Boat yard labour prices

[ksutton]

Boat yard work labour prices have become ridiculous. A boat yard I used to use on the south coast, (not any more), now charge £85 per hour to work on your boat in their yard.
If the actual work done per hour was carried out efficiently it would not be so bad. However on many occasions I have seen a shipwright spending 30 minutes of that hour walking between the workshop and boat just to find the right tool. On one occasion going back to the workshop on 3 separate occasions (a walk of 150 meters one way) to get the right size drill bit! He didn't possess a tool box with the most commonly used hand tools, his tools were scattered over a bench in the workshop.

And there isn't even an incentive for using a boat yard like you would a reputable "possibly just as expensive" auto garage where you could keep the service history up to date and the warranty valid, assisting with residual sale value.

 

[Ex-SolentBoy]

No matter how efficient they are that is an absurd rate. I never pay even half of that.

 

[Searush]

No matter how efficient they are that is an absurd rate. I never pay even half of that.

High rates are an indicator of inefficiency & consequent high overheads. The absurdities described by OP have been dealt with by overcharging rather than correcting them. No doubt there are similar inefficiencies in the invoicing & record keeping etc.

 

[Garold]

They can charge whatever they like........

......but they run the risk that you don't wish to/ can't pay it.

And at £85 per hour, many of us couldn't.

There has to be an alternative.

Cheers

Garold

 

[chinita]

I did the one year IBTC Wooden Boatbuilding Course for fun.

Those younger students leaving with a career in mind would be lucky to get anything like an interesting permanent job.

If they did, they could expect £8.00 an hour.

 

[prv]

I don't know what the going rate is for boatyard work, as I do everything myself. At first glance, £85 doesn't sound obscene - remember that this is paying for all the overheads of running the yard, not just going into somebody's pay packet.

If you charge by the hour, though, you have a duty to use that time efficiently. Traipsing back and forth to get basic tools is ridiculous, and if I knew my job had been done in that manner I'd be doing my best to knock down the number of billed hours to allow for it.

Pete

 

[Giblets]

Probably a good job that most of you don't get to watch your cars being serviced by a main dealer then!

 

[prv]

If they did, they could expect £8.00 an hour.

What's the tradesman's pay got to do with the yard's billed rate? I'm sure the mechanics at a car main dealer don't earn £100 an hour either.

Pete

 

[ksutton]

Probably a good job that most of you don't get to watch your cars being serviced by a main dealer then!

Very true, but car workshops mainly run into a couple of hours unless its major. But boat yard work often runs into days, sometime 2 handed as well.
You would also usually get a very reliable hourly quote from a garage, but not so easy from a boat yard.

 

[prv]

Probably a good job that most of you don't get to watch your cars being serviced by a main dealer then!

As I understand it, most servicing work is billed according to a "book time" for the job, rather than by actually timing how long it takes.

A mate's dad was complaining that the book time for servicing the new Transit was far too short, and he was really struggling to get it done in that time because all the filters etc were crammed in behind the radiator and really hard to get at. Then, after he'd serviced a couple of dozen vans, someone showed him that the radiator unlatches and swings out for access

If billing by book time, it's the manager's problem if his mechanics are working inefficiently, not the customer's. But this approach wouldn't be practical in a boatyard where every job is different.

Pete

 

[ksutton]

Which is why anyone with technical abilities do the work themselves. People without technical abilities often acquire the ability over a period of time, not always because they want to. And we also have this "mostly" excellent forum where free advise is available within minutes.

 

[Giblets]

But this approach wouldn't be practical in a boatyard where every job is different.

Very similar to repairs on heating systems then!

 

[chinita]

What's the tradesman's pay got to do with the yard's billed rate? I'm sure the mechanics at a car main dealer don't earn £100 an hour either.

Pete

Who mentioned £100.00 an hour?

If you think that £8.00 an hour is a good wage for a skilled and qualified boatbuilder, fine.

As an aside, my last service on my Toyota van cost £265.00. I waited and it was ready 45 minutes later.

