Hmmm, seems high! | Page 4 | on ElectriciansForums

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D Skelton

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First time I've had to do this but quoting for a small job for an elderly couple up the road. I was called up there a few days ago when half of their front garden pathway/spike lights stopped working. Traced the fault to a cut length of flex that was buried in the ground (bad I know). The circuit was shot to bits with Wiskas all over the place filled with all kinds of muck, sludge and water. They asked me to sort it out and do a proper job hence my post.

I was toying with the idea of going down the flex and SELV route but with the lady and her 50 hours per week gardening habit and the fact that she has twice gone through cables hidden in bushes with spades/shears, I just feel that SWA is the better option by a long way.

The job:

Install five mains IP65 GU10 spike lights with high power LED GU10 lamps down front garden pathway (pathway about 12-13 meters long). Cable will be SWA (2 core x 1.5mm) and will be terminated in 5 x Wiska boxes mounted on short treated timber fence posts and secured into the ground on steel bolt post harnesses (75mm x 75mm fence posts). Wiska boxes will be filled with magic gel. SWA will not be buried. At supply side I will be replacing the current SFCU protecting the circuit with an RCD SFCU. A Steinel 'eco night' photo cell will be installed to control the lights.

A seemingly small and simple job but the price I'm coming out at 'all in' seems rather high for what it is. I'm not usually into pricing small jobs like this and haven't done so for a few years, maybe I'm out of practice.

What would you guys be looking at charging roughly (including all materials, markup, labour etc) not including any VAT? I'm not looking for a price breakdown or a debate/squabble on regional labour rates, just a rough price 'all in' if possible :)

My location is Brighton (London by the sea).

Feel free to PM me prices if you don't want to disclose on an open forum :)
 
And after all of that the customer seemed surprised that ÂŁ700 was all it was going to cost?! They were expecting it to be around the ÂŁ1k mark?!

Offer them 3 core SWA for an extra ÂŁ100 lol.

I did one of these last year for a 30m run, quoted, arranged a start date but when I turned up the customer now wants the garden path lights on a two way switch. One in the house and one at the start of the driveway! Changed his mind when the price went up by 70%.
 
First time I've had to do this but quoting for a small job for an elderly couple up the road. I was called up there a few days ago when half of their front garden pathway/spike lights stopped working. Traced the fault to a cut length of flex that was buried in the ground (bad I know). The circuit was shot to bits with Wiskas all over the place filled with all kinds of muck, sludge and water. They asked me to sort it out and do a proper job hence my post.

I was toying with the idea of going down the flex and SELV route but with the lady and her 50 hours per week gardening habit and the fact that she has twice gone through cables hidden in bushes with spades/shears, I just feel that SWA is the better option by a long way.

The job:

Install five mains IP65 GU10 spike lights with high power LED GU10 lamps down front garden pathway (pathway about 12-13 meters long). Cable will be SWA (2 core x 1.5mm) and will be terminated in 5 x Wiska boxes mounted on short treated timber fence posts and secured into the ground on steel bolt post harnesses (75mm x 75mm fence posts). Wiska boxes will be filled with magic gel. SWA will not be buried. At supply side I will be replacing the current SFCU protecting the circuit with an RCD SFCU. A Steinel 'eco night' photo cell will be installed to control the lights.

A seemingly small and simple job but the price I'm coming out at 'all in' seems rather high for what it is. I'm not usually into pricing small jobs like this and haven't done so for a few years, maybe I'm out of practice.

What would you guys be looking at charging roughly (including all materials, markup, labour etc) not including any VAT? I'm not looking for a price breakdown or a debate/squabble on regional labour rates, just a rough price 'all in' if possible :)

My location is Brighton (London by the sea).

Feel free to PM me prices if you don't want to disclose on an open forum :)


will ill it look a bit nasty with the SWA visible between lights as you said it wont be buried?
 
will ill it look a bit nasty with the SWA visible between lights as you said it wont be buried?

It isn't really an option to dig up their front garden. To be honest you wont see most of the cable as it will be tucked away nicely on the other side of their pathway rocks. Of course burial would be the ideal solution, but sometimes you've got to take a common sense approach.
 
Sorry Biff, You're quite right. Burial isn't an option so instead what I'm now planning to do is erect five telegraph poles in the front lawn. Suspend the SWA out of reach and drop down to each fitting. Far better don't you think? :D
 

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