Was i too expensive????

[rmaynard]

got asked to quote for an EICR on a 4 bed property, its neede as they are selling it and when it was re-wired a few years ago they used a non-registered spark, as said its a 4 bed house with garage, it has 7 circuits plus a sub mains for the garage with another 4 circuits so 11 in total, i quoted £180 and that was for a full day which i felt it needed, got a phone call later in the evening to say thanks but no thanks as another company could do it in 3-4 hours and quoted £100, i was quite shocked, are people realy doing a proper job in that time and at that cost????

Rob

 

[morph]

too many busy idiots working for £100 a day for 5 days aweek
i prefere £200 a day for 3 days a week

 

[Dave 85]

Looks like Im a bit too cheap on EICR I've been doing them £12.50 a cct or £100 min charge, mind you EICR is the one job that I tend to be a bit too fast on. I guess if the client was a seller I'd charge less and not look quite as hard than if the client was a buyer who wanted a cert full of noncoms.
Im all about giving the clients what they want, it keeps em coming back for more.

 

[Guitarist]

I charge for the cert times yes. I jot everything down onsite and the do the certs on computer. This has a few reasons, firstly all my certs are on a computer so won't be lost damaged etc and copies can at anytime be recalled (for example mr nic will want to see). Secondly the customer gets a nice easy to read printed cert and lastly I can add reg numbers against the non conformities easier in the office, not sat in the customers house or more often than not a quite cold and or damp rental property.

Therefore I am only charging for my time and a job done thoroughly

Good for you. Why shouldn't we charge for a professional service? We train for years, spend thousands on instruments, calibration, public liability, assessment etc., then people expect us to charge a pittance. I never rip anyone off, but I expect to be paid properly for a professional job, not beg for what the customer thinks is adequate.

 

[Victorcrane]

I'm in Essex and for me you're bang on the money for the size of property, it's going to take time to do properly. I usually charge 100 for a flat with no more than 4 circuits.

 

[sparkysey]

Hi guys. One of my first few posts. This topic seems to be very varied in opinion so probably not one one of the best to get involved in when you re a newbie to a forum but, £260.00 for a inspection cert? Are you kidding me?

Im happy to do that same job properly, thoroughly and honestly for a £100.00 less. Its a days work! C'mon, yeah you have to go up and down stairs a few times but I really cant see how the work amounts to quarter of a grand!

people seem to be thinking "Well I do an honest job so I can charge more" well in my opinion if you do not do an honest job you are not worthy of an electrician at all, it doesnt give you anymore right to up your price by £100+!

 

[Guitarist]

Hi guys. One of my first few posts. This topic seems to be very varied in opinion so probably not one one of the best to get involved in when you re a newbie to a forum but, £260.00 for a inspection cert? Are you kidding me?

Im happy to do that same job properly, thoroughly and honestly for a £100.00 less. Its a days work! C'mon, yeah you have to go up and down stairs a few times but I really cant see how the work amounts to quarter of a grand!

people seem to be thinking "Well I do an honest job so I can charge more" well in my opinion if you do not do an honest job you are not worthy of an electrician at all, it doesnt give you anymore right to up your price by £100+!

Of course you charge what you feel is right, and what the market in your area dictates. All I am saying is don't sell the profession short. I don't know about you, but I have spent years learning the skills I have and a tremendous amount of money, as did the company that apprenticed me. Why should we get paid no more than someone unskilled or semi-skilled? Ask a lawyer why they charge £30 just to send out a letter plus £150 per hour just to talk to you, and they will tell you it's because of their skills and knowledge.

 

[RISElectrical]

If you did an honest days work for 100 then you would have to do that job everyday, day in day out without a break to get 500 in a week. Deduct your van, scheme payments, PL insurance, PI insurance, business banking charges, allow for possible non payment by a customer, cost of ink, paper, computer etc etc and I think 100 is far less than what you need.

If you were employed cards In and then were getting 100 a day take home then I agree that this is a good day rate as that would be circa £32k pa

I think the problem without causing offence with today's world are people like you that would charge a 100 for a days work, can i ask also, will you be paying tax out of that 100 as well as all other deductions I mentioned.

Im sorry but doing a days work for 100 a day can make any business sense at all.

Like I said I didn't mean to cause offence

 

[Octopus]

Hi guys. One of my first few posts. This topic seems to be very varied in opinion so probably not one one of the best to get involved in when you re a newbie to a forum but, £260.00 for a inspection cert? Are you kidding me?

