Costing

[carl9254]

Hello, im looking starting my own electrical business, PAT Testing, re-wires etc. So went to the bank yesterday to start a business account up and they wanted rough estimates of how much income i would have, but i dont have a clue what the going rate is for the different electrical jobs out there, ie, changing cu, hanging broken socket, new light fitting. can anyone help give rough estimates??

Thanks.

 

[guitargraham]

Hi check this site out may help. Electrician Prices - Costs and advice on Electrical work

Good luck with setting up on your own, something i plan to do early next year.

Graham

 

[SirKit Breaker]

Its all well and good working from a chart, but it doesnt take into account your overheads.
You need to work out what you have to pay out on a weekly/monthly basis i.e mortgage, bills, food etc, vehicle costs, Part P reg costs (if applicable), these are you fixed costs which you cant do without. Add to this your wage of say £200 a week net, and add on your profit margin, say 10%, divide this lot by the amount of hours you wish to work per week/month and the figure will be you minimum hourly rate, you then have to estimate how long a job will take times this by your hourly rate, add on the materials plus a bit and hey presto thats how much the job will cost.

 

[guitargraham]

Hi Sirkit

I put the link up to answer the question asked, to give advice.

But £200 a week wage net? surely you ment £500 plus profit and add ons?

Graham

 

[carl9254]

is £20 per hour reasonable?

 

[robsparx]

i've also gone out on my own recently. the last quote i did i costed it at £25 per hour for the labour. I got the job aswell against a few other sparks so i guess this is reasonable.

depends where you are though i guess. I'm in the south east

 

[DJM Sparks]

Carl, I've had my own firm for a few year now and no doubt you will make a few pricing blunders on the way. I go for £25 per hour on less than day jobs, re wires ect I normally go for 50 ish per point, this usually covers off the full install plus any ag you may find on the way.

Hope this helps

 

[sparky1502]

i only know one way to price....how much for materials and how much do i need to earn...try to keep your costings as simple as possible...jib rates are great for big jobs but for putting some sockets in for a old lady they dont understand a day rate..... all the best for the company

 

[puddle]

Can never understand how people can work out costings from their out goings and think people will pay that figure, no problem. If only life was so simple, everyone would be have their own firm and no one would go out of business and the sun would shine every day
When I was younger and started out, I to went to the Bank. Opened account and was also asked cash flow projections
I went home and thought right ,I will work out my out goings first, to see how much I need to earn first, listed obvious,morgage,bills,van,registrations,car,food,clothing,weekend money, kids bits and pieces and I even took Christmas and holiday costs into account and divided by 52 weeks
Worked out, to live normally as I wanted, I needed to earn 2 1/2 more than I had been earning for the last two years, it was frightening!!
But we had got by because we cut our cloth accordingly and that is what you have to do to start out
The rates are governed by the rates others are charging around you and you have to fit in with that like it or lump it, you can get hourly rates by ringing round and asking price to do such and such, once you get a bit established, you can allow maybe extra 10% for a recommendation job
On top of that you need to know the premium jobs, jobs that my only take a few hours but traditionally have a set rate, that usually works out well, it is important to get your materials at the best price, this is were you can increase profit, the best way to do this is to plan ahead, that way you have time to shop around for best prices and items have time to be delivered if need be
Always double check the materials you need to carry out the works, it is not too bad if you give half an hour labor away free but to give £20/£30 of materials away, not priced for hurts
Good luck with starting up,hope it goes well

 

[carl9254]

Thanks everyone. Its not too bad for me at the minute, i live at home and pay my mum board, and ive just got a good redundancy pay out which im gunna use to pay my car loan and to get me up and running. So i can be pretty cheap for the next few years maybe, then when the time comes to get my own place and put prices up a little and hopefully ill be well established and known for doing good work