# Homeowners on the Costa Del Sol...



## alfie1978 (Sep 2, 2008)

Hi all,
I'm moving to Marbella in January & because i've heard mixed messages about Spanish Tradesmen I am curious to hear Ex Pat views on this. 
I intend to set up a business (initially Decorating & Handyman Services) which will consist purely consist of qualified UK tradesmen Serving the UK community on the Costa Del Sol. We will cover both British living in Spain & those who just rent property there & are unable to carry out works themselves. Dependant on how this goes and the level of jobs require I would hope to employ other qualified Britrish Tradespeople to carry out other larger building tasks (plumbing, electrical, plastering etc, etc)
My question is this; Would, as Ex Pats, you feel more inclined to use this service or would you rather use local Spanish tradesmen to carry out work in your home/letting?

Thanks for your time & any comments would be a great help to me

Alfie

P.S. My company will be an official one, I'm not just a Sole Trader. All staff would be qualified and also be CRB checked in the UK


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

Sadly, and not wishing to spoil your dreams, this idea has been done over and over again, quality builders and maintenance. The sad fact is that there are so many handymen/qualiedied builders/painters etc good and bad, who are desperate for work that I dont think there would be much call for it in the present economic climate. 

If I'm wrong I'm sorry, but thats how I see it from my viewpoint. Others here may have different views??

Jo


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## rjnpenang (Feb 20, 2008)

Definitely agree with Jo, and I would NOT hire English workers again, what a bunch of time wasters & expensive!. And why should I hire somebody qualified in the UK. Sorry to ruin your dream. Anyway, you´re about 15 years too late. Regards Rob

(Edited) I´m sorry, I must apologise. the only time I used English workers!, well, never again. At the moment I´m having work done by another group of immigrants. Argentinians, and the boss speaks English.


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## alfie1978 (Sep 2, 2008)

rjnpenang said:


> Definitely agree with Jo, and I would NOT hire English workers again, what a bunch of time wasters & expensive!. And why should I hire somebody qualified in the UK. Sorry to ruin your dream. Anyway, you´re about 15 years too late. Regards Rob


Not quite sure how i'd be 15yrs too late to provide any service, anywhere. The UK is supposedly in deep 'poo' & Ive got more work than I can cope with over here. I just could do with a bit of sun for a change. I would rather employ someone with a nationally recognised trade qualification than Joe Bloggs who painted his mums front room once & therefore thinks hes capable of rewiring someones home for some reason. You've obviously met this gentleman already & a had a rather bad experience. Apologies that you feel all UK workers are same as this. I dont intend to flood a flooded market, I intend to help my fellow Ex Patriate tradesmen with my own business experience & marketing savy. Financial climates change constantly as they always have, what may be the case today will most definately not be the case in 1-2 even 3yrs time....hey, I can always come back! Alfie


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

alfie1978 said:


> Not quite sure how i'd be 15yrs too late to provide any service, anywhere. The UK is supposedly in deep 'poo' & Ive got more work than I can cope with over here. I just could do with a bit of sun for a change. I would rather employ someone with a nationally recognised trade qualification than Joe Bloggs who painted his mums front room once & therefore thinks hes capable of rewiring someones home for some reason. You've obviously met this gentleman already & a had a rather bad experience. Apologies that you feel all UK workers are same as this. I dont intend to flood a flooded market, I intend to help my fellow Ex Patriate tradesmen with my own business experience & marketing savy. Financial climates change constantly as they always have, what may be the case today will most definately not be the case in 1-2 even 3yrs time....hey, I can always come back! Alfie



Dont give up on your dream. but Robs right, British tradesmen here dont have a very good reputation, its quite common round here to assume that Brit tradesmen will rip fellow brits off (fair or not, it seems to be how it is) - I wouldnt use them, I've been burnt too. The Spanish are cheap and understand the quirkiness of properties and life here - they may be a bit unreliable, but I've found them to be trustworthy and thorough! I know its not fair to "tar all the british tradesmen with the same brush", but they ALL claim to be quality and the best. Maybe you could do some research and see if you can actually produce some kind of "Quality Federation" that only good craftsmen may belong to??? I'm not sure that would create much revenue for you though as most tradesmen, quality or not dont seem to have much work or money - dunno??

Jo


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## Stravinsky (Aug 12, 2007)

I'm afraid I only echo the feelings of the others.

I used Uk builders when I first came here, but not now.

