A skip on the drive two days early
The old kitchen comes out on Monday. The skip company dropped the skip on Friday, as booked three weeks ago, but the fit was pushed back a week and nobody told them. Now the customer has a skip on the drive for ten days and the hire runs longer than quoted. On another job the skip is full by lunchtime, a second one is needed, and the fitters stack old units in the customer's garden overnight.
Then, months later, the accountant asks for the waste paperwork for a job and nobody can find it.
Why waste is always last minute
Waste is a small line on each quote, so it gets small attention. But it is tied to the strip-out date, which moves, and to a supplier who needs notice.
- Skip bookings are made by phone and not linked to the job's plan.
- When the fit moves, the skip booking is not moved with it.
- Skip sizes are guessed rather than based on what is coming out.
- Road permits, where needed, are not arranged in time.
- Waste transfer notes and invoices are not filed against the job.
What paperwork you must keep for waste, and for how long, is for your own advisers and the waste carrier to confirm. The system stores what they tell you to keep.
What the mess costs
Extended hire and extra collections come out of your margin. Customers with a skip on their drive for longer than expected, or old units on their lawn, are unhappy before the new kitchen even arrives. Lost waste paperwork causes a scramble if anyone asks for it. And fitters waste time dealing with waste instead of fitting.
Waste booking built into the job
- Each job has a waste line with the method you use for it: skip, wait-and-load collection or your own van to a site.
- Skip size is suggested from the scope, such as a full kitchen, a bathroom suite or tiled walls coming off, using rules your team sets.
- The booking request goes to your waste company by email or their booking form, dated from the strip-out stage.
- If the strip-out date moves, the waste company is sent the change and the job shows whether they confirmed it.
- Jobs where the skip must go on the road are flagged so the permit is requested in time.
- Waste transfer notes and invoices are photographed or read from email and filed on the job, and costs flow to job costing.
| Step | Today | With waste booking |
|---|---|---|
| Booking | Phone call, date in a diary | Request from the job, dated from strip-out |
| Fit moves | Skip not moved | Change sent, confirmation tracked |
| Permit | Remembered late | Flagged when the skip is on the road |
| Paperwork | In the van | Filed on the job |
What fitters and customers notice
The skip arrives when the strip-out starts and leaves when it is done. It is the right size more often. Customers are told when to expect it. Fitters stop phoning waste companies from site. And when someone asks for waste paperwork for a job, it is on the job.
Waste costs also become visible in job costing. You can see which job types need a bigger skip than the quote assumed, and adjust your waste allowance in quotes accordingly. Skips booked at the right time and the right size are one of the small things that make a fit feel organised to a customer, and one of the small things that stop a tight margin getting thinner.
Signs waste needs attention
- Skips have arrived early or stayed late because a fit moved.
- You regularly pay for extra collections.
- A road permit has been forgotten.
- Waste transfer notes are not filed against jobs.
- Fitters handle waste bookings themselves from site.