Newbie pricing help please.

[Fitzy]

I've been asked to add a couple of new sockets to ring final and was unsure on how to price the job. Per hour plus materials or a set price based on the individual jobs. Per hour I thought about £25 plus materials or £40-£50 plus materials per individual job.

I'm not after what any of you guys charge as that's your private business, I just don't want to under price myself, but get a gauge of at least being in the ballpark. The last thing I want to do is to severely undercut other electricians in my area and cause problems, but at least being the same ballpark allows the customer to make the final decision.

I’m based in Redhill, Surrey, so I’ll be working mainly in Surrey & Sussex.

 

[Madocks]

Have a look at local sparks websites, some state their hourly rates etc

 

[Spoon]

Have a search on here mate. There are quite a few threads on this. See which way suits you for this job.

 

[JAWS]

Good luck and I hope it all works out for you mate, you have got a lot of balls after a 4 week course to start pricing a job up whether that's a small job or not. I have got to do 3 yrs at college

best of luck though

 

[Octopus]

If you are SE then £25 per hour is not enough IMHO - it may work for "full days" but not for small jobs ....................... been there, have the T shirt!

Adding 2 sockets is NEVER as simple as the client thinks!

You don't want to be a very busy, poor fool!

 

[sparksfly]

I agree with Murdoch £25/hour is low even for being there all day. If the job takes 2 hours on site you have to look at time taken to destination and then setting up/packing away etc If it was local to me I would charge £65 then 35-40 for subsequent hour + materials. However , I still price jobs and end up not allowing for small problems which quickly eat into you time. It will take time & experience but after 8 years a sole trader I still encounter jobs that, financially, were not worth it but the experience was....Good luck..from the very busy poor fool!

 

[Nobbin]

I did a very similar job for a friend of my wife. Extended the ring final from an existing socket to add two double sockets across the room. I had to take floor boards up, cut into skirting and drill through joists. It looked easy enough but it does tend to take longer when the customer says that they are keeping the boards for that rustic look. That means extra care must be taken not to cause unnecessary damage. Thankfully she didn't mind surface mount trunking for the few inches up to the sockets, hence cutting the skirting, but many customers won't want that if it will be visible.
As she was my wife's friend I did the job for a hundred beer tokens but you may need to carefully consider how long the job will take you while not forgetting to factor in the as yet unrealised obstacles.
As mentioned above, look at other Sparkies websites and gauge it that way. Keep on the side of the local professionals as you may need them one day. Good luck.

 

[Fitzy]

I based the £25 per hour on what one of my tutors said, but I now think that was for site work only. A quick google search in my area brings up an average of £65-£75 per hour and bigger jobs like rewires and Cu changes on a price per job, all plus materials. Are 2 new sockets realistic in 1 hour or is it 1 per hour?

 

[mattg4321]

How long does it take you to do them normally? What does your mentor think?

 

[Octopus]

Are 2 new sockets realistic in 1 hour or is it 1 per hour?

Hum ............. could be a whole day.

 

[Rpa07]

Experience of working with someone for a couple of years is the only way to tackle all of the problems and pick up the hints and tips needed to make your way though even the average job of adding sockets correctly to a ring circuit.
I often get it wrong and take longer than I quoted for, in this case and all cases I make sure that I do the best job I can and cover all their needs in order to be recommended on.
Any work from word of mouth is the money I missed.
The work with the spark I mentored with for 18 months, covered a whole gamete of domestic and light commercial jobs and I soaked up that experience.
I’d recommend Work as an improver for 2 years with a spark or small company.

 

[Fitzy]

Thanks guys, I’m gonna quote them 2-3 hours, but only charge what it actually takes me, plus materials. They’re both going in to the same bedroom, so I believe that’s enough time.

 

[Jay89]

Thanks guys, I’m gonna quote them 2-3 hours, but only charge what it actually takes me, plus materials. They’re both going in to the same bedroom, so I believe that’s enough time.

Personally I would do one or the other. If it overruns you’re not able to add another hour to the price so why offer a discount the other way.

