On small jobs charging for cable

[Kelvin Waldron]

Hi all
I was just wondering how every charges for cable on a small job? Let me give you and example, you are asked to replace 4 down lights, but one 1 of them you fined that the cable is to short so you replace that cable back to the next downlight, Normally i would just charge for sundries £20 but the customer refused to pay the sundries charge as " i only use a couple of meters of cable, and he shouldnt have to pay that" and it got me thinking does anyone charge per meter of cable ?

 

[Spoon]

Maybe you should put it in the quote. "If cable needs replacing then a charge of £? per meter" or something like that.
Don't try and rip them off by charging £20 for 2 meters of cable....

 

[telectrix]

if it was just a couple of yards, i'd not charge as usually have offcuts on the van. anything over 10 ft. i charge with sundries. XXp/m

 

[SJD]

If only 2m of cable, then more like £2 rather than £20, I think.

I tend to briefly list the items: "Fixings, grommets, connectors … " £3 (or whatever).
Anything that came to more than say £5 would be listed separately.

 

[Kelvin Waldron]

The sundries was to cover, cable , few jbs among few other odd bits i had used off the van, otherwise yes i agree £20 for 2 meters of cable bit excessive.

 

[Spoon]

The sundries was to cover, cable , few jbs among few other odd bits i had used off the van, otherwise yes i agree £20 for 2 meters of cable bit excessive.

You said the job was to replace 4 down lights??? Strange that you needed a few junction boxes as well as additional cable for this.
Anyhow... again, I'd just put something in the quote for future jobs.

 

[littlespark]

If your customer is that pedantic, I wouldn't work for him again.

You had to use a new piece of cable for whatever reason... too short, or damaged... it all needs paid for. Your joint boxes, green sleeving… use of your stepladders, fuel and van upkeep...

I just list "additional materials" on my invoice and pluck a number out the sky

 

[Octopus]

I wouldn’t bother about charging for a small item .... and fwiw I never list parts or costs separately

 

[snowhead]

If that same customer bought a basket of shopping in a supermarket they wouldn't get some of the items for free, why should they get free cable.

 

[Kelvin Waldron]

3 downlights with 2 twin in earth its easier to make off in a jb and have 1 cable into the dowlight otherwise the downlights can be abit tight.

 

[Dustydazzler]

I personally would never charge for 2 mtr of lighting cable . Have loads of off cuts for such jobs and just throw in without even thinking about it...

Anything over 4mm sq I will charge by the yard

 

[buzzlightyear]

i agree £20 for 2 meters of cable bit excessive.

love this song ,reminds me of some body ,lol.

 

[mattg4321]

I don't list materials by item on my quotes/invoices. I don't normally break it down into materials and labour either.

The price is the price. Take or leave. If I needed a couple of metres of T&E I'd just throw it in. I don't like making my prices that tight that I'd need to charge extra for something so small!

 

[Risteard]

I wouldn’t bother about charging for a small item ....

Big mistake.

 

[Leesparkykent]

Surely you quoted for such a small job and not estimated? Quote gets accepted then that is what you charge unless the customer adds extras or changes something.

 

[Octopus]

Big mistake.

Why ?

 

[Risteard]

Why ?

Because cable doesn't grow on trees. Charge for everything.

 

[SparkyChick]

Depends on the size of the jobs... if it's one or two screws, I tend to not charge but for bigger jobs I'll add a line to the invoice 'Consumables' and make a reasonable estimate of the cost of all the parts I've used.

Cable... charged by the meter with all lengths used being slightly over estimated. I certainly wouldn't charge £20 for 2m of cable.

 

[Octopus]

Because cable doesn't grow on trees. Charge for everything.

I don’t agree, 2 meters of lighting cable, using this example is well under £1.00 so why be awkward and add this to an agreed price?

Makes no sense

 

[Risteard]

I don’t agree, 2 meters of lighting cable, using this example is well under £1.00 so why be awkward and add this to an agreed price?

Makes no sense

I didn't suggest to add to an agreed price, but to include it when pricing.

 

[Nigel]

Sundries should really be a percentage add on not a fixed price.

Probably best to just loose this cost in your hourly for small jobs as customers won’t like seeing it.

 

[Kelvin Waldron]

My apologise, i didn't explain it was never a fixed price, i was called and asked to replace 4 down lights, they already had the downlights, so not supplied by myself.

 

[Octopus]

My apologise, i didn't explain it was never a fixed price, i was called and asked to replace 4 down lights, they already had the downlights, so not supplied by myself.

In that case I can see why the customer reacted in the way they did ...

 

[GBDamo]

I mainly do light commercial for a handful of clients, if I need cable a reel gets charged to that job regardless if its 1m or 100m.

I don't otherwise charge for cable, within reason.

Never had a complaint.

I can see domestic being a right PITA using this approach.

I'd double and VAT purchase price/meter and charge on a meter used basis.

Or you can suggest your customer goes to the nearest wholesalers and tries to get the meterage required and work out the cost for themselves.

 

[7029 dave]

IMO, why add it to the bill 2mtrs of cable that is desperate, if at all put the few pounds on the labour charge.

