Guaranteed Work?

[Daz]

This is a weird one.
My quotations say that all work is guaranteed, but there is no timescale.
I've never been asked how long my work is guaranteed for.

I agree that prep work will always reflect how long you would wish to guarantee your work, so does this mean that you alter your T&C's to suit each job?

I work on the premiss that if there is a failure and I can prove it is down to the prep / substrate (and I did not do the prep) then I'm covered. If it is my fault, then hands up.

I assume that my work is guaranteed for as long as the customer can contact me (my email, mobile & home number have not changed in over 10 years) so I guess that one day I could get a phone call.

 

[Ken Bruty]

2 years for me, and I'm proud to say that it has never been exercised so far

 

[Ajax123]

to use the term "my work is guaranteed" is a non terms really as it does not define the terms of the guarantee. What it does is simply create the perception in the customers mind that the work must be of "good quality". It is really just salesmanship

To offer a meaningful guarantee you need to define the terms. For example I could say my work is guaranteed and then when there is an issue I could say well it was guaranteed to fail. If on the other hand I was guaranteeing that the work will remain sound and fit for purpose for a defined period it becomes meaningfull.

Don't get me wrong I am in now way having a pop at people who take pride enough in their work to guarantee it at all. That is admirable. The issue is that when offering aguarantee as a term of contract it needs to be carefully worded.

My guarantee documents are usually written specifically for each project which I am guaranteeing. I don't often have to do it becaue the products I sell are by implication guaranteed to remain fit for purpose for the life of the building anyway. We use CE certification as the appropriate means of certification of minimum performance.

 

[andy8758]

Ajax has a point that needs careful listening to. I think some of the other posters on this thread read like they are "cowboy tradesmen" with their cavalier attitude to customer care.

As a Specialist Wall and Floor Tiler - you should be looking to give the customer at least a 10 year guarantee. BUT for such a guarantee, you need to guarantee your work and your materials - so if customer supplies adhesive (that may not be to your approval or from a dodgy source) or the customer prepares the sub-strata (and you can only see the outer part of that prep) then a 10 year guarantee would be foolish - maybe a simple 12 month guarantee would be acceptable.

Again, it must depend on careful wording as part of the T&C.

So come on everybody - dont you think your customer deserves the best guarantee you can give them? Mine do.

 

[Daz]

Ajax has a point that needs careful listening to. I think some of the other posters on this thread read like they are "cowboy tradesmen" with their cavalier attitude to customer care.

As a Specialist Wall and Floor Tiler - you should be looking to give the customer at least a 10 year guarantee. BUT for such a guarantee, you need to guarantee your work and your materials - so if customer supplies adhesive (that may not be to your approval or from a dodgy source) or the customer prepares the sub-strata (and you can only see the outer part of that prep) then a 10 year guarantee would be foolish - maybe a simple 12 month guarantee would be acceptable.

Again, it must depend on careful wording as part of the T&C.

So come on everybody - dont you think your customer deserves the best guarantee you can give them? Mine do.

I'm not sure if your comments are targeted at me or not, but as far as I'm concerned, my guarantee is timeless. My comments are to illustrate that few customers actually bother to ask what guarantee the work carries, if any.

I will always assume responsibility to resolve a tiling issue and only charge in circumstances that I can prove that it has not been caused by poor workmanship on my part.

I am not a "cowboy tradesman" and I take offence at being labelled as such.

 

[mikethetile]

how do you gaurantee materials produced by a third party for ten years

you need to be extremely carefull offering warranties as you can find yourself seriously out of pocket through no fault of your own. you cannot gaurantee that an adhesive will not fail and if it did you would have to foot the bill for the entire job

limit your liability to your workmanship as thats the only part of the job you have control over, if materials fail you can go back to the supplier for recourse and sidestep liability

10 yrs is a long time and it would be advisable to get insured if your going to offer that kind of gaurantee

any defects in workmanship should manifest themselves within 12 months

if a job fails at any time due to incorrect methods , materials etc a warranty is immaterial as they will simply sue you anyway

 

[White Room]

Even keep the batch numbers and make of addy in your records just in case

 

[Daz]

how do you gaurantee materials produced by a third party for ten years

you need to be extremely carefull offering warranties as you can find yourself seriously out of pocket through no fault of your own. you cannot gaurantee that an adhesive will not fail and if it did you would have to foot the bill for the entire job

limit your liability to your workmanship as thats the only part of the job you have control over, if materials fail you can go back to the supplier for recourse and sidestep liability

10 yrs is a long time and it would be advisable to get insured if your going to offer that kind of gaurantee

any defects in workmanship should manifest themselves within 12 months

if a job fails at any time due to incorrect methods , materials etc a warranty is immaterial as they will simply sue you anyway

I totally agree Mike.
Just to play "Devil's Advocate" I looked at a job this evening where the tiles have clearly been D&D'd with no obvious signs of failure other than one small area above the shower head. The customer advised that the tiling was done over 15 years ago and has only recently displayed problems. The issues are clearly because of the incorrect fixing methods in a wet area but have taken a long time to manifest so whilst I agree with your comments, I find it difficult to concur that issues will be identified within 12 months.

 

[Stewart]

I'm not sure if your comments are targeted at me or not, but as far as I'm concerned, my guarantee is timeless. My comments are to illustrate that few customers actually bother to ask what guarantee the work carries, if any.
I will always assume responsibility to resolve a tiling issue and only charge in circumstances that I can prove that it has not been caused by poor workmanship on my part.
I am not a "cowboy tradesman" and I take offence at being labelled as such.

I'm with Captain Slow on this. I wouldn't like to think that I'm being branded a "cowboy Tradesman" Having had over 20 years in the trade (and most of that with my own business) I find the number doesn't really matter and is normally there just to give the customer peace of mind if they're looking for it.

The true test of a tradesman , is what they do when they gets the phone call, saying they have a problem and how quickly and professionally they deal with it. No matter how long the jobs been completed.

 

[mikethetile]

thats right captain

if incorrect fixing methods are used then theres no limit to liability , you can be sued whatever the timescale

im assuming that those offering a written warranty are using the correct fixing methods and materials