Am I going mad? Another pricing question.

[keefy]

Doing a partial rewire of a house, not something I normally get involved with, but not beyond ny capability!

The place is a building site so reasonable access, got an extra wiring up a shower in 10mm, I gave the guy a price of £150 to do it and he has kindly suggested £100 to be 'more reasonable' and says, bearing in mind he is in the construction trade, that he normally gets prices of between £80 and £100!

The run is 20M, run through stud work from one end of the house to the other, working on first fix being 1.5hrs spark and mate, 1.5hrs second fix spark, plus commissioning and materials.

Am I mad or is this reasonable? Bearing in mind job has been a pain in the arse (stud walls not built when promised etc...)

 

[telectrix]

tellm him to get stuffed. cable alone is £50 -

 

[needasparks]

Thats why i dont do new build, the prices are rubbish and your treated like a robbing pikey. Let him have a bill for £100 them slap him with a £50 design charge.

 

[TaffyDuck]

£100, well cant knock a bloke for trying. Tell him if he can get it done for £80 he`d best get it done by someone else

 

[micknew]

Finding that most customers want something for nothing at the moment!

 

[needasparks]

Finding that most customers want something for nothing at the moment!

That because they will always find someone that will do it for less but don't see they get what they pay for.

 

[keefy]

That clarifies it, I'm not going mad. Just need to convince the doctors now...

 

[parker56]

Have to say some people find it better to have £100 in there pocket than sit at home watching day time tv.

 

[highspark]

Have to say some people find it better to have £100 in there pocket than sit at home watching day time tv.

And this is what I am finding more and more. I go to quote a job and get looked at as if I am a conman. There is people working for pittence at the minute!

 

[parker56]

I just think there's alot of people tyring to make a living these days,
for a lot of people it's better to have some than none.

 

[Octopus]

If somebody says they can do it for £80 you can bet that they are not paying for the cable.

 

[TaffyDuck]

20m of 10mm T/E whats that about £45 + Isolator and pattress £10 + MCB £3 + Sundries £3 assuming no RCBO or new board thats over £60 materials not forgetting an EIC and whatever it costs to notify it. Your saying 4.5 man hours including your mate. £80 -£60 materials = £20 / 4.5 hours = less than minimum wage.

 

[parker56]

Not saying it's right,some people don't care about min wage just as long as they have money coming in to try and pay the bills

 

[TaffyDuck]

Not saying it's right,some people don't care about min wage just as long as they have money coming in to try and pay the bills

Peanuts and monkies

 

[Spazz]

Tell him £100 and he buys the cable - taking into account your happy with £150.

If he is not happy walk away - but its your profit so up to you

 

[SX2]

sounds a fair price to me, I did s 10mm power circuit the other week and that was a 14m run surface clipped to a isolator and i charged £100 for that with no complaints at all

 

[Dave 85]

£150 is reasonable. As a standalone job I'd charge nearer £300, but as part of a rewire in a stripped house £150 is about right. It all comes down to how much you need the work and how likely it is he's bluffing about being able to get it done cheaper, if you call his bluff and he keeps using you, you'll never have to negotiate on a price again with him.

 

[needasparks]

Like your style Dave.

 

[telectrix]

tell him to go and get it done cheaper, but you won't sign it off as it's not your work.

 

[Engineer54]

Give him SX2 phone number, for a 100 quid job!!! Should have no complaints then!! lol!!

 

[Octopus]

The only thing I'd add is that I would use the Crabtree pull switch isolator - a far better bit of kit to install than most isolators.

 

[danny bernard]

Stick to your price,you'll find by the time you have job done,between things not being ready in time and problems encountered,
you'll wish you had charged more!!!!!!
Dan

 

[keefy]

The guy backed down today. Just goes to show, fight for what you believe is right. Cheers guys.

 

[Guitarist]

"I can get it done for half that price" is as old as the hills. Well done for sticking to your guns, otherwise it looks like you were just trying it on in the first place.

 

[Stevegeta]

Hey guys went to a job friday to install a shower, price wise i said £120 plus cert which i thought was ok, but im going to be honest pricing is something i do have trouble with as you dont want the customer to think your a con man, although when i got to the job no spare ways in fuse board, as it is older than gods dog and has turned into a fuse board upgrade which ive said £250 to fit and certify, they supply the parts, any tips on pricing up jobs guys ???

 

[highspark]

Hey guys went to a job friday to install a shower, price wise i said £120 plus cert which i thought was ok, but im going to be honest pricing is something i do have trouble with as you dont want the customer to think your a con man, although when i got to the job no spare ways in fuse board, as it is older than gods dog and has turned into a fuse board upgrade which ive said £250 to fit and certify, they supply the parts, any tips on pricing up jobs guys ???

Know your materials and costs! Work out an hourly rate. How long have you been doing electrics?

