Fuse board upgrade price.

[Dave OCD]

Kitchens and Bathrooms ?! Yes now you mention it I've seen a few boards done by these 'specialists'.....

 

[MDJ]

£300,00 LOL, fair play that tickled me, bloody hilarious.

 

[JK-Electrical]

£300? Do you eat fresh air for breakfast, dinner and tea and live in a cardboard box??

For breakfast I have a bowl of cornflakes and two slices of toast except for Saturdays when I usually have two crispy bacon rolls with large dollops of Heinz tomato sauce. Dinner during the week is usually pre-packed sandwiches or something out the chippy. My meals when I get in from work are varied. But I have steak with all the trimmings and a king prawn stir-fry once a week. On Friday nights, I always order a curry from my local Indian take-away. I usually have my Sunday roast at the local carvery.

I live in a nice two-bedroom semi with well-kept front and back gardens. The house has a driveway for my van and my car. Not bad for a "tramp", eh?

I trust that your curiosity regarding my diet and living accommodation is now satisfied and that you'll won't ask me any more inane questions.

Get real, you’ll spend that much on materials of yours fitting anything halfway decent!

I think it's you who needs a reality check. If you're paying £300-£500 for the materials needed for a consumer unit upgrade, then either you are being taken for a mug, or have money to burn. Do you light your cigars with £20 or £50 notes?

Your statement makes no sense at all. The clear implication is that if I charge between £300-£500 for a consumer unit upgrade I will make nothing on my labour because the amount I am charging will be consumed entirely by the cost of the materials. Oh really? Is that so? I think not.

One need not look too far to find a fully-loaded 10-way dual RCD Hager consumer unit for less than £90.00. A metre of 25mm tails and a metre of 16mm 6491X will cost me just under £5.50 maximum. A consumer unit tails kit I can get for just over £2.00. A pair of single-pole service connector blocks, if I need them, cost just under £5.30. For an outlay of barely over £100, I have all the main materials that I need to do the job. Ergo I make £200.00 from the job, £220.00 if I install a 10-way Schneider Easy 9 dual RCD board instead of a Hager. Maybe you'll now try to argue that Hager and Schneider aren't "halfway decent" brands? Knock yourself out.

 

[JK-Electrical]

£200 for a days work? He’s supposed to be an electrician not a bin-man/tramp!!

In your previous post you incorrectly asserted that I would "spend that much on materials of yours fitting anything halfway decent". This is the post of mine of that you were referring to:

£300 would be typical if I've done a recent EICR and there are no other issues other than a lack of RCD protection. £500 would be typical if I have to do an EICR prior a board upgrade. Obviously the price would be higher still if issues were discovered during the EICR and taken into account as additional work, or if RCBOs were being installed.

I can only assume that you didn't parse my post correctly, in which case I suggest that in future you spend more time reading and thinking before jumping to incorrect conclusions and making disparaging remarks. I do a lot of EICRs and the former scenario is often the case. Most of the consumer unit upgrades that I do are remedial works arising from EICRs that I have carried-out. As the testing has already been done, I am therefore aware if any faults exist. If so, they are remedied prior to the changeover and charged for separately. If there are no issues, the old board is removed, the replacement installed, leaving me just the post-installation testing to do.

You are very badly mistaken indeed if you think that it takes me a full day to remove a board, install a replacement and carry-out post-installation testing. While it would certainly take me a full day to do an EICR and a board changeover, my price would then be around £500. Ergo I would earn £400 for the day.

If I quote £300 for a board changeover that is going to take place * AFTER * I've carried-out an EICR for which I've charged separately, and have determined that there are no issues other than a lack of essential RCD protection, that leaves £200 for my labour. Despite having implied in your previous post that I wouldn't be able to make any money for myself if I charge between £300-£500, you are now contradicting yourself by claiming that I am working for £200 a day. For your information, I do not work for £200 a day. Understood?

 

[JK-Electrical]

Exactly, £200 for a day is a mickey-taking exercise.