 

[Nobbin]

If you're installing sockets in a bedroom here's a nice trick to earn you some brownie points, install double sockets with USB chargers in them, they'll love you for it. Lots of people charge their phones etc overnight next to the bed.
These LAP ones are quite tidy LAP 13A 2G SP Switched Socket + 3.1A 2G USB Charger White | Switches & Sockets | Screwfix.com - https://www.screwfix.com/p/lap-13a-2g-sp-switched-socket-3-1a-2g-usb-charger-white/4087p
But there are even cheaper ones if that's the route you want to take.

 

[Fitzy]

Good idea Nobbin, but as I found out on my training courses the USB socket plates haven’t yet been awarded a BS or CE Kite mark, so technically don’t comply with the BS7671 wiring regs.

I’ve decided to charge £65 per hour and if it’s a notifiable job I can use for my assessment I’ll do a deal with them.

How far in to an hour do You charge the full rate.....

 

[Jay89]

I have a first hour cost and a reduced cost for subsequent hours and usually charge in half hour increments (after the first hour).

The job shouldn’t be notifiable unless you need to install an RCD to protect the circuit

 

[telectrix]

£65/hour you'll be sitting at home all day. sensible rate is £35-£40/hour down south that is. up here it's usually a pie and a donut/hour. you could use the point pricing way. say £50 per point for sockets and switches. more for shower.cooker, fans etc.

 

[Octopus]

How far in to an hour do You charge the full rate.....

Charge by the quarter of the hour after the first hour.

If you try £65 per hour, you won't get much work ............................ as there are very few people who will pay £487.50 per day for a spark.

 

[123]

Charge by the quarter of the hour after the first hour.

If you try £65 per hour, you won't get much work ............................ as there are very few people who will pay £487.50 per day for a spark.

Especially a spark that has just completed a 4 week course and lacks in experience

 

[Hoon]

That’s £200 a day.
£25 per per hour, a good old fashioned 8 hour day that’s £200. Your tutor was about right for down my way.
Let’s Hope your tutor taught you how to get the cables inside the walls, not sure this install will be clipped direct to ply wood.

Let’s be fair you can’t charge what a sparks charges so go in cheap and get yourself some much needed experience.

Give it time You will be up to your balls in dust and wishing you chose a intensive course to become an airline pilot.

Charge what is fair for an improver say £9 an hour.
Get some experience
Best of luck

 

[Fitzy]

Charge by the quarter of the hour after the first hour.

If you try £65 per hour, you won't get much work ............................ as there are very few people who will pay £487.50 per day for a spark.

Obviously the £65 per hour is for odd jobs here and there, if I’m quoting on jobs that’s going to take a full day I’ll have a set day rate. I’ve already got full time job at the moment so it’s not about the money at present, it’s more about going the invaluable experience, so if I have to lower my rates to a more reasonable figure, then I can, but I definitely don’t want to severely undercut the local sparky’s and have a war on my hands.

 

[Octopus]

£65 an hour for odd jobs seems optimistic too

 

[Fitzy]

£65 an hour for odd jobs seems optimistic too

As said previously, it has to be worthwhile to do the job, so based on the previous comments, £65 to install a new socket seems reasonable to me.

I’ve quoted the job at 2-3 hours and they only pay for the time it takes, if it goes over 3 hours I’ll suck it up to begin with, I’ll get faster/better as time goes on, so it will be more achieveable in the future.

I’ll see how this system works out and go from there, if I have to, I’ll reduce my rates.

 

[Hoon]

If I cut my arm off today on the carpenters table saw as I’m cutting noggins, and I required the services of a local electrician to finish my extension at my home.
I would not and I repeat would not pay more than £25 an hour on a daily rate.

A small job say a socket added to a A3 radial next to an existing socket. It would have to be chased in, under filled with bonding thistle coat, meeting all the requirements of bs7171 and I’d wont to be presented with a minor works certificate.