They were too expensive, i.e. trying to charge the same as they did in the UK, and secondly they didn't do such a good job.

Furthermore ....... if I lived in the UK I wouldn't use a Polish worker to do work for me there .... I'd use a Brit, but only one that had been recommended


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## Pasanada (Feb 5, 2008)

I totally concur with the above posters! Your other problem could be if you register and become a legal company; there are plenty of expats who don't register and therefore will undercut your prices. They don't have the same overheads and unfortunately in this current financial climate, clients are short of cash so will opt for the cheaper quote (cheap isn't always best but hey ho!)

Personally, I have always used Spanish tradesmen, they're cheaper, not so quick but get the job done, and willing to return if I've not been happy with their work/problems have occured after the event. It's also improved my lingo too! 

Good luck!


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## crookesey (May 22, 2008)

Building a relationship with tradesman is difficult enough in the UK, we have all suffered at the hands of cowboys so when we find someone we can trust we tend to hang on to them.

I have seen more UK businesses go belly up in Spain than you can shake a stick at so why ignore the local Spanish guy who has been trading for donkey's years in favour of you? He will notice that he has been passed over and might very well be reticent about working for a British expat who has previously preferred UK labour as and when when the enevitable happens and Bob the builder packs up and returns to Blighty.

However if you are serious, how about learning to speak Spanish and starting up a firm using predominantly Spanish labour? The Spanish guys may very well speak very little English and the UK property owners may very well speak very little Spanish. You will need a Spanish foreman/project manager to guide you when quoting and he will know where the best suppliers are, and when one of your tradesmen boggs off to pastures new, as is the norm in your trade, he will know where to find a replacement.

Sorry mate but your idea, as it currently stands, is destined to fail IMHO.


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## SunnySpain (Jul 30, 2008)

crookesey said:


> I have seen more UK businesses go belly up in Spain than you can shake a stick at so why ignore the local Spanish guy who has been trading for donkey's years in favour of you?
> 
> 
> Sorry mate but your idea, as it currently stands, is destined to fail IMHO.




I think you need to understand that people are trying to give you advice here and not simply criticising you for the sake of being critical. Whilst I understand you wanting to escape the problems in the UK and get a bit of sun, the fact is your idea is unlikely to even get off the ground in Spain.

If you think the UK economy is in trouble, wait and see what happens to the Spanish economy in the next 12 months, then you may understand a little more.

Regards, Dave


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## chris(madrid) (Mar 23, 2008)

My experience of Spanish builders/tradesmen is nothing short of extremely positive. The guy we call now for everything hires all sorts and so far we've had Portuguese, Moroccans as well as Spaniards here. All very conscientious hard workers. Just as good are the Central Europeans. And they're cheap. They all speak Spanish too.

imho - Whilst not decrying UK trading standards at all - they're NOT THE SAME as SPANISH STANDARDS either. So for a start you or your lads may need to get retrained anyway. 

Certainly at a work level you'll need somebody on board to get ANY permits from the town hall (which you need for just about any work). i.e they'll NEED to be very fluent in Spanish - and know building terminology. If the assessor cant understand what you want to do - he'll say NO. If you expect your clients to do this they'll go elsewhere - I would. All you need is one "obra" halted for permit irregularities - you'll be dead in the water -nd since the Marbella corruption issues - THEY'RE VERY HOT ON THIS

I met one or two Brit "builders" on a trip to the coast (to see my parents who were an a SAGA hol') who were most certainly NOT up on local spec's (because they were complaining very vocally they'd been rejected jobs due to this). 

I'd not even give a Brit builder a call if he traded HEAVILY on that fact. A local builder matching the locals who's a Brit is something else.

If I go to a Spaniard ime I'll get local Spec's met - which matters even more if it was built thus to start with. And he'll know HOW BEST to get the permits. No it does not mean backhanders - but knowing how&when to visit plays a part.

btw Modifying RENTED property here is a very grey area - The landlord HAS TO APPROVE and if they're Spanish they'll have a tame builder. 

Right now, imo, setting up ANYTHING here to do with building is dodgy. There simply is NOT enough work to go around. 

My guess btw is that many folk with BAD experience of Spanish builders experienced communication issues. There are some cowboys of course (as everywhere) and they do take advantage of folk not knowing or being able to articulate complaints. I had one pair try it on when they put in some windows - they ended up working FAR longer than they expected. 

Sorry - but as has been said - I think you're onto a loser.


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