INITIAL SITE VISIT AND CONSULTATION CHARGES BY SIMON SPENCER DESIGNS

 Within central London there is a minimum charge of £250.00 plus milage and parking etc for a design drawing; or £60.00 plus parking mileage etc if the client decides not to proceed with the design after the site consultation has been held.

  Full details are given in my Terms and Conditions
 

Please click here to read and print my  “Terms and Conditions”.

 Anticipating your inquiries I am going to outline various points in general terms.

Yes we do do home visits but as a general rule we do not make them on the weekend or the evening.  But I will do so, more or less at any time, during the day or early morning. The weekends are often spent away and the evenings are a washout as I am pretty drained by then. What with that and the traffic it means getting home after bedtime, so “I don’t do evenings” either.

So if you can organize a day, fine or early as you like in the morning. Neither of these are a problem provided we are talking within the M25 radius.

I know you have seen our web site. www.simonspencerdesigns.co.uk. This illustrates some of our designs. There are a number of designs which can be printed off to illustrate my work.

I think that this is also the time to refer you to my formal terms and conditions.  If you don’t have Acrobat Adode Reader this can be down loaded free from the internet.

Now, to the design work we can do for you and our charges.

Although Thistle joinery is no longer manufacturing joinery, however, I, Simon Spencer, has, without exception, designed and drawn all the working drawings of every bookcase illustrated on this site.  So I have a great deal of experience.

So far as Simon Spencer Designs are concerned, I do the design – as before – but for a fee as I explain below and in my terms and conditions.

Assuming you live out of London then with regard to manufacturing the design generally it would be better to have your own local manufacturer as opposed to one from London where the rates will be higher. It boils down to much the same thing in the end, in that I only suggested a firm, I am not involved nor responsible in, or for, the process of manufacturing. So when out of London it may be better for the client (you) to be closer to a local manufacture rather than have them in London. However, if you are based in London then perhaps I could be of help in finding a manufacturer for you.

Although some small designs may take a relatively long time in thinking through and drawing, they would usually fall in the lower fee range of between £250.00 to about £650.00.   However, if the design were for a library then the design work would take much longer. As a rough guide I have structured my fees at about 10% of the manufacturing cost.

So if the job was small my fee would be between £250.00 and say £650.00  plus expenses. If it were say £10,000.00 then it would increase to between about 10% of this sum depending upon time taken and details required etc.

What ever the case, this initial fee would be agreed before design work started (plus additional costs for parking, milage and travel) and  beyond the M25 it would be for both mileage and time.

To cover the cost of an abortive visit then the basic cost of £60.00 plus mileage, parking etc would be charged in the event that any prospective customer, having been advised of my fee structure before our meeting then decides after the meeting not to go ahead with the commission for the design. This is the charge that is raised to cover my time and travel etc. for the trip.

The web site is pretty well up to date with the respective designs of the work images shown. I am not particularly worried about them being copied any more. I don’t think I will be working like this long enough to be too concerned on that point in say four or five years time (Having worked for Thistle Joinery for 27 years and passing the point of collecting pensions my value to my customers lies in my experience and advice). And if students can benefit from my designs then I am happy for them to do so.

What I  provide is usually a set of A3 drawings of each of the projects, usually to a scale of 1:20, with additional A4 drawings of elevation, section and plan for clarity and legibility.  These drawings will be designed to your specifications and styles often to harmonize with the building and the period of the house style so that the scale drawing may be submitted for approval to the Planning Authorities for listed and protected buildings. I can design to preserve the integrity and fabric of the building so that the main features may not damaged by the installation.

Lastly, of course if you feel I can be of help then I will be delighted to call in to see you, discuss your project and perhaps design it for you. I would like to discuss the extent of the project with you on the phone so that perhaps we may be able to gauge my charges before you make your decision.  The cost would be a minimum of  £250.00 but, as explained above, in the example designs on the Example Page and in my terms and conditions it is usually unless the job is very simple.  But I would give you a firm fee after I had seen the “site”,  discussed your project and given it some careful thought first in the office all prior to starting work on the project for you.

Or if I visited you for a consultation and you decided not to go ahead after all then my fee would be £60.00 plus mileage, parking etc.  Subsequent visits will include an hourly charge, travel etc. as mentioned in my Terms and Conditions.

I would be delighted to talk through any points you might like to discuss.

My phone number is 020 7731 0583 (as recorded on my call divert on the old numbers).  I do have an answering service but no secretary - so if I am out do leave a message and I will call you back.

If you would like to take your inquiry further, do please let me have the site (home) address with post code and home or mobile contact phone

                                                                     No Vat!
 

Please click here to see and print off examples of my Designs.

FOR INDIVIDUAL PRICES PLEASE GO TO PRICE GUIDE PAGES THESE PRICE GUIDES HELP ME TO REACH AN ESTIMATE FOR THE COST OF YOUR DESIGN OF  “ABOUT 10% OF THE ESTIMATE” (OR MINIMUM CHARGE OF £250.00; WHICH EVER IS THE HIGHER)

All of the products that you see on our web site have been uniquely designed by Simon Spencer and have been made specifically for a particular customer and to their own requirements. The price guide  pages are for the products illustrated and would, where appropriate, be fitted and fixed on a site in Greater London and are gauged on the charges of a small production factory up to about 2005 
 
The prices on the Price Guide Page are the rough guides to help you estimate the cost of your project.  They all exclude the paint finishes by the customer afterwards, done by their own decorative painters.  (See also Materials)

Do please bear in mind that prices vary depending upon the manufacturer to whom you contract.  The prices in this guide are only and indication of price as would have been quoted by Simon’s previous employer Thistle Joinery Ltd.  However, different manufactures have different pricing policies, depending upon how they run their business, their overheads and their wage structure.  In the event prices can vary dramatically.    These prices are my best rough guide to your projects.
 

Please click here to see Terms and Conditions.

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