I’d be happy to pay no more than £80. That’s including materials.
So looking at the job, getting your tools in, doing the job tidying up, doing the required tests, then driving to the next.
Your looking at wasting at least three hours of your working day. Then minus the materials

Your Never be rich in this game no matter what they told you on the phone at the training Center or what some chump sais down the pub.Money is equated to penis size it’s always a lie when someone sais £65 an hour cut it In halve , at the least!!
If you won’t £65 an hour get yourself a flux capacitor and go back to when you was 16 then train as a lawyer.
Good luck

 

[Fitzy]

Good news.....The customer has accepted my quote of £150 for 3 hours, plus materials (guessed at £50), one wall is a plasterboard stud wall, so pretty simple to mount the back box (he has a room plan from when the house was rewired 5-6 years ago and the cables run alongside both walls), the other is an external brick wall, where he now wants 2 x double sockets, which aren’t gonna be seen as they’re going behind/in his wife’s new, all singing, all dancing dressing table (it’s all in a bare non-decorated bedroom). He also said his got a mate coming over in a couple of weeks to make good the plastering around the 2 chased in back boxes & cable runs and also said he’ll pay me another hours labour to come back and second fix these 2 sockets and complete the paperwork.

The best previous quote was from the electrician who done his rewire and that was an eye watering £500.

I’m happy with my first quote/job to be honest.

Thanks for all your help guys.....

 

[Spoon]

The best previous quote was from the electrician who done his rewire and that was an eye watering £500.

£500 for fitting 2 sockets..
3 possibilities:
1. The electrician is trying it on...
2. The electrician is busy and doesn't want the job.
3. The customer was a complete pain to the electrician, when he did the rewire, and he doesn't want to go back.

Hope for your sake it's not 3....

 

[Tes369]

I've been asked to add a couple of new sockets to ring final and was unsure on how to price the job. Per hour plus materials or a set price based on the individual jobs. Per hour I thought about £25 plus materials or £40-£50 plus materials per individual job.

I'm not after what any of you guys charge as that's your private business, I just don't want to under price myself, but get a gauge of at least being in the ballpark. The last thing I want to do is to severely undercut other electricians in my area and cause problems, but at least being the same ballpark allows the customer to make the final decision.

I’m based in Redhill, Surrey, so I’ll be working mainly in Surrey & Sussex.

The clue was in his first post "Surrey"

"Most of the sales in Redhill over the past year were flats which on average sold for £239,669 . Semi-detached properties had an average sold price of £420,329 and terraced ..." (off tinternet)

£500 for fitting 2 sockets..
3 possibilities:
1. The electrician is trying it on...
2. The electrician is busy and doesn't want the job.
3. The customer was a complete pain to the electrician, when he did the rewire, and he doesn't want to go back.

Hope for your sake it's not 3....

Not that after 4 weeks you'd be competent enough to be working for yourself. Four years maybe..

If I was doing Domestic I would factor in the average house price of the area and what's parked on his drive. Those at the higher spectrum of the earnings ladder don't mind paying more for a good Electrician who's knows his job I'm sure.

Isn't Surrey where all they bankers..footballers and chief executives live...?

 

[JAWS]

Good news.....The customer has accepted my quote of £150 for 3 hours, plus materials (guessed at £50), one wall is a plasterboard stud wall, so pretty simple to mount the back box (he has a room plan from when the house was rewired 5-6 years ago and the cables run alongside both walls), the other is an external brick wall, where he now wants 2 x double sockets, which aren’t gonna be seen as they’re going behind/in his wife’s new, all singing, all dancing dressing table (it’s all in a bare non-decorated bedroom). He also said his got a mate coming over in a couple of weeks to make good the plastering around the 2 chased in back boxes & cable runs and also said he’ll pay me another hours labour to come back and second fix these 2 sockets and complete the paperwork.

The best previous quote was from the electrician who done his rewire and that was an eye watering £500.

I’m happy with my first quote/job to be honest.

Thanks for all your help guys.....

Good news well done.

Hopefully that will be start of things to come for you.

 

[Fitzy]

I’m not going full time working for myself just yet, got a few years of gaining experience yet, this is just gonna be on my days off as I work shifts, so get a good set of days off all the time. My aim is to go part at my main job and be a sparky part time as well, it’s too late in my life to be looking at a complete full time career change.

