Last week, I was asked to give my price to a general contractor for a paint job on a Westmount residence. The renovation project
for this house was huge, probably worth around 300 to $500,000.00 for all the modifications. For renovations that big, and when we work for a general contractor, the R-20 law has to be respected by all workers (painters included). Everyone has to be CCQ licensed, and the salaries are controlled by the trade unions (FTQ, CSD, CSN, etc.). Those conditions are not required for a small renovation project.
As for the painting, I submitted my price for the work and materials: I included 40 hours of preparation for each floor (it was a 3 storied-house) because the rooms have a certain age and the clients are very challenging. To make sure I would make some profit, and because the contractor suggested it, I also included an option for additional hours just in case that the client would not be satisfied with my quality standards. For example, if they tell me afterwards: “We would like you to correct this imperfection here and there” they could have said “add an extra 8 hours for preparation” (sanding, plastering, insulating, etc.)
Finally, the contractor informed me that I lost the contract because the client felt I was overcharging him when asking $60.00 per hour for those extras.
The contractor then tells me that the house painter they hired was only asking for $35.00/hour. Huh! First, I know very well that my team of professional painters is more than 2 times faster than the other painters of Montreal (and I know it because I worked with some of them over the last 16 years).
Second, law R-20 controls the salary of a painter: it has to be between $47.00 and $53.00 per hour (depending on if he is apprentice or companion). This means that my competitor won’t declare the hour worked for this job to the CCQ, to the unions, to CSST, and to the MRQ, or else he will lose money.
Thank you to all of those working in the “Anti-corruption industry” like the Anti-Corruption Unit. Enough is enough! I want to benefit from the Pension Plan when I will retire! Thanks for doing the right thing.
Dave Beaupré