Installers using ladders - sign of things to come

[SolarCity]

Okay, I like to have a good moan every now and then but I'm more pessimistic than I have ever been for this industry.

We lost out on a job just around the corner from us - straightforward install with Double Romans and nice cable run. A days work.

We priced the job at £6,560 inclusive of VAT. This included EPC survey, fitting extra timbers to the existing truss and a structural survey. We provided detailed shading analysis - her two neighbours' roofs are actually higher than hers and this meant that it took a bit of working out. But we were keen on winning the job so we priced it as low as we could.

I found out this morning that we have lost the job - Our competitor's price was £5,750 inclusive of VAT. £800 out!!!!

As luck would have it, I travelled past this home on the way to a survey this morning. The installers are already there - presumably they have foregone the messy business of structural surveys or EPC certificates - and they are already putting the panels on OFF LADDERS. I actually turned around and drove past again. It looked absolutely crazy.

I'm beginning to think that there are too many firms after too little work. Prices have come down way past the point where I can make it pay. Our MCS inspection is imminent so we won't have time to consider not extending it but it has made me seriously rethink where I'm going to earn my money.

 

[whinmoor]

Sympathies. We've lost a couple of jobs recently on price. It's incredibly annoying when you've spent a few hours researching, visiting, explaining and producing paperwork. And then the customer turns around and says "I can get it £300 cheaper elesewhere". But that's always going to happen. In theory, if a customer gets 3 quotes as recommended, you should only land 33% of jobs you quote for.

 

[SRE]

I don't know what is worse getting the referrals and not getting the work or not getting any referrals. Things are really quiet at the minute, no sign whatsoever of a trickle never mind a rush.

 

[dansk]

rofl, should of taken a pick, even better u should off pullled up with a yellow jacket on tell them your HSE what you doing lifting those panels of ladders? show me you RAMS! that put the wind up em.

idiots, maybe they end up with a job like wstview person on the forum.

 

[MorganPVI]

Have patience., it only takes a gust of wind.

On a long enough timeline.....

 

[Gavin A]

I take it this wasn't a bungalow or something?

We'll sometimes work on suitable shallow sloped bungalow roofs with lots of space around the install without scaf.

I've done 2 small installs on roofs where it was impossible to get scaf installed using roped access, roof ladders etc. but it's slow going to do it safely, and definitely not something I'd want to be doing regularly even without the HSE regulations. Were these guys roped on at all?


Actually, I have just remembered a couple of times where we've got to site before the scaf boys, and installed the first row of brackets from ladders before the scaf arrived. I assume this wasn't what was going on either?

 

[Eco Deal]

what size system was those prices for ??? people like to comment I too cheap !!!! if thats 4 kwp peak then you guys are selling less than me???

 

[SolarCity]

This was for a 4kWp system - and you're right, it was very cheap. It's not what we normally price at but frankly I'm getting more and more windy about not getting any work. I'm about to lose a fairly large job for a price which is even more ridiculous.

Gavin, this house isn't a bungalow but the eaves are relatively low compared to most houses. I'll get a photo of the house when I get the chance. The eaves come about midway through the first floor window. The roof pitch, however, is steep - about 40 degrees if I remember right. They weren't using ropes, harnesses or anything else. Just lugging the panels onto the roof.

 

[SRE]

H & S issues apart - on an idiotic price like that how would they cover the loss of a panel if someone slipped with one? Maybe it'll just be installed anyway .....

 

[JulianC]

We can only hope that such lunacy is an attempt to make hay while what little sun there is left still shines. Hopefully these companies will dwindle like the FIT that created them. Only snag is: can we hold out that long?

As an aside - on the job we recently completed and the two we have coming up we know we weren't the cheapest. However, we also know that we weren't the smarmiest or bull****iest or cluelessiest. We've been fortunate with our customer that it's not always been about price. Service matters. Mind you, the way the market's going it might all be rather irrelevant....

On a positive, in a short while I'm off to spend three days on and under the mountains of Snowdonia. Nothing's going to wipe the smile off my face today.