12043 geometra and builders poll

I share the sentiments - Geometras are a necessary evil and must be controlled like all trades and professionals alike.

I don't like to tar every geometra with the same brush nearly but not quite. Don't forget geometras have an 'A'level equivalent education so they are not the most qualified folk but then there are qualified scoundrels as well - but unfortunately as soon as the Brits cross the Channel they seem to leave their brains in Blighty and they are taken advantage of....

I remember one local saying "...theif..." as the geometra left. Another and I quote.. ..." €1 for Italians and €10 for the english..." .- a bit of an exageration but I think it relays the point.

You have to be careful with your money nobody else is going to be. Even a translater can get it wrong because they don't know the right question to ask as the client probably doesn't either.

Just to give the geometra a bit of a break.... there is no high price just a price you can take it or leave it...!!:smile:

[quote=lotan4850;114962]

Just to give the geometra a bit of a break.... there is no high price just a price you can take it or leave it...!!:smile:[/quote]

Hi Lotan
For some thats hard to do after the work has been done on the lower price and then inflated for some unknown reason.

deborahandricky - A price is a price - if they are not professional enough to leave a correct price and have not informed you of the cost increases beforehand then I see no reason for you or anyone else to pay any elevated excesses.

Naturally this depends on your contract with the professional overseeing the work.:smile:

We must have been so lucky as we had no problem at all and the work was finished on budget and to a much higher standard then we expected. ( we thought that the electric wiring would not be chased) but everything was perfect with a beautiful railing up on the roof terrace and water supply brought up to the roof and down in to the cellar just in case we need it. Since then he has helped to set up our Italian bank account sorted out our Enel and looked after our i.c.i until we got over for a visit. Not all Italian building work ends up over budget and the only thing we did was tell him the areas that we wanted done (putting in a bath room, putting electricity into the house and taking off half the roof and putting on a roof terrace.) then we left everything up to him as we felt he knew more then we did . The only thing we asked was that the old floor tiles would be saved if possible and this was done . They were lifted and cut around the fitting in the bathroom and carefully replaces again. hope this is of help to anyone who is worried about builders etc.

Hi Lotan
I agree a price is a price, but have a look at the poll, with only 7 votes , there is a big percentage of people that feel miffed about unadvised price increases.
As for my own story , the only real problem I had with our first geometra, was she did not understand that when I fired her she was off the payroll, I then get various emails after 6 months stating we owed her 4.500 E, and the over the following 3 days, and threats of court action etc from her , her demand went upto 17500E, She did finally take us to court because she refused to list all these costs out and send us a final invoice , which we had been asking for over 12 months, she ended up with 3750E and had to pay her own costs .......

Sometimes its worth letting it go legal

Hi J+C
It was not the saving of the 750, that was the point, the fact that she refused to give us an invoice, despite loads of requests, refused meetings and as I said, over the space of 3 days tried to put it up to 17500, is the reason we dug our heels in, some people think that just by a threat, they will get what they want, as it turned out, we had 2 meetings with a lawyer, made Her an offer and that was that.
Luckily, not much hassle or headaches.
Anyone that is in any kind of service industry knows , that if you give a quote,you have to stand by it, if however , somewhere along the line, there are massive changes , then you must inform your client before you complete the job, not after, this only pees people off, as it did with us.

As you might be able to tell , we were very miffed at the time..........and thats my only tale of woe..........have hundreds of good stories about good times, so I think we got off lightly LOL..........

Couldn't tick anything about the builder as alsthough he was on our side & did help us his prices were definitely high & I wouldn't recommend him because he works too much with our geometra

Interestingly, we were introduced to our Geometra & builder via the agent (British ex-pat) whom we purchased our house through; both Geom & builder were great folks we trusted & respected their professional opinion; as for the agent hmmmmmmmmmmm. We now know we paid a premium price (that said with 8 yrs experience) for Geom & building services, but suspect that the cream didn't go to the Geom & we *know* it didn't go to the builder(!)

We have used the builder again & would probably use the Geometra again too, but that's the limit to our trust & respoect.

