“Can you give me a fixed price?” is one of the first questions most landlords ask, and it is a fair one. Nobody wants a job to creep upward once it has started. The honest answer is that most jobs can be fixed once someone has actually seen the property, and a smaller number genuinely cannot be, not because a contractor is trying to keep options open, but because nobody can price what is behind a wall without opening it up.
Our position on it
Most jobs are quoted as a fixed price after the site visit. Where a scope genuinely cannot be pinned down in advance, we say so at the visit and agree in writing how it will be charged before any work starts. That second sentence is doing the important work. It is not a get-out clause used after the event, it is something we tell you at the visit, before you have committed to anything, and it applies to a small minority of jobs rather than being a default we fall back on.
What makes a job fixable
A job can honestly be fixed price when the scope is visible or reasonably predictable at survey stage. That covers most of what a landlord asks for:
- Like-for-like repairs: a replacement tap, a new door closer, a section of guttering
- Redecoration where the surfaces are accessible and the condition is visible
- A kitchen or bathroom refit where the layout is not changing and the services are known
- Planned and seasonal maintenance, because the work is defined by a checklist rather than a discovery
- Most single-room and small multi-job visits, priced as one quote
In each of these, a competent trade can look at the job and know what materials and hours it needs, so the price is not a guess, it is a calculation.
What genuinely cannot be fixed in advance
The cases where a scope cannot honestly be pinned down tend to share one feature: something relevant is hidden until the work starts.
- Older wiring or plumbing behind a wall that has to be opened up before its condition is known
- Structural work where the condition of what is being altered, a lintel or a floor joist for example, is not visible until it is exposed
- A leak with an unclear source, where the first job is tracing it rather than fixing a known point
- Period buildings where previous alterations were not recorded and the fabric behind a finish is genuinely unknown
In those cases, telling a client a fixed number before the wall is opened would mean either pricing in a large contingency that most jobs will not need, or under-pricing and hoping. Neither is honest. What we do instead is say so at the visit, agree in writing how the work will be charged, for example a fixed rate for investigation followed by a fixed price once the condition is known, and get your agreement before anything starts.
What a written scope needs to contain
Whether you are getting a quote from us or comparing quotes from more than one contractor, a written scope that is actually worth something should set out:
- What is included, room by room or job by job, in plain language rather than a single lump total
- What is explicitly excluded, so nothing is assumed on either side
- Materials specified, or at least their standard, where the finish matters to the price
- What happens if a concealed defect is found once work starts, and how any resulting change is priced and agreed
- A programme or a reasonable timescale, even for a small job
A quote missing most of this is not really a fixed price, it is a number with the scope left open for later disagreement. That is worth checking whoever you use, not just with us.
Where this connects to other decisions
This applies whether the job is a single repair or something bigger. If you are weighing up a full renovation rather than routine maintenance, our article on planning a London flat renovation covers where the scope for a larger project tends to be genuinely unpredictable, mainly around what is hidden in an older building, and how that affects a programme rather than just a price.
And if you are deciding what to hand over as a landlord in the first place, before you even get to pricing, our article on landlord property management covers what maintenance work can be handed over cleanly and what stays with the tenancy.
Get a written quote
The site visit and the quote are free and carry no obligation. Tell us what needs doing and we will tell you honestly whether it can be fixed price or not, before you agree to anything. See the full detail on our maintenance and repairs page, or request a free quote now.