 

[123]

I'm gonna start and charge an extra 5p to install a light fitting, to cover the cost of 2 screws I'll supply to do the job. If 2 red wall plugs needed that's another 4p.

 

[Dustydazzler]

I'm gonna start and charge an extra 5p to install a light fitting, to cover the cost of 2 screws I'll supply to do the job. If 2 red wall plugs needed that's another 4p.

Around 15 years ago I worked for a small maintenance company that would itemised it’s invoices like this...

Absolutely everything was itemised, and I mean everything

Even down to sleeving by the inch

 

[rolyberkin]

I charge for everything, every wago, every meter of cable etc, etc, in fact I keep a job sheet and write everything on it. However I do tell my customers I will charge any extras at cost.

 

[Midwest]

It’s my cable, and the customer has to pay for; I’m not a registered charity. Whether it’s shown on the invoice or added to the labour costs or something else. They ain’t getting it for free.

It’s alright for those of you, who have bigger companies and have probably already charged another customer for that reel of cable, and therefore feel ashamed of yourselves charging someone else, for something already paid for.

Us minnows have had that reel of cable, sat in the van weeks, burning a hole in our pockets.

 

[Fitzy]

I had a similar job recently to replace 6 down lights and found some damaged/short cables, before I replaced it, I explained to the customer that this would come under a charge of 'sundries' on the final invoice. But I always state a price for sundries on my quotes, with a caveat of 'any damaged, short cabling that may need replacing, that wasn't seen at the quote stage will be chargeable'

 

[Dustydazzler]

So how much is a fair price to charge for a few metres of 1.5mm

£5 , £10 ?

 

[Spoon]

So how much is a fair price to charge for a few metres of 1.5mm

£5 , £10 ?

For 1 meter...
How much do you pay for 100m?
Divide that price by 100 and then double that figure. That should seem fair.

 

[ElectricSeamus]

I'm just trying to work out what a 'yard' is.

 

[Spoon]

I'm just trying to work out what a 'yard' is.

a concrete thing at the back of some houses..

 

[ElectricSeamus]

a concrete thing at the back of some houses..

Well that's what I thought but it didn't fit the context.

 

[Pete999]

I'm just trying to work out what a 'yard' is.

Bit of useless land at the back of your house (Back Yard) or just over a metre, 36 inches

 

[ElectricSeamus]

Inches... I think I heard my great great great grandmother mention those once.

 

[Pete999]

Inches... I think I heard my great great great grandmother mention those once.

Philistine.

 

[Spoon]

Inches... I think I heard my great great great grandmother mention those once.

The yanks still do drawings in them.... They will never change..

 

[Dustydazzler]

I have decided to go with £1.00 per mtr on all sizes up to and including 4mm

 

[Haworth]

That’s the thing; quoting is a ‘fixed price’. If you then start adding extra bits without consultation with the client, it can get a little ‘messy’. Me personally, if I’ve checked everything and there’s no issues then a quote is fine. Estimates are good as they can remain (fully explained to the client) ‘fluid’ owing to any unforeseen major issues. Also, if I’m quoting, I always add a little ‘fudge factor’ on to the price to allow for little bits here and there.

 

[davesparks]

Bit of useless land at the back of your house (Back Yard) or just over a metre, 36 inches

Just under a metre, a metre is just over 3'3"

 

[Andy78]

The yanks still do drawings in them.... They will never change..

What annoys me is when they split inches up decimally instead of using fractions. Incredibly confusing.

 

[telectrix]

What annoys me is when they split inches up decimally instead of using fractions. Incredibly confusing.

you mean as in 4 inches and a daughter? 6 inches and 5 waits?

 

[Andy78]

you mean as in 4 inches and a daughter? 6 inches and 5 waits?

As an example of what winds me up, here are the dimensions of the current Apple Macbook air laptop.


Height: 0.16–0.61 inches
Width: 11.97 inches
Depth: 8.36 inches
Weight: 2.75 pounds

 

[telectrix]

at least it's in inches and not milli thingies.

 

[Andy78]

at least it's in inches and not milli thingies.

But inches are divided into 8 bits, or 16, or 32, or 64, not 100 bits.

I am but a simple bear and my head just can't grasp 1.97 inches. If you want to divide things into 100 use metric, if you want to use inches but be very accurate, use smaller traditional fractional divisions.

 

[Dustydazzler]

what costs more a yard or 3 feet of cable....

 

[telectrix]

what costs more a yard or 3 feet of cable....

at 10 bob a foot, both cost the same. but if a yard of cable is 5 bob a foot and 3 feet of cable is 10 bob a foot. then one costs twice as much as the other.

 

[telectrix]

But inches are divided into 8 bits, or 16, or 32, or 64, not 100 bits.

I am but a simple bear and my head just can't grasp 1.97 inches. If you want to divide things into 100 use metric, if you want to use inches but be very accurate, use smaller traditional fractional divisions.

as im no-one of us over the age of 40 can visualise mm. 3 feet we can see. 900mm we need to use a dual tape measure. same when i want to print a photo. 8" x 6" fine. wtf is 205mm x 152mm.