The only person taking the ---- here is you. You have made an non-factual statement based on your interpretation of what you think I said rather than what I actually said. Nowhere in this thread did I say that I work for £200 a day. The first person who said that was you. Kindly desist from making any further statements about me that have no basis in fact.

 

[JK-Electrical]

Really, an electrician should be earning more than that!

Maybe so if you happen to live in the south of England, but there are guys up here in Glasgow who are struggling to earn £200 a day. Contrary to the false statements that you have been saying on this thread, I'm not one of them.

 

[JK-Electrical]

£300,00 LOL, fair play that tickled me, bloody hilarious.

You're obviously very easily amused. The photo below was posted by a competitor and should have you in absolute hysterics. Try not to split your sides and wet your pants.

​

What you don't realise is that my business is operating in a very overcrowded marketplace wherein I'm having to compete against twentysomething boys who are doing EICRs for £40-£60 and consumer unit changeovers for less than £300. I've lost count of the amount of jobs that I've lost on account of people quoting prices over the phone without even having looked at the job beforehand.

I'm even competing against a wetpants who thinks that doing a three-day BS 7671 course somehow makes him an 'electrician'. You guys down south can laugh and take the ---- all you like, but it's easy to do that when you're able to command rates commensurate with your ability and experience. But you wouldn't be laughing if it was you who was standing in my shoes, that's for sure. There are a lot of good sparks up here who are struggling to make a living because the market we're operating in just won't pay the higher prices that you guys down south command. You might find this "bloody hilarious", but I certainly don't.

 

[Anthony S]

Matter not what you turn over or earn, its what's in your pocket at the end of the day that counts. What you find is, people who are not going short and collecting decent money don't venture on forums like this trying to brag and preach to others.

 

[Octopus]

As I always say location matters ....

 

[MG201]

When u break it down say 3 hours and £100 (cost price ) for materials then £285 is a good earner for a 1 man band with no overheads etc . But when u put accreditation costs and company overheads in then it’s extremely tight

 

[Andy78]

When u break it down say 3 hours and £100 (cost price ) for materials then £285 is a good earner for a 1 man band with no overheads etc . But when u put accreditation costs and company overheads in then it’s extremely tight

Beg pardon ?

 

[MG201]

Beg pardon ?

What u mean ? If the guy from down the pub does it then charging 285 is a good earner for him is what I’m saying . Loads of customers don’t know anything about certifications and as long as they have a shiny new CU they are happy , that’s what I mean and let’s be serious if they were to do certification it would say unable to locate on ever circuit:0 anyway

 

[Andy78]

What u mean ? If the guy from down the pub does it then charging 285 is a good earner for him is what I’m saying . Loads of customers don’t know anything about certifications and as long as they have a shiny new CU they are happy , that’s what I mean and let’s be serious if they were to do certification it would say unable to locate on ever circuit:0 anyway

I was referring to the "1 man band with no overheads" bit.

As a sole trader I must be imagining my £4-5k annual running costs ?

 

[MG201]

I was referring to the "1 man band with no overheads" bit.

As a sole trader I must be imagining my £4-5k annual running costs ?

Like previous I’m meaning the guy far the pub

 

[Octopus]

When u break it down say 3 hours and £100 (cost price ) for materials

3 hours for a CU change .................. never. I've spent 4 hours identifying all the circuits and outlets before doing anything before

I can only assume you don't test anything.

 

[Deleted account]

£1025.

Wow! Nice one Essex.

I don't even charge that much, but good for you.

I charge £600 with surge protection £450 without.

 

[Nigel]

Wow! Nice one Essex.

I don't even charge that much, but good for you.

I charge £600 with surge protection £450 without.

I would never expect a domestic client to sign off on that price.

A pretty standard price for my ----omers though.

 

[SparkyChick]

A pretty standard price for my ----omers though.

Minor slip or your real feelings about your clients?

 

[Nigel]

Minor slip or your real feelings about your clients?

Hahahahahahahahahahah

Too late to edit too.

Hahahahahahahaha

 

[Dave OCD]

Minor slip or your real feelings about your clients?

Hmm the n isn't even close to s on a keyboard....