Travelling Time - do you charge / get paid for?

[Andy Allen]

So if you do regular work for a builder/ contact and they want you to do 2 bathrooms 70 mins away, you'd say no!
Or would you look at the extra days travelling each week(10 hours) and give them it for the work or charge say £30 a day travelling time to cover your costs and make it worth going. Just a scenario.
Or is it correct for them to expect you to do it for the same price as your local work.

I would drive faster and get there in under an hour. .:lol:

Seriously. ....im currently doing alot of work for a bathroom company there work is approximately 30 miles away its all day work and I charge an extra £ 10 per day to cover fuel......tbh anything further away would not intrest me. ...simple as that. .

 

[the diving tile]

I travel 150 miles a day charge them for fuel, parking and tolls, or they can get some one else, I look after the jobs for them so it works for both of us.

 

[MTiler]

It can take me over an hour to drive to the other side of London lol. If its a large job I'll travel across london and add extra for petrol. Any commercial mosaic jobs Im on a higher day rate with accom. and sometimes food as extra when needed.
Ive had a job (Bisazza) confirmed thats in Tunbridge Wells a good 1 1/2 - 2 hr drive I just added petrol to the price being a private job. Most general tiling jobs are local.

 

[mz30]

To add to what I put in the other thread,i am travelling 65 miles to work 65 miles back can take 1 hr 20 mins upwards depending on traffic on the m6,now as am employed I get paid by the hour 8hrs a day so to get to site I leave at 5:45 am each morning, on a good day I arrive just after 7am and I start work immediately, I then start to pack up at around 2pm and usually get home on a good run at about 3:45pm,i only get paid for 8 hrs so I don't see why I should stay till 4:30pm then get home after 6 meaning I have been out of the house for over 12 hrs and only get paid for 8 hrs.

I think the arrangement I sort of forced on the boss is a good one the work he wants gets done and am happy getting home early,its a win /win really.

 

[Gazzer]

Recently I started doing some sub-contract work and got sent to a site 32 miles away but due to its location it took 1 hour 20 minutes to get there, It took over2 hours to get home. While the job was easy enough ( had it been ready wheni arrived) It didnt work out cost effective for me as there was no fuel or travelling allowance.
Last night I was asked to attend a site which would have meant at least 2 hours driving each way. I declined the offer explaining it wouldnt be cost effective.
I was then offered another job again 30 miles away but alot easier to get to. As for the original questiion and for the jobs mentiioned above, No I dont charge but feel some kind of compensation should be made.
For my own contracts, Yes I charge fuel allowance for jobs over 15 miles away from home. Also car parking charges etc
Years ago I worked all over the country and I was paid per mile or I didnt do the job.

 

[Andy Allen]

If doing site work wouldn't the m2 rate increase to allow for travelling. .?

 

[WetSaw]

I would've thought with site work the m2 rate has already been set so you either suck up the traveling time/cost or don't take the contract. With residential, if the client wants You for the job they'll generally pay to ensure they get you.

 

[Andy Allen]

I would've thought with site work the m2 rate has already been set so you either suck up the traveling time/cost or don't take the contract. With residential, if the client wants You for the job they'll generally pay to ensure they get you.

Ahh so that would come under the old " swings and roundabouts" heading .......you get screwed when you work miles away and make it up when working local which is once a blue moon...lol

 

[WetSaw]

Indeed, and don't forget local to you is miles away to someone else!!

 

[m3fitter]

I think you have to look at the bigger picture here, if its a regular contact, and the majority of work is local, then wear the extra cost / time, look at the overall price of the job, my lads on daywork are expected to be on site at 7.30am, leaving at 4 - 4.30pm depending on the site / project, I'm paying for 8 hours working, not travelling, if you were office bound, you get paid for the time you are in the office, or a shop is 9-5, you get paid for the shop hours. Or on price, you have to look at the price in general, London is different, parking should be paid for or allowed for within the dayrate. We all have a choice, f you're not happy with the cost / daywork / price, don't do it

 

[mike1979]

I live in a small town and I've tiled almost everything here so I got to travel at least 10-15 miles to the next biggest place so this can't apply to me but to be honest I'm just glad I've got a job !!!

 

[cone]

All my work is within 30mins away and where I live, we never get bad traffic but if working an hour away, I'd just put something extra on for diesel and not my time traveling to and back from work. All my work is residential, start at 9.30-10 and finish around 6ish and usually home with diner on the table for 6.30. I'd love to charge time for traveling but if I added it to my price, I'd price myself out of the work.

 

[Swin]

Don't think anyone ever has hard and fast rules,I way up the job,if it further than 30 mins each way,I'll way up how much the job will pay for the time it'll take,if it pays well I might just let it go,otherwise I'll add fuel plus a bit too cover costs,never hourly though,but don't do sub contractor work anymore so when I price up the job it's sort of prices in
when I did subby work I would charge it