Time and Materials?

[ckingclean]

Is anyone out there charging time and materials for some projects?

I talked to a few contractors here that are doing this now for their cleaning and sealing projects on stone, pavers, etc. These jobs have a really high material cost. They charge an hourly rate and then materials on top at retail value.

I thought it was interesting. Most of the time it doesn't make any sense to charge this way. These guys know what their doing though and have been at it for a long time. They're saying that it's working better in the current economic situation.

Any ideas?

 

[Ron Musgraves]

I was by the hour all the time.

 

[Lester]

Time and materials or "cost plus" (labor and material cost plus 15%) is how I operated my remodeling biz for years but it seemed I was never getting ahead. I still have some carryover customers that I operate that way with but I dread working there because I can't make the money I can by cleaning.
If you are an honest contractor and they trust you, it is definitly to the benifit of the customer but you sometimes have to ad a clause that says you will keep it under a certain amount to get the sale to a new customer. Like I said, I only work that way with longtime customers and friends.