How long should things take if done properally

[craig1000]

Hi am after a guide as to what people think is reasonable in time to take doing either a PIR or ECIR?
Im recently set up with my mate & i am the one doing our testing etc, i have experience doing so on site in a commercial environment new builds but we are getting in our own work on both domestic & commercial.
Just done a ECIR on a domestic, it was a right old mess n shamble after many years of alteration id say by a DIYer, new owner doesn't have a clue what does what.
Mains split & fed 2 single way units, 2 4 way units & a 6 way unit, 1 of the 1 way units then fed another unit in the loft!
With nothing marked up & many things in poor condition it took me all day 7.30 -17.00 to go through it all, & i had by business partner with me as we had nowt else on so in total 2 blokes 9 hours!
I accept this is along time but being new to the situation i am wondering what sort of time others would expect, in total we inspected & tested 19 circuits fully, going round disconnecting all appliances, removing lamps etc so could do all IR tests P-n, P-CPC & N-CPC! iv seen some posts saying that people don't do P-N?
Due to the condition of the install i was pretty thorough in looking at things n it took a while just to work out what did what due to nothing being identified at the various CU's, no indication of any previous testing & some various faults, especially the stuff serving the garden!
I want to know if im being to fussy, to slow or what? I know with more experience i will get faster in the domestic situation but as a guide now it would be good to hear thoughts?
I am assuming maybe a EICR will be a more in depth report than a PIR as with a PIR if there has been a previous one you should be able to with a little inspection (10% of install) get on with the testing & know what does what as from the previous PIR info!
Where as a EICR you need to check allot more than 10% as you have no evidence of it previously being up to standard & in my case no final circuit info so no idea what did what until we worked it out!
Should i be correcting C1 issues as i go or just reporting them?
Any replies have my thanks in advance!

 

[spark 68]

It takes as long as it takes mate, especially the nightmare scenario you describe above, at least you are doing it properly by the sound of it, unlike the 'drive by' merchants who reckon they can do 4 a day! lol

 

[telectrix]

i would say that 30 -45 minutes per circuit is a fair time but that's assuming the installation is in a reasonable state, so your time for that nightmare is not excessive. as for C1's, i would make safe if it was practicable to do so without spending loads of time.

 

[Strima]

You can't put a time frame on a proper job. Sounds like a right cluster and I think you both did well to cover that lot in a day, the easy looking jobs are often the worst.

At least the customer has seen you working and how long it takes to do it correctly, they may well question the 'quicker' ones in the future. Bet sorting the paperwork out was fun.

 

[Top Cat]

I spent 7 hours doing a 70s house with nothing wrong then 2 hours putting it on the computer package. Basically i don't do them unless it is a good customer, they are a pain in the a$$!

 

[Farmelectrics]

I usually allow 30 min per circuit you might gain time with some and take longer on others depends what problems you face don't put pressure on your self it's done when it's done

 

[telectrix]

@ TC ,. well if you will spend half the day chasing mice and birds, what do you expect?

 

[craig1000]

Cheers guys, glad to know it seems like we did all right & that others appreciate the process of doing a proper job, just get a bit paranoid when ya see people talking about doing X amount of them per day, at the end of the day in our book, safety is the most paramount thing, id rather lose the work than have to cut corners to win it! I want to be correct but at the same time it on initial looking at the price could appear costly when charging for 2 sparks for a day to do a EICR, if the customer was to get chatting to someone who doesn't know the whole picture of exactly what was involved then i could be made to look a very expensive option!
I have uploaded some pics to my PC of the CU mess in the garage, will try to up load in a min!
Strima this is the same job i was posting about the other day when i first looked at it!

 

[Farmelectrics]

Had to laugh there was thinking of the post I done last week about getting offered testing job were the company are doing 6 eicr a day wonder how long they give themselves per circut

 

[Top Cat]

@ TC ,. well if you will spend half the day chasing mice and birds, what do you expect?

Hi Tel, just seen you have changed your Avatar. Nice Smurf! Lol

 

[joe j]

The trouble is the customer often doesn't know who's doing it right and will often go for the cheaper option. But if you get a good reputation work will often come to you.

 

[telectrix]

that's our 2lb. guard dog! smaller than your average kitten, boo-boo

 

[Top Cat]

that's our 2lb. guard dog! smaller than your average kitten, boo-boo

Beware of the dog, you may step on it!

 

[craig1000]

Had to laugh there was thinking of the post I done last week about getting offered testing job were the company are doing 6 eicr a day wonder how long they give themselves per circut

Unreal its laughable what companys will do, its part of the reason we have got out on our own tohgether, as we were getting cheesed off on sites with company's trying to get us cutting corners in install! At least doing our own work we can take the time to do a correct job & we are hoping as per a post by joe j that our reputation for a good correct job will start to show through n gain us the work over the cheap bloody cowboys! The sparks i done my time under would squirm if they saw what was allowed nowadays! ( i served under some proper old skool sparks n feel the better for it, although not when i got a clip round the ear at the time lol)

 

[craig1000]

Am struggling to get pics to upload ;-(
Any pointers?

 

[Tonkatoy27]

I always allow a day for a domestic house EICR, although trying to get the customer to accept the quote is painfull. I reckon I only get a third of al the EICR's I price, I'm probably loosing them to the 6 a day brigade. How do you all price them? Per circuit?

 

[SJD]

I got a "lead" from one of the online sites a few days ago looking for a quote for an EICR for a school, they were suggesting quotes in the region of £6 to £7 per circuit (88 circuits in all). I didn't reply, but that suggested you can't spend more than a few minutes on each circuit.

 

[Tonkatoy27]

I got a "lead" from one of the online sites a few days ago looking for a quote for an EICR for a school, they were suggesting quotes in the region of £6 to £7 per circuit (88 circuits in all). I didn't reply, but that suggested you can't spend more than a few minutes on each circuit.

There's gotta be a catch, that's a ridiculous price. I do school work and the very nature of it generally means it takes longer. I spend half my time waiting around for caretakers with keys.