Im happy to do that same job properly, thoroughly and honestly for a £100.00 less. Its a days work! C'mon, yeah you have to go up and down stairs a few times but I really cant see how the work amounts to quarter of a grand!

people seem to be thinking "Well I do an honest job so I can charge more" well in my opinion if you do not do an honest job you are not worthy of an electrician at all, it doesnt give you anymore right to up your price by £100+!

How can you tell what an inspection will or should cost?

The only way IMHO is to visit the property to view and give a price. I went to see a job recently and the conversation on the phone revealed 6 circuits. On visting yes it was 6 circuits, but in a house that was 200+ years old, with at least 3 extensions PLUS outbuildings. What a mess and that was what I could see. I quoted my day rate and explained what they would get and how long it would take, including the writing up of the report.

I didn't get the job, and to be frank I didn't care, as I they wanted to rent the place out and the vibs I got is all they wanted was a £100 "satisfactory" EICR and not have to pay for remedials.

 

[highspark]

This all depends on the amount of work you are taking on. I'd say those who charge over the odds are either scratching their hairy one for work or they are so busy they take a punt with a high price. What I do know is a EICR can be done properly in a short period of time. Lets say for example an 8 way board with 8 circuits. All tests can be performed in a couple of hours if the spark gets his head down and backside up. I know this because I have done it properly. Add another hour for inspection and filling in forms. You can be in and out in 4 hours and thats where my figures comes from. 4 hours = £100.00 for me. All this talk of you can't operate on 100.00 EICR's if you have overheads like Part P, calibration, Public Liability, Private indemnity etc. Is a load of rubbish. For all of the mentioned you are looking at about £1000.00 per annum.

 

[albi]

Well you must be carrying out your EICR on fairy new builds with no added circuits. so yes I would say you can but when you have a house full of gear DB with circuits doubled up no legend I bet your £100 does not cover it

 

[RISElectrical]

So, say for example you do manage to do it all in 4 hours for £100, then add an hour for travel so call it 5 hours. If you started at 8am on site it's now 12-1pm. Do you have more work booked in for the rest of the day? Or do you just earn 100 for the day?

If you have worked booked I'm for the afternoon then what happens if it's a bugger of an EICR, do you leave it incomplete or let down the afternoon customer?

Again I wouldn't generally book anything in for the afternoon following an EICR as I never know how long I will be there, granted you say you leave an hour for the inspection and paperwork which for a 10% sample might be reasonable but you only need to find a few faults and your sample increases, a few more and before you know it you've just done 8 hours for £100 and let the afternoon customer down.

Im not having a go at anyone here but I just think that 100 for anything other than a basic limited test is not enough as its largely going to be an unknown. I haven't even mentioned what happens if you find a potentially dangerous installation and have to make it safe while your there.

Maybe if you are done in 4 hours then by all means offer the customer a discount on the quoted price, but I would rather do that than tell them it's 100 and then try and explain why the price will actually be double that when at 6pm your still there while they eat there dinner.

 

[RISElectrical]

Also you mention a max of 1000 pa overheads but within that many sole traders have a van loan? Bank loans? Normal business running cost, PAYE costs, mobile phone bills, returning to jobs where faulty materials need to be changed at cost, for example if I did a cu change and an MCB was faulty I wouldn't be able to charge the customer for the replacement etc etc. everyone's situation is different but at the end of the day we are all in business and not just in it to make 100-150 a day

 

[Guitarist]

And that's before you take into account no sick-pay, no paid holidays, no pension. The list goes on....

 

[RISElectrical]

Yep it's a long list. When I worked for a company I'd skip to the bank with my £14 an hour. To get the same now I'd have to be making 30 an hour minimum haha.

Also another point regarding EICRs there are no materials so immediately you lose the profit you would otherwise gain from material supply. But then again I read before on here how people don't believe in adding mark up onto materials either but that's another debate

 

[sparkysey]

I think 150 is fair. I never implied a domestic cert can be done for £100. I know people that do, but i also know they do 3 a day & that obviously means they are not done right. I implied £160 if you read my post correctly. I am a sole trader, niceic registered contractor & anything between 160-200 squid depending on the size of the house within london should leave a fair profit- only in my opinion!

I too spent many years of training to get qualified, but in my area if i tried charging 260 for an electrical cert, mate i would never go to work. And if electricians out there are making the same kind of money as lawyers mate i must seriously be snoozing.

And dont forget. The beauty of doing inspection certs is that of any faults are found (and most of the time they are) is that you get first look in to qoute for the works required also.

I think that is a better business approach than charging £260 squid for a cert that like it or not, most people charge a hell of a lot less for.

Over and out.