The actual labour time was probably only 30 minutes - but of course, that is not itemised on the invoice.

The difference is that I need to go to the main dealer to keep up the warranty and I suppose that somebody has to pay for the coffee machine and plasma screen with Sky TV.

 

[binch]

East Coast

Last year, I had a techy job done in Lowestoft and was charged £20 per hour.
It seems unwise to sail on the south coast owing to the presence of sharks.

Avoid yards
1. Where the boss drives a BMW
2. Where he has a marked out parkimg space.
3. Where the office is carpeted and/or has a rubber plant.
4. Where the boss has clean fingernails.
5. Where there are his and hers loos.
6. If there is more than one notice telling what you may or may not do in the yard.
7. Where you are not allowed to work on your own boat.

 

[rotrax]

As I understand it, most servicing work is billed according to a "book time" for the job, rather than by actually timing how long it takes.

A mate's dad was complaining that the book time for servicing the new Transit was far too short, and he was really struggling to get it done in that time because all the filters etc were crammed in behind the radiator and really hard to get at. Then, after he'd serviced a couple of dozen vans, someone showed him that the radiator unlatches and swings out for access



Pete

A perfect example of RTFM..........

 

[Twister_Ken]

Last year, I had a techy job done in Lowestoft and was charged £20 per hour.
It seems unwise to sail on the south coast owing to the presence of sharks.

Avoid yards
1. Where the boss drives a BMW
2. Where he has a marked out parkimg space.
3. Where the office is carpeted and/or has a rubber plant.
4. Where the boss has clean fingernails.
5. Where there are his and hers loos.
6. If there is more than one notice telling what you may or may not do in the yard.
7. Where you are not allowed to work on your own boat.

Sods Law of Sailing?

 

[Twister_Ken]

Having run a business (but not a boatyard) our rule of thumb was that we had to charge people out at 3x salary cost to allow for employment costs, holiday and sickness pay, rent and rates, equipment, non-billable salaries, utilities, general overheads and make a profit. Which would imply your dockyard matey was on 85/3 = £28 an hour. 35 hour week = £51,500 pa. Sounds improbable.

 

[prv]

Who mentioned £100.00 an hour?

I needed a rule-of-thumb figure for main dealer servicing rates (I run an old car with self-maintenance and the odd bit of work by an independant garage, so have no personal experience). A cursory google found that as an example rate (albeit in 2006).

If you think that £8.00 an hour is a good wage for a skilled and qualified boatbuilder, fine.

I don't, but this thread isn't about wages. It's about billing rates, which are not the same thing and only tangentially related. That's my point.

As an aside, my last service on my Toyota van cost £265.00. I waited and it was ready 45 minutes later.

The actual labour time was probably only 30 minutes - but of course, that is not itemised on the invoice.

How much of that was labour and how much was parts? Or do they just lump it all together and give you one figure? I'd always want to see what they were charging me for parts, as I can compare that to what I can get them for. I don't mind a bit of a markup (they're effectively retailing in this situation) but not taking the piss. I went out and bought a boiler part myself when the mechanic told me his company's price for it - several multiples of what the supplier ten minutes away wanted.

Pete

 

[Poignard]

As long as there are customers prepared to pay what is asked (albeit through gritted teeth) that is what a business will charge; unless it is being run by a philanthropist.

It's the principle known as "What the market will bear" and governs the pricing of everything from a cup of coffee and a cake to lawyers and medical consultants.

I expect most yachts are owned by people who acquired the money to buy them by owning, or working for, businesses that charged what the market would bear.

 

[Giblets]

I went out and bought a boiler part myself when the mechanic told me his company's price for it - several multiples of what the supplier ten minutes away wanted.

Pete, the problem with supplying your own parts (which you probably know) is that you are guaranteeing it. If it fails then you will have to pay someone to take it out, sort out the replacement, and then pay someone to put it back in again. The mark-up on parts is not always pure profit which a lot of folk seem to think it is!