Should Tradie Remove "on Site Rubbish" if Clean up Is Included in Quote?

catichau on 18/11/2017 - 22:57
Last edited 19/11/2017 - 10:34 by 1 other user

We just had all the outside water pipes replaced in a property. The Plumber that did the job, gave me a quote for it which specified including clean-up. When he got half way through the job, he realized it was a much bigger job than anticipated. Even though we could have insisted that was his problem, we agreed that he could not have known about the underground plumbing issues and agreed to pay more. we felt the price was still a good realistic price.

However, on inspection of the property after the works were complete, There were piles of rock/concrete and a palm tree left behind, probably half a trailer load in total. When I asked the plumber when he was removing these items, he advised "these items are on-site rubbish" and therefore not included in the job. He said this is common practice and that he removed all items he had brought in, and all the mess from the actual job (old pipes etc).

In all the years of using tradies, I have never heard of this, and would have thought as he removed the tree and the hunks of rock/concrete to get to the pipes, it would have been part of the clean up. he has offered to clean up these at an extra cost.

Would love to know your views on this. We are tempted just to clean it ourselves and never use him again, however, if what he is saying is correct, then no other plumber would have taken it away either.

Thanks

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  Davo1111 on 18/11/2017 - 23:07

  +1

  i'd probably agree with him, but he needed to fill in the hole after it was done.

  • 

    catichau on 18/11/2017 - 23:16

    +1

    yep, he filled in the holes

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  airal3rt on 18/11/2017 - 23:15

  +4

  They are taking you for a ride. Underquote to convince you to commit to the job and then part way through run into some "unfortunate" issues that result in the costs suddenly going up and/or some work left unfinished unless even more money is handed over, for the clean-up in your case. Oldest trick in the book for shady tradies!

  • 

    catichau on 18/11/2017 - 23:21

    he did remove all waste, other than what he calls "on-site waste" so my question is, if this is common practice. thanks

    • 

      airal3rt on 19/11/2017 - 00:46

      +1

      If the original quote didn't include pay to remove "on-site waste", you must've been paying him to remove some "off-site waste", perhaps the floating trash pile in the middle of the Pacific?

      I guess you could say it is "common practice" for unethical tradies looking to fleece you for an extra buck.

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  nocure on 18/11/2017 - 23:19

  +1

  He said this is common practice and that he removed all items he had brought in, and all the mess from the actual job (old pipes etc).

  This is correct as the rocks, palm etc were already present. Put an ad on airtasker, someone will take it away for ~$30

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  kipps on 18/11/2017 - 23:22

  +1

  If he said clean up was included and didn’t qualify what he meant by that then that is his problem as far as I am concerned. He should have known that his clean up wouldn’t be complete and should have brought it up if he wanted to exclude it.

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  aoeueoa on 18/11/2017 - 23:57

  +2

  I think it's fair to take away small rubbish, vacuum dust and dirt in the hallway etc. That sort of stuff is expected and acceptable. If he had to dig up your entire garden to fix a problem I wouldn't expect him to have to take away any trees removed in the process. He's a plumber and he has to remove things to fix your problem, doesn't mean he has to take away things that become rubbish in that process.

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  whooah1979 on 19/11/2017 - 00:33

  +1

  There were piles of rock/concrete and a palm tree left behind,

  if this stuff was in the ground and unearthed during excavation, then it's not part of the clean-up. they bring it, they take it with them. anything that was there before belongs there now.

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  chumlee on 19/11/2017 - 07:28

  I would agree with the plumber. With tradies I always ask them to quote on cleaning everything up and making tne site clean - i will even provide the skip bin in some cases

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  Candour on 19/11/2017 - 08:37

  check with consumer affairs. he has been incompetent in his quote. you paid more. He needs to remove the rubbish he left behind.

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  vinni9284 on 19/11/2017 - 09:29

  Going through the Consumer Affairs/legal channels is a waste of time and money as it will cost you more and leave you with a headache.

  I would inform him your concerns and if he refuses then mention that you will never use him again for future works.
  He did write on the quote for removal of waste so therefore he is obligated to remove it. No excuses tbh.
  Then pass it around to friends and family not to use him or if you are game, leave an online feedback (if he uses a website with that option/Google)

  That's all you can really do.

  Cheers

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  tryagain on 19/11/2017 - 21:30

  What was the wording on the original quote in regards to cleaning up.

  • 

    catichau on 20/11/2017 - 18:17

    did not specify anything other than "clean-up"

    • 

      tryagain on 20/11/2017 - 20:06

      If it was stuff that was in his way of doing the job and he just moved it to gain access then I think that would be normal, if it was rubble etc caused as a result of his work then he probably should have tidied it up, somewhere in between is a bit of a grey area. If the rocks etc came about from excavation then most tradies would put it back in the hole as they backfilled so it's a bit hard based on the info from my (Tradie) opinion

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  TheBilly on 20/11/2017 - 07:14

  +1

  Hes right, just really poor at explaining things and probably couldve gone about this with a bit more tact.

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  catichau on 20/11/2017 - 18:21

  from reading the responses, which seam to be at about 50/50. it appears that what the plumber claims maybe correct, and that most tradesman would not just automatically remove onsite rubbish waste. So we will just clean our selves and accept it as 'the norm' Thanks all for your input