Contractor Maintenance Fee's

[mmckee1952]

I just read a memo from my marina stating as of 2009, that any contractor who comes to work on my boat has to either pay a hourly fee of $15.00 or a yearly fee of $250.00. As far as I am concerned the just about locks out anyone other than the in house maint. people who do various boat job's at the marina.
Do anyone out there have a marina that charges outside boat contractor a fee?
Mike

[BadFish]

Wow that sucks. Doesn't surprise me though. Guess they got tired of being underbid on maintenance by contractors. Trying to monopolize their spot on the water, eh? Pretty soon the pizza delivery guy will have to pay a fee to deliver tha pizzas.

If it's that big of a problem to ya, move to a marina that's not full service. My docks don't have their own maintenance facilities, so getting contractors is the only way to go... For now at least.

Cheers

Bill

[David M]

It might relate to the marina owners insurance. Trying to make up for the additional insurance premiums caused by contractors stubbing their toes on dock cleats and suing the owner. But then, it may be another excuse to rip people off. Probably the latter.

I would move to another marina if you have a boat that tends to require frequent servicing from contractors. I have sympathy for bottom divers who have to put up with this.

[Boomp]

They have a facility that is condusive to certain needs. So they have a 'Why should Joe electrician or Bill diesel mechanic make money on my property and me not realize a profit'. To me, thats the mentality and I don't like it, think its greedy. They already make a lot of dough from the boaters. The place I stow my boat does the same thing. So unless I want to pay, I do the work myself. So we all end up losing. Sorry for the gloom.

[David M]

The thing is...the contractor is making money while working ON your boat. They are not making money while transiting across marina property to get to your boat. Should the government start charging a fee to contractors who use the roads to get to their workplace? They do in a sense, its called fuel tax which pays for the roads. But the wear and tear a contractor puts on the dock wearing boat shoes is negligible.

[mmckee1952]

I just heard about this today and I think it all started when there was some concern about the outside contractors having enough and correct type of insurance, but it's a bitter pill to swallow, when I know I will be getting plugged up the a## for the additional costs.

Mike

[captjcook]

In Fort Lauderdale Florida many if not most require One Million Liability (they really want Two!) I have many friends in the marine business and it seems around $1600/year is cheap (some over $3000) and only covers perhaps two workers. Some require Longshoremans and are expanding. Then it is not uncommon for a yard to charge 10% markup for the privilege to work there...just so easy to explain to your customer...not! Only two yards left to do your own work. Most sold out to condo or megayacht slips. So much for being the "Boating Capitol Of The World"!

Jim

[sabray]

The mentality of it is to make it difficult for Boater Joe to take work off the established and often yard renting contractors mixed with a bit of liability lawyerism. I worked in one yard as a Joe Boater with insurance they threw rule after rule at me Id oblige often with aggravation. Id watch others who were inside produce without torment and not be held to the same standard. The flipside Is we need the yards to make money or they will become Mcmansions and condos. The good yards find a balance.

[Boomp]

This baloney gets so burdensome that a lot of people will go the extra. Like locating and owning private moorings or joining private yacht clubs. I'm on a list and that is largely the reason. Then, I'll have the boat trucked to my yard off season and pay the same craftsmen for the work. Less the stiffing. Meanwhile, the yard owners will be scratching their heads and blaming the economic situation...they helped make

[Joli]

It's fairly common to charge the independent contractor when they do work on your property. Our winter storage yard allows certain contractors in and then they (the yard) bills the boat owner and pays the contractor from those proceeds. ~20% is added to the bill.

[Maren]

Originally Posted by mmckee1952

I just read a memo from my marina stating as of 2009, that any contractor who comes to work on my boat has to either pay a hourly fee of $15.00 or a yearly fee of $250.00. As far as I am concerned the just about locks out anyone other than the in house maint. people who do various boat job's at the marina.

Yeah, that's unfortunate. Let me ask a question though. Say you had a marina and had to abide by all the various environmental regs. Would it make sense to require a (possibly fly-by-night) contractor to pay a fee that partially or fully offset any additional liabilities you might incur?

Now, I certainly am not saying this is the reason. However, I am saying the marina's rationale may not be as obvious as it seems.

[Brent Swain]

Do your work out in an anchorage . Now that I have an engine driven welder and cheap generator aboard I can do most metal work in my cockpit. Last summer I built an anchor winch for a lady, in my cockpit. Recently I welded up a trimtab in my cockpit. In remote anchorages there is no one to complain. People raft alongside me when they have welding to do aboard. With a generator there is not much you can't do aboard.
One marina owner asked me when I was going to tie up to his marina. I told him it would be a cold day in hell before I pay him to tell me what I may or may not do on my own boat. Makes me glad I haven't had to tie up in marinas the last 25 years.
I found that, with the materials aboard , I can accomplish more in a remote anchorage in a day, than I could in a week in town ,with all the distractions. It's also a lot more enjoyable. When I run out of materials I keep doing what I can with what I have , then make a list, go to town , pick it up, then leave until I again run out of materials.
Brent

[Zach]

Hey Brent,

What kind of finish do you have in that cockpit?

I've been trying to figure what wouldn't get burned up by the slag!

Thanks,

Zach

[Chief Engineer]

There are a few yards hereabouts that try that stuff.

I went into one yard....showed my insurance and the like......they then turned around and tried to bang the owner for $500.00. $100.00 per visit.

And as far as yards charging? It is usually because they don't have enough work.

Two yards in the Northern Bay are on the skids because of this.....the sad thing is they used to be good.

[mmckee1952]

It's not that I don't understand where the marina is coming from, hay it's there property and all. It's just that when we recieved the annual marina news letter, the only thing that was even talked about was the new regulations concerning the requirement of correct insurance by the contractors. With maint. prices being already too high, I don't look forward to having an additional surcharge on my bill, and by the way, it seams that the marina has gone out of there way to keep this very quite.

Mike