Do you have a minimum charge for returning to a job to make changes or perform additional work ?

Here is the situation: I did a job for a GC and the inspector requested additional work. I have a $200.00 minimum charge for a service call. The GC has a problem with this saying he can't justify the HUGE charge for having someone come back to the job to do the additional work even though he is passing this cost onto the customer. On this particular job the inspector made two inspections and requested additional work both times which required me to return to the job twice. The GC thinks I should only charge my normal price per opening and maybe 35.00 or 40.00 for a trip charge.

I explained that if I only charged for the openings plus $40.00 I would lose money. He says I would recoup it on future work. If I had a dollar for everytime I heard, "Give me a cheap price on this job and I will have TONS of work for you in the future" I would be rich.

I think otherwise and I'm looking for opinions from other contractors.



[This message has been edited by sparky 134 (edited 12-16-2005).]

if the inspector requested additional work, is that not your fault? What stuff did the inspector want added.

200 is steep in this part of the country for a service call. I would charge 60 to show up and then 40 a man hour. I dont do extras by the hole.

If I am working off a set of drawings that were approved by the village how is it my fault that the inspector requested additional work ? The drawings were submitted to the villages review board who approved them.

if the village approved the drawings, what gives the inspector the right to ask for more, maybe he should be paying the bill.

Inspectors inspect to the Code not to the specifications or plans.
Were the additional items needed to comply with the Code ?
If the answer is yes then they need to be corrected. Who pays is not up to the inspector to sort out.
If the items are not required for Code compliance then file an appeal with the Building Department.
Alan--

My minimum charge is $75 for the 1st half hour, but that is local, a little more if there is some travel involved. Then $75 per hour. It sounds like the question of who should pay is not an issue. The GC will pass it along to the HO and explain why it is their liability and not the GC or EC.

It sounds like the issue is the GC wants to give you "advise" on how you should run your business and what your marketing stragety should be. A six year old can see through this. It's manipulation. A per opening price at the start is entirely different from at any other point in the job. Momentum is the key ingredent that can't be quantified. It's like loading up a moving van. If you load the truck at one location, get on the highway, drive 55 to your destination and empty, you expect the task to take a certain amount of time and even estimate what's involved. But what if you were asked to load half the truck, and then pick up the rest of the stuff on your way. It's scattered along the highway. "Since you'll be driving that route anyway." Start stop start stop. Plus what if you then have to start rearranging stuff that's already packed just to make this fit. From an outsider's view, yes it is probably easier for you than anyone else to stop & pick this stuff up along the way. You have the room in the truck, you are driving the route anyway, and the stuff all belongs at your destination, but in reality the two tasks are obviously very different.

Can he hire someone else to come in and do this change? If not than I guess he is stuck with whatever your policy is. It would probably do you both some good in the future to make sure this is understood at the begining. Get your minimums spelled out in the contract.