 

[Stevegeta]

Not that long this is my first major job to be honest, the guy im working with want to do everything as cheap as chips so it seems, which does tend to be annoying because they have no regards for the regs, for example the fuse board upgrade will mean i have the space to put kitchen and sockets on their own mcb, but they dont want to know about all that they just want it to work, and in regards to doing a cert i will have to pass it off as unsatisfactory due to this and if the wiring is as old as the fuse board you can guarantee when testing it will be crap, also on visual the bonding on gas and water was only like 6mm the whole installation looks really old & i dont want them to think im ripping them off by recomending rewires ?? any advice

 

[Stevegeta]

oh and also in regards to 10mm t & e its atleast 50 quid so thats why ive said that price and he supplies materials if i had to supply material id have said about £300 but again taking into account wether id be messing around with floor board and what not, as far as im aware the current shower is being spured from a different circuit which is new to me as i didnt think it would even work, i mean even 6mm cable in the osg cannot support a shower if i remember right

 

[cook1e]

I would get a fully skilled experienced electrician in to do a pir/cond. report before you commence any work, who is the guy you are working with ? a sparkie

Martin

 

[trev]

You can only recommend mate, you can't force a client to have work done. If something eg bonding needs to be done before you can proceed and the client refuses it it's best to walk away.

 

[highspark]

You do an EICR. if the installation comes back poor recommend a rewire. If the installation is as bad as it sounds, If I was you i'd put a small sub board in to carry out your work on the shower etc. If you put an new rcd board on the old installtion you could open a can of worms! A re you part P registered. Just come of a short course?

 

[Stevegeta]

Wel the bonding was to small, and i dont think the house has been touched in years, the chap whos called me in to do the work is a bathroom fitter, yeh i kinda feel like saying look i want to do this right because at the end of the day im putting my name to the cert

 

[trev]

oh and also in regards to 10mm t & e its atleast 50 quid so thats why ive said that price and he supplies materials if i had to supply material id have said about £300 but again taking into account wether id be messing around with floor board and what not, as far as im aware the current shower is being spured from a different circuit which is new to me as i didnt think it would even work, i mean even 6mm cable in the osg cannot support a shower if i remember right

Current carrying capacities of cables are easy to get hold of. May be an idea would be to have a read up

 

[Stevegeta]

part p full scope , 17th wiring , and logic inspection and testing

 

[Stevegeta]

ive got an osg its just in the car and cant be arsed to go take a look but the old installation is a mess to be honest id rather rip the lot out and start again for them

 

[highspark]

Sorry to say it mate, but you are another example of drivel that has been spewed out by a short course!

 

[Stevegeta]

and how did you figure that one out ???

 

[highspark]

Questions you are asking. You don't seem to be competent.

 

[Stevegeta]

well a bit of support wouldnt go a miss rather than insults, i know that a shower cant be spured off a socket thats what im saying , the installation is all wrong, well im going to fit it friday so il let you know what happens

 

[cook1e]

ive got an osg its just in the car and cant be arsed to go take a look but the old installation is a mess to be honest id rather rip the lot out and start again for them

To be honest, you may have some qualifications but I guess you are not very experienced, if any experience at all, when people, builders want to cut corners I just walk away if they dont listen to my advice. as a customer I would expect my electrician not to have to look in the osg as to whether a 6 mm cable would support a shower.

Martin

 

[Stevegeta]

i know it wont thats why i recommended 10 mm as they can have upto a 10kw shower on that provided it is installed correctly

 

[Stevegeta]

and thanks for the advice

 

[highspark]

Steve I didn't mean to insult you. I just feel as though you seem a little unsure.

 

[Stevegeta]

na na its fine , i am a little inexperienced to be honest hence why i will be refering to the osg and 17th regs but i want to get it right , i dont want anything coming back on me because they didnt want to shell out to have it rewired, there are going to be questions i will be needing to ask and hopefully can get the support from you guys

 

[jase]

Not that long this is my first major job to be honest, the guy im working with want to do everything as cheap as chips so it seems, which does tend to be annoying because they have no regards for the regs, for example the fuse board upgrade will mean i have the space to put kitchen and sockets on their own mcb, so they are 2 seperate circuits at the mo but on one MCB?but they dont want to know about all that they just want it to work, and in regards to doing a cert i will have to pass it off as unsatisfactory due to thiswhy? because they are not seperate circuits? and if the wiring is as old as the fuse board you can guarantee when testing it will be crap not necessarily, also on visual the bonding on gas and water was only like 6mm as long as it is there and tests ok this can be left the whole installation looks really old & i dont want them to think im ripping them off by recomending rewires ?? any advice

change fuseboard leave circuits as is, test insect, note any limitations and variations on cert.

 

[jase]

oh and also in regards to 10mm t & e its atleast 50 quid so thats why ive said that price and he supplies materials if i had to supply material id have said about £300 but again taking into account wether id be messing around with floor board and what not, as far as im aware the current shower is being spured from a different circuit which is new to me as i didnt think it would even work, i mean even 6mm cable in the osg cannot support a shower if i remember right

6mm cable could support an electric shower dependant on the rating of it in KW, if the existing shower is off of a spur it is probably a power shower not an electric shower, a power shower is just a pump there is still a hot and cold water supply to it, therefore the pump pulls around 1 amp, an electric shower has only a cold water feed and has a heating element which is what makes it anything from 7KW to 10KW

 

[Stevegeta]

thanks gents will be taking pics and that anyways will let you know how i get on thanks for advice

 

[Guitarist]

i know it wont thats why i recommended 10 mm as they can have upto a 10kw shower on that provided it is installed correctly

No disrespect, but it worries me somewhat that you believe a 10mm is needed for every shower...