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If you hired a contractor to do some work and were paying them a daily rate, would you consider a 2-hour span a "day"?

 

Well, at this point we've paid them for 4 days of work at $320/day, however today (day 4) they finished up in 2 hours and left. I'm just having a bit of a problem paying them $320 for 2 hours. Dh paid them this morning before he left for work - stupid, I know.

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So you pay them daily? I don't think I've ever worked with contractors in this sort of fashion. Usually they give me a bid and stick with it unless they come across something unusual while doing the project.

 

What kind of work are they doing?

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Well it depends.

 

If the job requires them to stop and start, wait for things to dry, wait for you to buy fixtures or wait for a delivery...I can see a day being 2 hours.

 

I can also see it if they have to do job related errands. Not all work in construction is on the job site. Acquiring permits, supplies, equipment rentals, etc. are all are part of the job.

 

If the job was bid as a "5 day job" and this was one of the five days...then yes, I can see it.

 

If they are working on a '$ per day', with not limit, and they were not actively working on something for the job. Then I would question the pay.

 

If they left work undone, and have left for the day. Then I would question the pay. There are valid reasons that they may give, like the aforementioned 'waiting for something to dry' etc.

 

Sounds like someone needs to have a chat with them.

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I do not know your situation, but my Dear Loved One is (was) a contractor. Even though the work you saw may have taken two hours, I can attest to the countless hours worked at home calling suppliers, arranging deliveries and office work that gets done which a client never sees. The billing should break down labor, materials and time spent on office billing. All of it should be reasonable for the type of job you had done. Typically the contractor should bill you before you the client pay. You should set up the rest of the job as time and materials. That way you're billed for the hours worked be it labor or office and the materials fees for the job.

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Usually, there is a price to complete a job. In my husbands work, most (ALL) customers do not pay until the job is completed. Time and materials are always factored in. And usually customers know when it will start and when it will finish, provided the weather cooperates, and all that.

It always depends on what job it is, and what was agreed to. Being that it is a residents, maybe these guys were able to complete something quickly that day, or it is something they have to come back and do. Does the boss know they only worked for two hours?

Sometimes it is standard to make a down payment, pay when half is completed, and the rest when totally completed.

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My dh is contractor, he bids by a job not by day or hour. A day could be 2 hours depending on what the work is. If something needs to dry, he's waiting on supplies, etc. There are many reasons why someone might work only 2 hours, but if I were paying by the day, I'd bring it up.

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If they couldn't schedule another job after yours, then yes I would consider that a day. Utimately, your dh paid so it's over and done with. Mine would've done the same thing. He does not like confrontation.

 

This is what my dh said. This contractor has done several other jobs for us recently and they were all charged "by the job". This one in particular (interior painting), for some reason he said they'd charge the day rate, which he estimated at 4 days. They did finish and did a good job; dh said he felt it was fair to pay for the day since they weren't able to schedule another job, and at least a small part of the day was spent getting a few needed supplies.

 

Mama Bear has now calmed down. :)

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i am a contractor & i charge by the hour. my husband is also a contractor and he charges by a service call (first hour) and then calculates by the portion of the hour from there.

a day rate? work the day and i'll pay you a day rate.

was there anything involved outside of the 2 hours they spent with you, shopping for materials or something job specific for you? i will charge a customer (on a time and materials job) and include shopping time for their plants, but not phone calls to arrange for a delivery from my office- that's just part of doing business.

I would question it.

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