Builders - clearing up

[Moonhawk]

I'm after some advice.

We have builders in at the moment - and whilst they are doing a decent job and turning up when they should, they are making an awful mess and not only are they really making any effort to tidying up after themselves. They are expecting us to do it and have even passed comment that 'some of the mess could do with clearing'. Me and my wife have spent quite a few weekends moving wood and plastic off cuts, picking up broken bricks and concrete etc. We have probably filled a couple of 8 tonne skips just by ourselves.

Is it normal for builders to expect their clients to clean up after them - or is it normally implied (if not specifically stated) in the quotation for the work?

I have had builders in before - nothing on this scale - but clearing rubbish and debris has normally been part and parcel of the job.

[Moonhawk]

Bristol spark said:

Depends how big a mess they are making.... construction usually requires making a mess in order to get to the other side, and dust does go everywhere.

Dust and stuff I expect - I didn't go into this with my eyes closed. I have rebuilt a house myself an know just how much of a mess can be made.

I'm talking about brickies just chucking all of the brick offcuts on the floor, excess mortar just being left in piles, the joiners leaving days worth of wood offcuts on the floor, plastic bags from soffits and facias just left lying around etc.

I spent a couple of hours cleaning up around the property today - and this is what I put in the skip (an 8 tonner) that the brickies left behind. Bear in mind they haven't been on site for over a week and I have also spent the best part of two weekends filling another skip with this type of stuff from their previous visits. I have probably cleared 5 times this amount of stuff already and that's without even considering the joiners stuff.

Edited by Moonhawk on Thursday 21st September 17:47

[Moonhawk]

herbialfa said:

Is there anything in the quote re. "spoil away"?

No - and I don't expect them to dispose of the waste themselves - but considering I am hiring the skips and having them placed as close to the property as possible - I would have expected 'chucking offcuts into a skip' to be implied as part of the quote, not a specific part of the quote.

Edited by Moonhawk on Thursday 21st September 17:55

[Moonhawk]

Alucidnation said:

Why not just ask the builders to tidy up their st?

Because, as I explained in the OP - I didn't know whether clearing is automatically implied in a quote or whether some builders quote for it separately.

The fact that some have asked whether it was specifically called out in the quote leads me to believe different builders operate in different ways.