You don’t know if it’s a €200 fix or a €4,000 replacement. You’ve Googled symptoms, got three open tabs and no clearer answer.
You sort it. You check whether the boiler’s age makes this a repair year or a replacement year. You see what a fair contractor brief looks like.
The first question to ask the contractor. A note in the home’s record so next time something stops, you don’t start from zero.
Maintained, not abandoned. The methodology stays current as standards change. Your home’s record builds with every season you use it.
The first guide lands in two days; the tools-open email comes at the end of June. In the meantime, the mandate calculator is already usable.
Open the calculatorA mandate is the cap a property manager hands a contractor: hours, local trade rate, call-out, materials. They proceed within it. If the cost will exceed it, they stop and explain why in writing before continuing.
Select a trade and a scope to calculate your mandate.
Dave calls an installation company. Repairman arrives: €90 call-out. Thirty minutes assessing: €32.50. €125 on the meter before any repair begins.
| Call-out | €90.00 |
| Diagnostic · 30 min | €32.50 |
| Labour · 3 h × €65 | €195.00 |
| Parts trip · 1 h | €65.00 |
| Materials | €100.00 |
| Total | €482.50 |
The price is decided before the visit, not discovered after it. Dave hands the contractor the ceiling. They proceed within it; if not, they stop and write.
| Labour · 3 h × €70 | €210.00 |
| Materials · ratio 0.50 | €105.00 |
| Call-out | €55.00 |
| Ceiling | €370.00 |
| ↓ €112.50 saved · 23% | |
Describe the problem, not the solution. You write "find and address the cause of the leak", not "stop the leak". The contractor's expertise is the diagnosis; your mandate is the budget.