We are often contacted by customers wanting us to install a fitted bathroom, fitted bedroom or fitted kitchen within a relatively short space of time, and they are often astonished with our installation lead times.
Having worked in this industry for 15 years or so, we are used to the installation lead times involved in undertaking a new installation, however we appreciate that unless you are used to this, you may not know what installation lead times generally are.
What is an installation lead time?
An installation lead time is what we generally class as the time taken from initial point of contact with us, to the date we actually come and perform the installation.
Having a newly fitted bathroom, fitted kitchen or fitted bedroom, there are many things to consider and this is what makes the installation lead time sometimes longer than can be expected.
We receive a lot of work from a lot of recommendations from previous installations we have undertaken, plus as we have been in operation a long time, we are a well established and reputable company. This adds to the installation lead time for our installations due to our exceptional customer service and reputation.
At the moment, our current installation lead time is 10 weeks.
Why do we have such a long installation lead time?
As we have said, there are many things to take into account when it comes to installation lead times and this is more important when it comes to the installation of a fitted kitchen or fitted bedroom.
Due to our busy schedules it can sometimes take up to a week for us to initially be able to come and view what is required for any installation. After providing a free plan and design service, it is often the case that the customer wishes to have a period of time to evaluate the quotation before committing to an installation.
Once the installation is confirmed, we then book the installation for the next available date that we have available.
Again due to our busy timescales, this can be anywhere from 6 weeks, up to 10 weeks or more in some cases.
Sometimes the customer wants to wait a little longer for a variety of reasons and the longest installation lead time we have seen is 8 months from initial booking to the start of the installation.
Whilst this is not the norm, and was due to the customer wanting to wait and have the installation booked for personal reasons, we are often asked by customers to book an installation to coincide with their annual leave, school holidays and other reasons.
All of this takes careful planning and consideration and thus increases the installation lead time.
We can only ever estimate how long an installation will take and, as is often the case, we will overrun on installations in order to give the customer the best possible service. Because we work on what we feel are tight timescales and budget, it only takes a couple of jobs overrunning from the projected installation time and all of a sudden our installation lead time has expanded a week or so because we are behind with the installation we currently have.
Installation Lead Times for Fitted Kitchens and Fitted Bedrooms
Fitted kitchens and fitted bedrooms are slightly different to fitted bathrooms.
As with all of our installations, once a customer has confirmed that they wish to proceed with our quotation, we arrange to perform a technical survey to ensure that everything that is being installed will fit correctly, and to take the finer measurements for all items that are ordered or designed especially for our customers.
Unlike the likes of Ikea, B&Q etc, all of our kitchens and bedrooms are made to order by our bespoke cabinet makers and they themselves have busy work schedules and lead times.
Generally it takes approximately 4 weeks from the date of order of a kitchen or bedroom until the cabinet maker is ready to deliver.
When this time is added to the installation lead timescales we ourselves currently have, and added to the time it takes to initially see a customer, it shows how installation lead times can be extended to what you would initially think.
