TileAustralia

Consumers are becoming increasingly savvy about the cost of household trades like tiling. Their guards are up from the get-go – ready to detect and intercept any tradies who are trying to rip them off. So how can tilers win the trust of stand-offish consumers?

Transparent pricing is the key to repairing the fragile relationship between tradies and consumers. To appear “in touch” with their customers, tilers should ensure their prices are both competitive and fair. But how do they determine what is an adequate price for their services?

It makes sense that this amount should be on par with what their colleagues are charging. However, unless they’re willing to make a bunch of anonymous calls it can be difficult for tilers to ascertain what their time should be worth.

Working out the going rates for tiling just became a little easier with the recent release of a report published by tendering website ServiceSeeking.com.au

ServiceSeeking.com.au‘s Pricing Guide for Household Trades & Services collates 70,000 quotes submitted through the site over a 3 year period to reveal the highest, lowest and average costs of tilers throughout Australia. For the first time tilers are provided with all the necessary information to make an informed decision about their pricing.

March 2010 figures show the benchmark for the cost of bathroom tiling is $44 per hour. The data also indicates the cheapest hourly rate for a tiler is just $20, rising to $150 per hour. The prices vary depending on the qualifications of the tiler, the size of the job, site access and materials. Basic materials like tiling glue and grout are normally included in the labour rates – but not the tiles. In most cases the sealing/waterproofing and polishing of the tiles isn’t a part of the quote price either. Preparation of the floor bedding is also an optional extra and charged at an average of $45 per m2.

The report also offers a handy state-by-state analysis which confirms regional price discrepancies. Within the given price range Victoria and Queensland tilers tended to offer the cheapest prices, with New South Wales positioned in the higher range. New South Wales tilers charged an average of $49 per hour, almost 12% higher than anywhere else on the Eastern Seaboard.

Tilers upped their prices by 4.9% between 2008 and 2009, but with a current hourly rate almost identical to the 2009 hourly rate, the Pricing Guide suggests tilers shouldn’t have raised their prices in the last 12 months.

Unique pricing trends and diverse average costs are also apparent in a host of other trades including building, plumbing and carpentry. To see how how they stack up against tiling rates go to ServiceSeeking.com.au and request a free copy of the Pricing Guide for Household Trades & Services.

ServiceSeeking.com.au is a tendering website where customers describe what they need and businesses submit quotes to win the work. Flipping the “ring-around” upside-down, ServiceSeeking.com.au encourages businesses to chase customers, not the other way around.