What Tips Have Saved You Time And Money?

[Dan]

What tips have you heard of or come up with that have saved you time and money at work?

 

[Resu]

Measure twice cut once!

 

[telectrix]

refuse cheques.

 

[Sintra]

Planning a job properly rather than bulling on in.
Have the proper materials set out before you start.
Keeping a roll of tape in your pocket especially during winter.
Always have a bottle of tube lube handy.

 

[Adam W]

Do it once, do it right.

 

[VoltzElectrical]

What costs time and money in my present job is being sent to site with a job sheet written by someone with an office job, only to get there and find a completely different scenario and having to go back to the office and explain that the specially ordered in materials don't match the job. Today I was sent to fit some £200 odd (per fitting) lights that had been specially ordered in, but found that the wiring and switching on site (DALI) didn't support the fittings. Got two supervisors on site and even they didn't have a clue what the setup was (lots of our installation is subcontracted out - local authority) with no 'as fitted' drawings provided or any technical details provided, leaving us in charge of a system we have no idea about, but have to troubleshoot!

No wonder Local Authorities are in such a mess!

 

[haptism]

Make your own sandwiches, make sure your batteries are charged

 

[kingeri]

Always keep an empty plastic bottle in the van.

 

[andyb]

Instead of buying an mft, buy a socket tester instead. Saving hundreds of pounds.

 

[telectrix]

use a conduit bender for steel conduit. bending it round your neck is imprecise.

 

[GMES]

For me buying in bulk saves a lot of money , I buy Tie wraps, screws, plugs, compresiion glands etc usually in the thousands at a time which may sound ott but I usually get a good price plus all 3 vans are stocked up at all times so no getting to site then realising you're short of basic stuff.

 

[tomspark93]

I have a spreadsheet which I use to record what I've fitted on each job. for a down light for example it'd list the brand and model as well as the color temperature, bezel color and the warranty period. This is reference to the customer and the date fitted. If it fails and I need to replace it then I know what I need before I get there. I also have a little parts bag attached to my tool bag full of bits and bobs which has saved countless trips to the van for the smallest of things.

 

[richy3333]

If you're gut feeling is the customer may turn out to be a turd, walk away from the job however big it is - particularly in domestics. And quite often those with the most money are the worst payers!

 

[kingeri]

On a recent job where I had quoted a price for the full rewire I did little bits at home the night before to save time on site. As there were loads of downlights, I pre-wired them all with heat resistant flex to the ashley/hager JBs so they were ready to go. I also pre-configured the CU with all the RCBOs and labelled it up.

 

[starni999]

Take a good walk round at the end of the job, and just look at everything. You may spot something that would have had you back there, or even find the tools you forgot on top of that cupboard! Make sure you've got ALL the info you need for the certs too.