[quote=tuscanhills;115022]Interestingly, we were introduced to our Geometra & builder via the agent (British ex-pat) whom we purchased our house through; both Geom & builder were great folks we trusted & respected their professional opinion; as for the agent hmmmmmmmmmmm. We now know we paid a premium price (that said with 8 yrs experience) for Geom & building services, but suspect that the cream didn't go to the Geom & we *know* it didn't go to the builder(!)

We have used the builder again & would probably use the Geometra again too, but that's the limit to our trust & respoect.[/quote]

So did we, but he did offer to waive his 13%:yes: if we used the builder, so watch out all newbies :eerr::eerr:

We don't wanna be smug having had a great experience with our restoration in Calabria. I don't think Italians are any different than Brits or Yanks .. there are good and bad in all occupations and the buyer must beware. Our Geometra gave us a tour of on-going projects he had (impressive) and we heard nothing but praise for the couple of builders available in the comune from other English speakers. That was the first good impression, then came a thorough contract broken down by the various services and then in the middle, good communication of whether we wanted to add more work (that they suggested), but that we too found to be a good idea. Nothing was done without our approval.

We had good experiences with remodels in the US because we asked around about builders before hiring and stayed away from those with poor references. I admit that "staying on top of a builder" during a project is a challenge from thousands of miles away, but you can hire a 3rd party to oversee things and report to you regularly with emailed photos, questions, issues, etc. We spent 300 euro for our 3rd party guy and would gladly have spent a little more if asked for the reassurance things were going as planned.

We ran into a bit of testa dura that others in the forum have noted -- "we don't do it that way in Calabria, or we don't use gas stufe in Calabria". Most of that came from suppliers and not the builder. We had such limited time to set things up we just lived with a couple items. If you're living there, you'd have more time to research and get what you really want the first time. We may have to go north sometime when we decide to buy the Jotul stove that no one would get for us, but c'est la vie. There's plenty of time in Italia no?!

Our geometra gave us an outrageous quote for a relatively small renovation job plus 20% for himself. When we asked him to give us lower quote, leaving out some of the jobs, we had to chase him around for 3 months with almost daily phone calls without any quote being forthcoming. I ended up asking a neighbour if he knew some local boys who could do the job. They came and did the job at a third of the price, installing more than we asked for and no geometra fees. The geometra later sent us a bill for €500 which I completely ignored.

Our Geometra is a "village lad made good" and is precise to the last decimal point. We would never change him but he didn't come cheap and when carrying out small tasks, like buying land, after the main project was finished, asked for very high fees which we had to negotiate down. (1000 euros to get out of bed type thing!). We had all the documentation promptly and never had a days worry with him in charge.

Our builders came recommended. They were from Heaven and they are now parenti! Again you got what you paid for and they wheren't cheap either.

What I have found is that many English people expect to cut corners or want to haggle and haggle, quite obviously some jobs cannot be priced until the digger sets to. Some I know even employed excellent builders and at the same time brought in Moroccan's to build outside walls and lay tiled floors. Bad manners to say the least!

How many Geometra's does it take to change a light bulb?....... 4!
1st. To do the survey
2nd. To get the planning consent
3rd. To call the plumber
4th. To work out the massive bill...
Bunch

We know they're out there - a few posted replies plying for trade and giving their expert opinion.

What's telling is.... they are not defending themselves.... ??? :smile:

[quote=lotan4850;115378]We know they're out there - a few posted replies plying for trade and giving their expert opinion.

What's telling is.... they are not defending themselves.... ??? :smile:[/quote]

Strange that............maybe there to busy working on Bunchs quote LOL

Our geometra had never met anyone with a budget as pitiful as ours. He did rise to the occasion however and found ways for us to make our house minimally habitable (ie converting wiring from lethal to very usable, hot water and a shower) within our means. (He also has bright blue sparkly eyes and a huge smile).He has done small things for us on occasion without even charging. Since then we have chosen builders on the recommendation of our neighbour and her family if we have needed them. The local builder who is going to work on our roof this year is 75 and fit as a fiddle. He has done all the roofs in the area and will let MOH assist him to reduce the cost.