Right. Windows?

We had a couple bids. One of them was like $7,000 for clean up.

The bid we went with was less, like 3,000. But they did a poor job with it in the end.

Maybe I will look up the exact numbers later.

I was line item charged for the dumpster, and dump fees. Total was almost $1k.

This is one of those dilemmas that honestly we can’t answer.

House is piling home about 3000 sq ft. Here is the breakdown under Cleanup:

Daily Laborer - $6500

Clean up Daily - $2000

Clean Up Final - $1000

I'm not even sure what daily laborer means...?

Are you building in an area that requires site maintenance?

In my remodel, each trade was required to clean up, a dumpster was provided by the general contractor. I was charged for the dumpster and dump fee. At the end of the remodel, the general contractor’s son did a final cleanup, e.g., he picked fasteners using a magnet, he dust panned piles of sawdust, picked up various construction debris, the final cleanup was not a separate charge.

Maybe, that $9.5k charge is for the general contractor’s son.

My experience was the individual line items varied widely bid to bid. Concentrate on the contract and the bottom line.

HA! I wasn't paid enough! Actually I wasn't paid anything but that's a different issue :-/

You get what you pay for. Day laborers, not good. I require my subs to include daily clean up in their bids and it is a pass through in the contract. I require a clean site, period!

During our framing there was a fellow who would fetch the ladder, run for nails, sweep, pick up trash, etc, etc. Was there an unskilled laborer doing a similar job during your build?
Can you just ask your builder for an explanation?

What ARE day laborers??

In our area they are laborers hire by the day, so they aren't regular employees. They are unskilled workers, usually from a temp company like labor-ready

There have been NO day laborers on the site. Most I know by name and are the standard employees he uses on every job site. Cosmo the framer/carpenter. Carlos the painter with his own company... his foreman...etc. So I'm paying for something I'm not actually getting... there CERTAINLY are no people picking up and cleaning.

One would think that the subs are required to clean up their mess when they are done, would go hand in hand with their work. I could see a line item for final clean by a professional when the house gets a CO before moving in. But $9500? I don’t think so. I can also see X number of dumpster pickups in the contract for debris. Sounds like a vague line item or PROFIT for the most part.

Have you asked your builder (or whoever the contract is with) to explain what these costs cover? Maybe this should really have been one of the questions you asked before you signed the contract.

The line item reads 'daily laborer', not 'day labor'. There's a difference.

Daily laborer will often be a PT or FT employee hired to do misc chores with site cleanup being a significant chunk. Good contractors will require each sub to clean up after themselves each day but even with the best there will often be other stuff needed to be done. They will also help subs when an extra hand is needed, run errands, be there to accept deliveries, and keep an eye on things.

Day Labor or Day Laborer is, as mentioned above, someone hired for a day or less. Sometimes unskilled, sometimes not. Quality can cover a wide range but often not bad and sometimes quite good. We've a place nearby where Latino's hang out and our experience with them has been quite good.

Invariably a bit late if contract has been signed but never obviously sign anything that’s not fully understood and agreed upon first.

IMO it takes no special skills to clean up debris from a buils site but my crew better clean up after themselves a

Was this in the contract you signed?

It is.. and I understand we paid more for things than they cost. For example, siding we paid $8000 for when it really cost $3400 and we are fine with that. However, if there is a make believe charge or a service not provided then he's not paid for it. We did all of our own networking and surround sound... so we coup that. It's not like we are still paying the GC for it simply because it's in the contract. I mean if he has a charge in there for swimming pool preparation or construction but he doesn't actually build it... then no payment required. So if he has a good explanation of what the service provided I'm ok with it.... if not however...

The subs cleaned up as part of their contract and our GC augmented that if they were busy and not cleaned to his (and our) liking. Final cleaning upon completion by a professional cleaning service is $2,500 for a 2,700 SF single story (interior, exterior, windows, concrete sidewalks/street and landscape).

Your contract a fixed price contract?

Here's my guess: At the point that you want to see every bit of cost on a contract, you get stuff like this. When you whittle down "markup" from the GC, you start to see these kind of line items because they are actual costs, but at a 20% margin, they just get absorbed. My guess is that these are items that you may or may not see someone every day, but that it's really part of overhead / profit and you won't get someone there every day unless you are relentless about making the job site CLEAN every day.

