Reduction in electrical work

[5544]

I presently do domestic gas, plumbing and electrical work.
I have worked out that 85% of my work is not electrical any more, and what I have been doing is not required to be registered.
I only seem to get called out in my area to be asked to certify other non registered electricians work or builders work, give quotes which others then undercut, or make good any bodged jobs that others have done. My area in Hampshire is saturated for trades, especially electrical trades.
Even though I have done electrical work for over 20yrs I am seriously thinking of just dropping it now due to:
1. too much competition
2. Elecsa costs
3. constant purchase of new books,
4, constant amendments
5. The yearly 4hr inspection where I have to struggle each time to find work for him to see.
6. The added cost of the test equipment and upkeep.
7. My mate who helped with re wires is retiring and i am not prepared to do a full re wire on my own anymore.

As sad as I am at getting to this point my question is,

My gas insurance does cover electrical works, which is currently how I am insured presently.
If I decided NOT to renew my Elecsa registration, and just did minor electrical work that did not need certification, and was still current with regulations, is that still allowed.

Please do not swear in any replies. I am genuinely asking!

 

[Andy78]

It is a conundrum that people accept that gas shouldn’t be messed around with, but think electrics are fair game?

I think it stems from gas being regulated from ages ago and it being visibly very dangerous when things go wrong.

AFAIK when domestic gas distribution started out in this country it was done by private companies with no regulation and whole terraces of Victorian houses tended to blow up with alarming frequency, so the whole game was regulated. People have long understood they can't mess about with it whereas electrics has been included in DIY books since forever. I even once had a B&Q diy book given to me about 14 years ago that had full instructions on how to fully wire your house.

When people watch the news about gas explosions, they see gas explosions dramatically sending buildings flying apart. People like drama and easily understood causes. When people watch the news about electrically ignited fires the story is about a fire with a footnote it was started by an electrical fault. They can't always easily relate to how an electrical fault can become a thermal hazard though.

 

[peterhyper]

It is a conundrum that people accept that gas shouldn’t be messed around with, but think electrics are fair game?

I completely agree with you, but clearly too many people see electrics as easy to do, and don't appreciate the potential danger. I am clueless to the statistics, but I would guess about 99% of those people without sufficient knowledge who play with electrics wouldn't risk touching gas.

 

[mattg4321]

Where are you guys all based?

Maybe I'm too cheap or born lucky or whatever but I've had constant work for over 10 years now. Had I think 2 or 3 days of scratching around at the start of this year but otherwise been regularly turning work down as I'm too busy.

I'm in Sussex.

 

[Kidsolo]

Dayworks are charged per hour or per day.

This is fine if you just want to plod along and survive, but you will never get ahead on hourly rate. If you are a half decent electrician you should be resonably fast to complete a job. Quoting per outlet will allow you to make more money if you knock the job over quick, your costs are always covered and the client is more accepting of the quote because they know exactly what they are up for. Your quote also stands out from the rest of the other guys.

 

[peterhyper]

This is fine if you just want to plod along and survive, but you will never get ahead on hourly rate. If you are a half decent electrician you should be resonably fast to complete a job. Quoting per outlet will allow you to make more money if you knock the job over quick, your costs are always covered and the client is more accepting of the quote because they know exactly what they are up for. Your quote also stands out from the rest of the other guys.

When someone calls me with a fault which could take me 10 minutes or over 10 hours to find and fix, how many much should I quote them?

 

[Kidsolo]

how many much should I quote them?

You quote them what is fair and reasonable for the job.... If you lose out on this job you will get it back on the next job.
All I read on here is guys saying that they are getting under cut on quotes and adding up every penny that the job will cost. quote what is fair and reasonable to the client and you will have so much work you will be knocking it back.

All you guys that are giving me negative feedback, prove me wrong. Show me how you make bank on hourly rate

 

[peterhyper]

You quote them what is fair and reasonable for the job.... If you lose out on this job you will get it back on the next job.
All I read on here is guys saying that they are getting under cut on quotes and adding up every penny that the job will cost. quote what is fair and reasonable to the client and you will have so much work you will be knocking it back.

All you guys that are giving me negative feedback, prove me wrong. Show me how you make bank on hourly rate

I'm hoping to learn from you. I'm based inside the M25 near Feltham, so how much should I quote the customer who tells me their ring circuit keeps tripping?

 

[Kidsolo]

so how much should I quote the customer who tells me their ring circuit keeps tripping?

faulty finding ISN'T domestic wiring.... I hope you just learnt from me, my friend

 

[westward10]

faulty finding ISN'T domestic wiring.... I hope you just learnt from me, my friend

@Kidsolo I am not sure where you are heading with all this but you are verging on trolling. Unless you can give positive posts then do not post.

 

[davesparks]

This is fine if you just want to plod along and survive, but you will never get ahead on hourly rate. If you are a half decent electrician you should be resonably fast to complete a job. Quoting per outlet will allow you to make more money if you knock the job over quick, your costs are always covered and the client is more accepting of the quote because they know exactly what they are up for. Your quote also stands out from the rest of the other guys.

Nonsense, quoting per outlet just does not work for every job.
As I said earlier it works well for new builds and big jobs, but quiting per outlet for small jobs, alterations and additions just doesn't work because every job is different.
Other jobs can only realistically be done on an hourly rate if you want to be fair to the customer.
Fault finding and urgent repairs are best done on an hourly rate.
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faulty finding ISN'T domestic wiring.... I hope you just learnt from me, my friend

Fault finding in a domestic installation is domestic work.

 

[Dustydazzler]

Hourly is safer and leaves less room for error , if you find a problem and the job takes longer then the customer will pay for the time...

I personally feel much more comfortable working by the hour

 

[Dave OCD]

Mostly I'll quote for a job unless it's very difficult to gauge how long it'll take or fault finding.
The only downside with working on an hourly rate in my view is that I feel under pressure to deliver good value for money and prove integrity so probably feel under more strain.