The patio
Measure the finished paved area, not the hole you dig. If you do not know a figure, leave it at the standard value. The report says which assumptions it used, and you should not read it as a judgement nobody made.
What the list asks for
Leave a box blank if the item is not on the list. All of these are optional.
The check
If you want to ask
This is written to open a conversation rather than accuse anyone. Most differences have an ordinary explanation: deeper dig-out, a slope, an area you had not counted.
What this check can and cannot tell you
It compares a list against the geometry of a rectangle and the standard UK trade allowances for a patio. That is all it does.
- It cannot see your garden. Soft clay, a slope, a soakaway, an old concrete slab under the topsoil: any of these legitimately change the depth of dig and the volume of sub-base. A figure above allowance is a question, not evidence.
- It does not know the agreed specification. If the depth or the bedding method was never written down, the report says which values it assumed. Those assumptions are yours, not your builder’s.
- It is not a valuation. Labour, plant, waste removal, access and profit are not materials, and this tool has no view on whether a price is fair.
- It is not evidence. Nothing here should be used in a dispute as though it were a survey. If a job has gone wrong, the route is the written contract, the receipts, and a qualified professional who has seen the site.
The quantities are calculated by the same engine as the paving calculator, so the numbers here and the numbers there cannot disagree.
Common questions
Is it normal to pay for building materials up front?
It is common for materials to be paid for separately from labour, either as a deposit or on delivery. What matters is that you can see what the money buys: an itemised list with quantities, and receipts or delivery notes for what arrives. A large up-front payment with no written list is the pattern worth questioning, not the up-front payment itself.
Why would a builder order more MOT Type 1 than the area seems to need?
Three ordinary reasons: compacted depth is often increased from 100mm to 150mm on soft or clay ground, the sub-base may be built up to correct a slope, and bulk bags are sold in whole 850kg units so an odd requirement rounds up. Sub-base is also sold loose by the tonne, which usually works out cheaper than bags at that scale.
Is a lower sand quantity a sign of spot-bedding?
Not on its own. Spot-bedding is a real problem, but a lower sand figure is just as likely to mean a semi-dry grit sand bed without cement, a proprietary paving mortar, or a thinner bed for pedestrian paving. The question to ask is what bedding method and depth is being used, not what the bag count implies.
Why does my quote include cement when many patio beds do not?
A full mortar bed of sharp sand and cement is one established method, and cement is also used for haunching edge restraints and bedding kerbs. If the list includes cement, ask whether it is for the bed or for the edges: an edge-only allowance is a small number of bags, not a pallet.