Glad I am where we are, residential mark up margins average 10 - 12 %. If they were at 20 % here, they'd never sell many houses.

Around here, there are two markup rates. One for regular folks and one for folks who look like they can afford more. If the first thing a guy says to me is, "Ma'am, you've got a real nice house," guess which one I get?

Pensacola PL... I'm in Gulfbreeze..................

Just across the bay, we’re buikding on Innerarity Island in Perdido Key.

Mar.....those clean up prices are outrageous!! $2000/DAY......are you serious?????

My guys have been pretty good at cleaning as they go... no fees in the contract.

>Daily Laborer - $6500

>Clean up Daily - $2000

>Clean Up Final - $1000

Bad, first two charges are hidden profit. All subs suppose to cleanup after themselves. I have yet to see a contract for new home where subs are not required to clean, or leave a trash everywhere.

Hi Marisha,

We had rubbish removal 3 times or so during our gut reno.

I made a cash under the table deal with the owner of a truck (no receipt, no nothing) he sent his guys out and we made countless trips to the truck parked in the street, it actually went quickly.

No fuss, no muss, no dumpster/permit, etc.

I paid around $1,200 cash by the time I tipped the laborers. (around 400$ each time)

Would absolutely do this again.

We're in the NYC metro area.

BTW: I wish I could answer your question but it's built into the price to build my house cost.

Cleanup time comes out of your expensive electrician or plumbers time. Would you rather pay a just post high school kid to pick up scraps and make sure the site is cleaned, or would you rather add two days time for the more expensive trades to do piddling work?

Most good GCs have a beginning level gofer on the site to be the junior jack of all. Those sites stay straighter, run smoother, and work faster. Of course it is an expense. The owner ends up paying for all expenses no matter how the contract line items them.

You’re focused on the wrong thing here. The issue is not the line item. The issue is if the work of cleaning the job site being done.

As an additional note... In some areas, you can throw away as much construction debris as you like. Here, they charge a lot. Homeowners get one free trip in a normal car per year. After that, it's costly. I'm waiting until the boys get all the roofing bagged to do my yearly run.

I think the costs depend on where you live. We are owner-builder so we are in responsible for the clean up. We've been to the dump with a 22 foot long trailer full of debris twice and it cost $16.00 each trip. It would have been 10X that much when we lived in California. Also, the daily laborer is usually the unskilled worker doing the grunt work like picking up trash, sweeping up, and running errands. $6,500 for a six to seven month job doesn't sound too bad for that.

My subs have been doing a pretty good job of picking up after themselves, but I still spend an hour or so after everyone has left picking up whatever is lying about and sweeping up the ever present sawdust . My mantra is "A clean job site is a safe job site" and I remind everyone working on my job of that everyday :-)

Sophie...it's not getting done. We've been out there numerous time cleaning ourselves and have had complaints from the HOA and numerous neighbors about the trash and site. The trssh is so bad at times it blows in other yards and down the street.

If work is not being done that is clearly in the contract, then you email your builder. With pictures. Set up a meeting.

But much depends if you currently own the land and just hired him, or he currently owns the land and you are buying a completed project from him at the end. If h owns the land, technically, you are trespassing if you are on the property.

But you have to actually talk to the builder.

robin,

"Mar.....those clean up prices are outrageous!! $2000/DAY......are you serious?????"

I do believe that is the total price charged for daily cleanup, unless of course she is using one of your GC's.............

These threads are so insane. Just talk to your contractor, instead of guessing at what was meant by this or supposed to happen there and getting further stressed out by everyone weighing in with their read on a situation in which they 1) have super limited info and 2) have no dog in the fight. I know that if my client didn't understand a line item, I'd 100% rather they asked me first.

It's our land. I have a meeting every few days about numerous things...at the expense of my schedule. Hours picking up trash myself, numerous emails, meetings, complaints from the HOA and neighbors... still trash everywhere. Is this what it's like to try and get a teenager to do their chores? lol

Well, it's obviously not being done and you shouldn't pay for it. Since he was kind enough to do it as a separate line item - you can document that it's not being done and withhold the payment.

Document everything with statements and photos.

There's a lot about this thread which makes no sense at all. I suggest the OP re-read the construction contract, and, if unclear, discuss with the builder.