price, either very high or way too low, it should raise an alarm, if the quote is too good to be true (far too low), it is, if it's really high, question why.
The just saying no also applies to technicians or installers and their companies, if the client keeps trying to bring down your prices or is unrealistic in the work involved, just say you cannot help them, I have seen too many of these kinds of things spiral out of control and a few just not get finished and then you can end up with abandoned boats.
Materials
This most contentious issue for a number of reasons, labour rates vary geographically obviously, larger and smaller companies, different yards and so forth, maybe one labour rate for one type of job and another for more specialist work. Material costs vary wildly, there are so many factors as to why, some examples are;
- Brand tie ins, a dealer might sell only certain brands and by contract obliged to only supply OEM parts, these parts will likely be more costly. A typical example are exhausts on sterndrive motors (their Achilles heel), a dealer will want to fit original (and usually much better quality) than parallel parts. An independent outfit might offer different options.
- Product knowledge, this goes both ways, could be a company that knows their products back to front and can offer a solution for your needs, alternatively, a product or service might be offered that is not right for the installation or even worse, will fail prematurely, not resolve the original problem or, simply not perform as expected.
- Miscellaneous, these small items or necessary parts to finish a job can get expensive quickly, typical items include paints, cables, terminals, screws and fixings, there is a vast selection of quality and price, try and make sure the installation will be done using the correct parts, I assure you in the long run, it will pay off.
Hours invested versus job worth
This is more for the people who are actually doing the work, that's why clauses exist, original quotes can start to get adjusted quickly, the old saying goes, "every quick job is just one seized or broken bolt from a timely ordeal". This is not just for professionals but also for those who maintain their own boats, I have seen to have gone through this too much lately, here's just two of those examples;
Bow thruster repair, from time to time all electric motors will need a service, brushes, blow out the dust, check and clean connections etc. In this case, the thruster motor needed a new set of solenoids to fix the original fault as well as brushes, well, by the time you have bought the solenoid pack, brushes and gone to the trouble of removing the thruster motor the parts have already cost 2/3 the value of a new motor complete with solenoids and brushes, if you were paying a professional to do this, add in the labour of swapping the brushes and the other repairs and it becomes more viable to just swap out for a new complete motor. I have written about this sort of thing before, why sell parts at such high prices? It's so wasteful and it really annoys me.
Generator(s), these are the bane of my existence lately, it all started well, in this case a large boat with two generators, both needed diagnosing for various problems and a full service. All started well, then very quickly it didn't, I shall not bore you with all of the technical bits, but basically many parts were sent out for refurbishing, which is costly due to the materials and expertise required, further parts were refurbished and repaired, painted, overhauled, checked etc. In the end when all was back together, it would have been considerably more cost effective to replace both units. That said, the final invoices were obviously much less than two new units, after all the work was done, there is no reason why the should not last many years and it's quite pleasing to give things another lease of life and not make more waste. In this case it was labour costs, it would make more sense to have new units delivered, then they just need fitting and testing and everything would be under manufacturer warranty.
Warranty is the key thing here, in cases like these, if the replacement looks more viable, it usually makes more sense from a professionals point of view, the last thing a mechanic or boatyard wants is a customer who keeps coming back to have something repaired over and over again, (see just say no).
Insured and qualified?
If you are using a decent yard or experienced installer this is not usually an issue, however, not all pirates have eye patches and parrots. There are less than scrupulous installers, they might not be qualified, trained or insured properly, any damage caused or backup after payment might be non existent. A big thing now is looking up the factory approved installers on the product webpage, this is usually a good indication of having some comeback if things do not go to plan. Be a little bit aware though, do your research, I have seen a couple of approved installers work, it was less than stellar to say the least.
Huge price disparity
Finally, prices can and do vary, sometimes a little, sometimes a lot, if there is a huge difference between quotes A and B, ask why, look at them, there might well be a logical reason, apart from the aforementioned product differences, perhaps one company is offering extras, either recommended or necessary for their particular quote. There are also regional differences, some products retail for a lot more in certain areas, last but not least, labour rates, these are geographical, like the products themselves, hourly rates can vary from one dealer to another, one part of the coast to another and definitely between different countries.
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