CU change price?

[craig1000]

Hi all recently did a EICR which has failed on a few things
Need to give a price to rectify it all & bring up to current regs.
Current set up is link blocks extend tails to far garage wall then are split over3 wylex rewirables 2 4 way & 1 6 way, also to 2 single way units one doing another 6 way in self contained flat in the loft & 1 doing a shower. total of 16 circuits in garage various boards, some may need extending etc
Need to do gas & water bonds
gona put in two CU one for house one for externals as various things required out there,
need to put right some other minor failing codes around house & then investigate some circuits more in detail due to some failing test results & some poor ones.
Just wondering what people might charge for it all, i know its hard without looking at it but just after a rough idea as i feel its more than 1 days work, quite possibly 2 full days depending how things go with remedials investigating. Its not just a standard CU change with the amount of circuits etc, but when i start adding materials cost in plus 2 days labour it starts looking a very expensive CU change which is my concern!
That's not even factoring in the externals work wanted, involving a facility to kill all garden supplies via a switch in the decorated conservatory wall & separate switches for various garden items from the same place via a contactor arrangement in garage!
That included due to routings being a pig etc i estimate 3-4 days maybe but the cost then goes wild i feel or maybe im too slow or undervalue our profession to much & worry about the customers cost too much?
I dunno, still new to this domestic stuff lol

 

[craig1000]

any input at all guys? would be much appreciated? ;-)

 

[telectrix]

so price for 3 days labour plus materials.

 

[Moses]

I would install 3 x CUs,

1 for the house

1 for the self-contained flat

1 for the garage and the external stuff

 

[craig1000]

so price for 3 days labour plus materials.

I shall along those lines but it then seems expensive if i think as a customer but the reality is thats the time n materials cost lol

 

[craig1000]

I would install 3 x CUs,

1 for the house

1 for the self-contained flat

1 for the garage and the external stuff

The self contained flat has its own already!
I intend as you say to have one for the standard house,
one for the externals
& leave the one in the self contained flat (to be fed via the house CU, RCD time delayed) & add then add a RCD to the flat CU

 

[Welshsparky]

It may seem expensive to a customer , but your a qualified electrician, your rate is your rate.. in my experience £40 seems expensive to a domestic customer!

 

[craig1000]

It may seem expensive to a customer , but your a qualified electrician, your rate is your rate.. in my experience £40 seems expensive to a domestic customer!

Yes i guess your right, as i say being new to domestic its hard getting the balance & now charging that bit more on my rate to cover all tax, vat insurance, scheme, equipment etc, all things i had not worry about before so yeah as long as i have my time estimate right n materials are what they are then its prob about right!

 

[Welshsparky]

i've been dealing with domestic customers for a long time, although they might think the price is high,9 times out of 10 they have it done, Remember standard price for a sparky to do 1 board change ranges from £250 to £400

 

[Welshsparky]

When i first became self employed i charged peanuts for my work and didn't make a penny, But i learnt to quote properly and still got most of the jobs Ive quoted for, be nice , smile and talk to them , go along way with a domestic customer!

 

[craig1000]

Cheers Welshsparky
Im effectively doing 3 CU changes in principle plus re-medials plus retest etc
Tthe re-medials aint simple either, no gas or water bonds, both 20 mts away from CU each under floor boards in finished surroundings etc
The fun of domestic i guess lol

 

[Welshsparky]

Exactly, domestic customers do not want to pay money out, they dont understand the work involved installing CU's , bonds etc, Explain to them clearly what you have to do, I usually take bonding and rcd information sheets from the electrical safety council, They soon change their tune lol

 

[craig1000]

Cheers fella you have been most helpful n informative in making me feel i am not being a rip off, am so worried about getting it right & at the same time mindful of the cost both for them & me, as ultimately is price that wins work more often than not!

 

[Welshsparky]

I've not been self employed to long but soon learnt that charging peanuts to satisfy the customer is not the way forward, set yourself a price for your work, and always use that price regardless of anything. I installed a fan a couple of months back, quoted £90, 2 sparkies and 4 hours later it was done, i soon learnt that my prices were to cheap and ever since then have quoted jobs correctly and won them, like i said , explanation is key, dazzle them with big words if you have too, but be honest , explain new regulations clearly , the minute they know your a professional , you've already won them over

 

[Welchyboy]

When i first became self employed i charged peanuts for my work and didn't make a penny, But i learnt to quote properly and still got most of the jobs Ive quoted for, be nice , smile and talk to them , go along way with a domestic customer!

I too was exactly the same as welshsparky, when I started out I was desperate for all the work I could get. I laugh when I look back at the prices I used to charge, sooo cheap, I made hardly any profit, but now I price things properly, if nothing, on the expensive side and I still don't loose many jobs, and I also still have most of the customers from when I first started, 85% of winning a job is how you come across when you turn up to meet the customer and the service that you provide afterwards will or wont cement your future relationship! trust me!!

You will price jobs where the customer just wants cheap cheap cheap , I won't budge on this, even if your quiet you don't want this type of client, if you want to earn a decent wage you need to build up a client base of decent customers who don't mind paying for a good quality job otherwise you will just be a busy fool!

Pretty much the only two elements that determine the service/product people choose, is a low price or high quality, if your a professional electrician who does a proper job and you want to earn a living then I'm afraid the first option is impossible, so you need to place all your efforts into a business modelled on the second

As for your pricing if it looks like 2 days work I would price 2 1/2 plus materials plus at least 10% of total, do a pukka job for him, if you do finish in a day and a half, split the difference with him and give him a discount, if you feel you want to, but DON'T underprice the job from the start as there's nothing worse than working for nowt, and nothing more unprofessional than goin back to a customer with your cap in your hand

Good luck!