 

[Rpa07]

Yep, do your best, get it right, test before and after.
Protect the carpet and all other things around from damage. If needed take a quick photo before and after which also helps if you need to move anything.
It’s a great feeling when you extend a ring across a room, take up carpet, underlay, boards, make holes, run cables, test and then put everything back and the customer says to you that it’s like you’ve never been in there!
You punch (pocket punch) the air and know word of mouth will come.
Enjoy experience, it does take time.

 

[Risteard]

If you price a job why the hell would you offer a discount for finishing early ?

 

[Fitzy]

Yep, do your best, get it right, test before and after.
Protect the carpet and all other things around from damage. If needed take a quick photo before and after which also helps if you need to move anything.
It’s a great feeling when you extend a ring across a room, take up carpet, underlay, boards, make holes, run cables, test and then put everything back and the customer says to you that it’s like you’ve never been in there!
You punch (pocket punch) the air and know word of mouth will come.
Enjoy experience, it does take time.

Luckily enough it’s a bare bedroom, the customer is remodelling as it’s the master bedroom, no carpets just bare boards, all walls to be re-skimmed and made good, then decorated, carpeted and new expensive light up dressing table being fitted. As I said he has a detailed drawing of each room in the house, showing where all the cables are run, rough location of every socket, switch etc, very nice detailed job done by previous sparky.

 

[Fitzy]

Yep, do your best, get it right, test before and after.
Protect the carpet and all other things around from damage. If needed take a quick photo before and after which also helps if you need to move anything.
It’s a great feeling when you extend a ring across a room, take up carpet, underlay, boards, make holes, run cables, test and then put everything back and the customer says to you that it’s like you’ve never been in there!
You punch (pocket punch) the air and know word of mouth will come.
Enjoy experience, it does take time.

Luckily enough it’s a bare bedroom, the customer is remodelling as it’s the master bedroom, no carpets just bare boards, all walls to be re-skimmed and made good, then decorated, carpeted and new expensive light up dressing table being fitted. As I said he has a detailed drawing of each room in the house, showing where all the cables are run, rough location of every socket, switch etc, very nice detailed job done by previous sparky.

 

[Octopus]

The clue was in his first post "Surrey"

Isn't Surrey where all the bankers..footballers and chief executives live...?

No.

But there are lots of people with short arms and deep pockets.....

 

[casperLennon]

Absolutely terrifying to think someone is doing electrical work in a house after 4 weeks. I have had an apprentice for one week and I would not be leaving him in another 3 weeks. Scary stuff that these courses are allowed to be run.

 

[AJshep]

I'm not too far from Surrey,
most people in my area charge £200-250 a day, or between £50-70 per socket.

If you work out what you want to charge per point, work out roughly how long the job will take (including materials) and reach a happy medium you should be ok.

I'm fortunate that where I live alot of folk will pay a bit more for someone they know and trust, you will always get those charging silly money, the generally mentality in my area, is get 3 quotes and pick the middle one.

 

[Fitzy]

Absolutely terrifying to think someone is doing electrical work in a house after 4 weeks. I have had an apprentice for one week and I would not be leaving him in another 3 weeks. Scary stuff that these courses are allowed to be run.

Casper, anyone can do electrical work WITHOUT actually doing any course what so ever.....You pass your driving test at 9am, then at 9.01am you’re legally allowed to drive on a motorway at 70+mph.....

 

[casperLennon]

Grow up fitzy. What a ridiculous thing to say. Yes you don’t have to do courses but you are going into peoples house and they are paying you. You said your doing it part time well that is silly in its self. How are you going to gain the experience you need doing it that way. Ultimately what happens when you get a fault or a problem. Personally I think you are delusional.

 

[Octopus]

Casper, anyone can do electrical work WITHOUT actually doing any course what so ever.....You pass your driving test at 9am, then at 9.01am you’re legally allowed to drive on a motorway at 70+mph.....

doesn't mean they are safe or competent...

 

[Octopus]

If you price a job why the hell would you offer a discount for finishing early ?

I've done that a few times ........ mostly when I'm doing a "long" list of jobs and I've given a very vague estimate of time. You can't charge for 3 days when you've only been onsite for 2!