Help with a price?

[Skyba]

Just wondering what people would charge for a job I'm just about to quote for. I've been and seen the job and the guy has said I can have the work but I'm just trying to work out a price.

The work is being done in a garage which has 2 levels and it looks like it was previously used as an office upstairs and a garage downstairs.

The list of work is as follows:

Test upstairs lighting and fix as its not currently working (pretty sure it's an easy fix from first look)
remove old fuse board and replace
remove the downstairs lighting circuit and replace with a new circuit and pendants
change switching for upstairs lighting to 2 way and add switch upstairs
Mount sockets to wall which were added and left hanging on the floor
Replace downstairs sockets as previously installer surface mounted flush fix boxes
Test and commission

If upstairs lighting is too much hassle to fix I will be removing the spot lights and adding a ceiling rose and 4 wall mounted spots.

Its a fairly small garage and its all clipped direct as the joists are all still on show and the guy isn't bothered.


i was thinking just a days labour plus my mark up on the gear to do the job. In total I think it's looking to come in about £400 without rewiring the upstairs depending on the cost of gear as I haven't got any prices from the wholesales yet.

Does this sound about right or a bit much or cheap??

This is only my second private job so I'm just finding my feet

 

[MDJ]

Just wondering what people would charge for a job I'm just about to quote for. I've been and seen the job and the guy has said I can have the work but I'm just trying to work out a price.

The work is being done in a garage which has 2 levels and it looks like it was previously used as an office upstairs and a garage downstairs.

The list of work is as follows:

Test upstairs lighting and fix as its not currently working (pretty sure it's an easy fix from first look)
remove old fuse board and replace
remove the downstairs lighting circuit and replace with a new circuit and pendants
change switching for upstairs lighting to 2 way and add switch upstairs
Mount sockets to wall which were added and left hanging on the floor
Replace downstairs sockets as previously installer surface mounted flush fix boxes
Test and commission

If upstairs lighting is too much hassle to fix I will be removing the spot lights and adding a ceiling rose and 4 wall mounted spots.

Its a fairly small garage and its all clipped direct as the joists are all still on show and the guy isn't bothered.


i was thinking just a days labour plus my mark up on the gear to do the job. In total I think it's looking to come in about £400 without rewiring the upstairs depending on the cost of gear as I haven't got any prices from the wholesales yet.

Does this sound about right or a bit much or cheap??

This is only my second private job so I'm just finding my feet

Too cheap IMO, by a mile

 

[dan86]

I'd have to agree tbh. wayyy too cheap

 

[VoltzElectrical]

people are charging near £400 notes for a board change alone. And you won't do it in a day. This is where I always come unstuck - underestimating how long things will take. Now I follow this rule.

Estimate how long you THINK it will take, then DOUBLE it!

 

[telectrix]

£600 is nearer the mark. got to be 2 days.

 

[lockhes]

what size board

board changes around here are about 350ish alone

id be going 600+

id maybe price fixing up lights on an hourly rate you might think its easy but you never know
id allow for 2-3 days depending on light problem

 

[Skyba]

Well the board is only going to be a small 4 way garage board with lighting circuit and the existing power circuit.

I like the idea of take the amount of time it takes to do it and double it as I always come unstuck like this in site to be fair. Forman says how long will you be? I say a day and you can garauntee it's at least a day and a half lol

 

[Skyba]

Also another quick question. When you write up your quotes for customers do you give them a detailed break down of labour hours and cost per hour then itemise the parts used??
This is what I did for a property management company but I'm concerned my customers will be put off by hourly rates being charged.

I suppose a well established business would be less concerned about this as the price is the price but I just don't want to put customers off in my early stages but I also don't want to charge less than the going rate because it will cause problems later on when putting prices up.

 

[Andy78]

You don't need to break anything down for a quote. You are giving a price for a complete job so hourly rate is irrelevant.

You would only need to if asked for a schedule of rates for any associated variation work.

 

[oldtimer]

I was asked to break down a quote and I said sorry don't do that the reply was well you won't get the job fine I said did you apply the same logic when you bought your new car ?

 

[MDJ]

giving a customer a breakdown is dangerous IMO, if your doing large commercial/ industrial jobs sometimes the engineer asks for a breakdown due to money and they can then decide on what can stay and what needs to be omitted from the specification if the project is over budget, even then I find out what they don't consider priority and adjust figures so the costs are reduced but the profit margin higher on what's left in LOL, however with smaller works it can be dangerous, the customer can then see individual costing's and then scrutinise them, I would always refuse under this circumstance, my view is providing they know the fixed price quotation before works are carried out it is not their business how the figure is worked out, if it is the chosen quote then that's that, the problem arrives when an estimate is given and then the customer has a right to see what they are paying for in the form of a breakdown when invoice time arrives, estimates can be a problem, some sparks however with limited experience pricing works decide that this method is safer than a fixed price quotation, then the problem becomes theirs, and I understand the customers questions, but that's the chance they take not given quotes.

 

[marcusone]

My most important rule when pricing. Work out how much you want to make out of the job first. Add a contingency for the unexpected. Set this is stone. Now price up the materials. I hear too many guys trimming their labour because the estimate looks a bit high. Plenty of busy fools out there.

 

[Kate]

My most important rule when pricing. Work out how much you want to make out of the job first. Add a contingency for the unexpected. Set this is stone. Now price up the materials. I hear too many guys trimming their labour because the estimate looks a bit high. Plenty of busy fools out there.

Thats me