F1
Real volume, in cubic metres
Not floor area. An eighteen square metre hoarded studio can hold more than a normally furnished three-room flat. Ceiling height in an older Paris building easily adds a third to the volume to be treated.
Pricing
We do not quote over the phone
This is not a sales posture. A figure given without seeing the property is wrong about half the time, and the difference gets settled at the end of the job, when the client no longer has a choice.
Six factors
What sets the number
In this order of weight, on older Paris stock.
F2
Floor and lift
The heaviest factor in Paris. Between a ground floor with vehicle access and a sixth floor with no lift, working time can double at identical volume.
F3
Distance to the vehicle
Rarely priced by contractors, and decisive. In a pedestrian street, a stepped street or a courtyard with no access, external carrying is added to internal carrying. We measure it at the survey and it appears in the quotation.
F4
Waste type
Ordinary bulky waste, clinical waste and saturated substrates follow different routes and cost differently to process. Pest presence adds a separate protocol with at least one follow-up visit.
F5
Urgency
Work started the same day pulls a team off another job. It is the only factor that is a choice: if the situation can wait a few days, it costs less, and we say so.
F6
Permits
A temporary highway occupation permit for a skip or a vehicle is requested from the City and takes time. Where it is not possible, the job runs in rotations, which lengthens it. This line is always shown separately.
Warning signs
What should worry you about a contractor
- A firm price given over the phone, without a survey.
- A “from €X” rate advertised per square metre.
- Pest treatment proposed before clearance.
- A lump-sum quotation with no breakdown of items or volumes.
- No waste transfer notes at the end of the job.
- Pressure to sign the same day, “because the team is free”.