[Roger Oakley]

it is a bit daunting.  rog do you employ your colleague on a casual thing or fully employed.?

Full Time

[drive surgeon]

whats a la?

[Roger Oakley]

Local Authority - council

[Richy L]

yeah, it makes sense to use the right docs on a job this size and type.
I was just saying it isnt always a neccessity.

[drive surgeon]

think im gonna get a measuring wheel to measure it all up, some of the paths are a metre and a half wide and go on for ages all round the site,  i cant say im not worried about it all i tell you. i want the work but  i suppose its a lot to takeon at once, who knows, maybe i could do it myself bit by bit unless they have a timescale. 

[Roger Oakley]

if you employ under 5 employees then the risk assesment doesnt have to be written down but with a job this size i am sure the company employing you will ask for one and you will look very un professional if you dont supply one.

Hello Trevor
I didn't know that, the 5 employees or less rule, is that a H&S rule/directive?
Don't take this the wrong way it is not aimed at you, but I did a job for British Airways last year (Heathrow airport) and after I did the test clean, and got the job, before we could start I had to submit risk and method statements, I was working on my own, so could I have used the 5 employees or less rule I don't think so, in my view H&S is a good thing except it is some little s**t with no experiance making it up as they go along.
In a past life, I used to put events together, and had to produce a document for dropping 6 million sun-dried rose leaf's (couldn't use poppies) from 1000ft out of two ww2 aircrafts over the river thames for the poppy day celebrations , it was a 14 page document on the dangers of them falling on the pavments and car windscreens. TFL and Westminster council admited they didn't even bother to read them, but the event went ahead anyway.

[trevor perry]

hi roger
      yes it is an health and safety directive that it only has to be written down if you employ 5 or more but if you employ less than this you still have to have them but they dont have to be written.
      having said that if you apply for a large job and you dont supply them i bet your qoute would end up in the bin so better to be safe than try and argue with the safety oofficer.

[drivewasher]

Obviously it's horses for courses. less than 5 and your in a private garden then unwritten.
If you get a job in a commercial premisis then you would have to comply with their H&S policy and that would me a written one.

I believe that when I go price a job then as I do so i am risk assessing whilst I'm there, at least on domestic work

[Roger Oakley]

hi roger
  having said that if you apply for a large job and you dont supply them i bet your qoute would end up in the bin so better to be safe than try and argue with the safety oofficer.

Hi Trevor,
Agree with you there, you would not get a look-in
On any job that is either commercial or in a public area we'll produce a risk assessment and H&S doc including MSDS sheets. I won't produe them at the quoting stage, but once the job is confirmed they are done straight away.

[drive surgeon]

jesus there is a lot to this commercial lark, im only learning as most of my work is just domestic stuff.  its daunting.

[Richy L]

i have done some commercial work and needed to subit a risk assessment, method statement and COSHH sheets, but for some big commercial even, I have asked them if they would like the documents for them to say they didnt need it.
Each case is different I guess.

One job i had, i had to give a risk assessment, method statement and one of their own forms to clean out some guttering!!

[drive surgeon]

i dont know whether to meet the boss in a suit or just my work polo shirt and jeans and shoes?  bearing in mind it could be a massive job or maybe a contract.

[mick101]

dont go in a suit go in your work gear be yourself and dont bulsh-t you will only trip yourself up, just go for it nothing ventured nothing gaind 
cheers mick

[Richy L]

dont go in a suit go in your work gear be yourself and dont bulsh-t you will only trip yourself up, just go for it nothing ventured nothing gaind 
cheers mick

i agree,
Dont "oversell" yourself.

Just make sure you are clean and tidy, polite, and maybe make him laigh a little bit. You want him to like you.

[trevor perry]

might be worth while offering to do a demonstration patch , when ever i have done this i have always got the job.

[drive surgeon]

been to see the job, the boss did not come with me he just gave me a map and told me to visit the sites, which i thought was a bit stupid really, its all block paving and flagged areas.  could only see one tap and i need 200 yards of hose to do the one stretch.   pricing it up is going to be a nightmare,  he wants the job started in a month . im just thinking can i do the job on my own or with my dads help or whether too take someone else on cash in hand to start with, i dont know what im going to do about my domestic calls as this will be taking all my time up, i would say it will be full time for ages if i get it. and i have not got a clue about sub contracting and i dont know whether i would trust anyone else doing my work for me as im a perfectionist with my jobs.

too much to think of

[mark.laycock1@ntlw]

if you need any help i will help you.mark

[drive surgeon]

got to measure it all up tomoro but its ment to be belting down.  will take me a day easy to measure one site up.

[drive surgeon]

hi guys, measured it all up approx, it came in at around 3,618 sq m.   

this included, paving ( blocks, flags, tarmac )  walls, parking bays, and bricks that were green on the houses.  its going to take some time but the boss said he is getting 3 quotes one of which is mine.  not sure yet if he wants the blockpaving re-sanding afterwards. can always offer that as an extra service to the cleaning price.   cos i mainly do domestic, my prices are pretty cheap, like £1.00 per sq metre.  shall i bump it up to £1.50, or £2.00 a sq m?    im going to need to add on cement remover and oil remover to clean the parking bays. he wants the job starting in a month but think he wants the two sites done by september, this is just one. so im thinking i could do it with two people ( me and my dad ) to start and see how we get on.  i wont be able to do my domestic jobs tho unless i work 7 days or in the evenings, .  who knows i prob wont get it anyway but im keeping my fingers crossed.  im going to hand the quote to the boss personnaly with pictures of my other commercial work and tell him i can start the work within the week as im hoping the others might not be able to start so soon, i need to be positive.  god i would love to see how much the other guys are charging.  prob twice my price??  but it all depends on how many people they have doing it i suppose. its all new to me.   any advice.?      

[Richy L]

i wouldnt go in too low.
Cement and oil will take a bit of time to get up.

I personally think £1 per metre is quite cheap. i'd say about 1.5 per metre would be better.