Could you just move that socket?
On a kitchen extension the homeowner walks round with your foreman on Saturday. Could the socket move to the island? Could the window be a bit wider? While the plasterer is here, could he skim the hallway too? The foreman says yes, of course. A few more requests arrive on WhatsApp during the week, including a photo of a different set of bi-fold doors.
At the end of the job your final account includes a page of extras. The homeowner thought the socket was included, remembers the hallway as a favour, and is shocked by the price of the doors. The job was good. The last conversation is an argument.
Why extras turn into disputes
Domestic clients are not used to building contracts. To them, a small change is a small request, and a friendly yes means included. Your foreman wants to keep the client happy and the job moving, and writing a formal variation for a socket feels heavy-handed. So the extra is agreed in conversation, and priced in private, weeks later.
- Requests arrive in person, by text and in WhatsApp groups.
- The foreman agrees on the spot without a price.
- Nothing written records the change before the work is done.
- The homeowner never sees a running total.
- Prices are worked out at the end, when memories differ.
What the final-bill argument costs
Extras you did but could not get paid for, or had to discount to keep the peace. A final payment held back while the argument goes on. A client who will not recommend you despite a good build, and reviews that mention the bill rather than the kitchen. And time: your office and your managing director spend hours going back through messages to reconstruct what was said.
The extras log we build
- The foreman or site manager records any change request on their phone in under a minute: what was asked, a photo, and who asked.
- Requests from WhatsApp or text can be forwarded into the log, so they are captured wherever they started.
- The office adds a price, or a basis such as dayworks at your rates, from your price list where the item is common.
- The homeowner gets a short message with the extra, the price or basis, and any effect on the finish date, and approves or declines with one tap.
- Work on the extra is shown as approved or not approved on the foreman's list, so nobody starts an unapproved extra by accident.
- The homeowner can see a running list of approved extras and the total at any time.
- At the end, the final account is produced from the approved extras, with nothing new on it.
| Extra | Price basis | Homeowner decision |
|---|---|---|
| Move socket to island | Fixed price | Approved |
| Widen window opening | Fixed price, plus lintel change | Approved |
| Skim hallway | Fixed price | Declined |
| Different bi-fold doors | Supplier price difference plus fitting | Approved |
Your terms and how you price extras stay yours. We make sure the homeowner saw and agreed them before the work.
A final bill with no surprises
Homeowners know what every extra costs before it is done, and can say no. Your foreman keeps saying yes to requests, but now the yes means we will price that for you. The final account has nothing the client has not already approved, so the last payment arrives without a fight. And the good job gets remembered for the build, not the bill.
Are homeowner extras causing you grief?
- Extras are agreed in conversation or on WhatsApp.
- Homeowners see the price of extras for the first time on the final bill.
- You have discounted extras to settle an argument.
- Final payments get held while extras are disputed.
- Nobody can list the agreed extras on a job right now.