what would you charge??

[sparkyork]

evening all, just gonna run this by you all so you can see what you would charge for the work....i sometimes feel im working a bit cheap in order to build a client base!!

install 75metres of 4mm swa, 20 of it across some grass buried nicely and the rest running round perimiter of a flower bed at a good spades depth.
one end has a double wetherproof for a pond, and in between theres another dbl and a sgl weatherproof socket.
swa terminates thtough garage wall into adaptable box, that is fed from a 20a mcb with 30ma protection.

thats it apart from the obvious testing etc. all bonding is in place.

can get materials for around £200 and was gonna put a price in for £650 all in.

too cheap or too dear??

comments very very evry uchm appreciated

 

[Cirrus]

It's easy. How long do ya think it will take? I work my day rate on £200 - £250 on an 8 hour day. So, if ya think it is 4 hrs work then labour comes in at £125 etc...

 

[montybaber]

sounds a fair price

 

[sparkyork]

yeah i thought about allowing 2 days for it so its pretty much there with the price, just sometimes when you work stuff out like this it dont allways seem like the right price if you knows what i mean!

 

[tony.towa]

If you're doing the ground work then two days should do it and the price actually could go up slightly. £200 for materials plus 25% = £250 (have to cover the cost of going to see job and trip to wholesaler) 2 x 8 hour days at £30 per hour = £480. Total = £730. Remember you have to try to claw back the investment you have just made for your assessment.

One last thing, go down atleast a spade and a half in the flower beds: garden forks WILL go through SWA.

 

[sparkyork]

If you're doing the ground work then two days should do it and the price actually could go up slightly. £200 for materials plus 25% = £250 (have to cover the cost of going to see job and trip to wholesaler) 2 x 8 hour days at £30 per hour = £480. Total = £730. Remember you have to try to claw back the investment you have just made for your assessment.

One last thing, go down atleast a spade and a half in the flower beds: garden forks WILL go through SWA.

yeah with you there tony! might call it £750 then, ill email him tommorrow, thing is i hate the idea of feeling like im expensive as well!! you know like tesco's value every little helps!!

after all its only a bit of spade work and 3 socket outlets.

ps woukl you mind having a look at another thread about cabkes in trunking

 

[ElectricMick]

Hi Sparkyyork, I've run quite a bit of SWA through gardens this year and have always managed to cut my own throat with the pricing!!! (will I ever learn?) It always seems to take far longer than expected. I have taken to considerably overquoting now so the customers get a pleasant surprise when it comes out a bit cheaper, or I don't go home after working my butt off for a fiver an hour. Just one more thing, 4mm SWA over 75 metres will only take a max 2Kw load. Do you know if they are going to be hanging power tools/hefty lawmowers off it?

 

[sparkyork]

cheers mick i might increase it to £800 then!! know what you mean you start a job and end up shafting your self! i was gonna do it in 2.5 lol but decided 4mm would be better. its only doind a pond pump at the very end and another socket maybe for some 12v lights here and there, so should be fine. he's got a big --- petrol sit on mower and big garage for tools. should of seen the state of what ill hopefully be replaing its really was part ****!!

 

[saveloy]

yeah with you there tony! might call it £750 then, ill email him tommorrow, thing is i hate the idea of feeling like im expensive as well!! you know like tesco's value every little helps!!

after all its only a bit of spade work and 3 socket outlets.

I wouldn't worry. One thing I've discovered over the years is that there is no rhyme or reason to customers expectations of pricing. What one thinks is a bargain quote, the next thinks is a rip-off! I've cut prices to the bone on some jobs and never got them, yet put stupid prices in others that I didn't really want and had people snap my arm off.

Every member of Joe public has there own opinion of what a job is worth regardless of what you think it will cost, so just put your price in at what you are comfortable with. There's nothing worse than working for nowt!!

As an aside do you give estimates or quotes? I always put ESTIMATE I never put QUOTE, as a quote is binding. If you put estimate, then if you encounter unforeseen problems you can always negotiate with the customer. On a job like this you will never know what is under that lawn until you start digging!!

 

[sparkyork]

good point savaloy sausage! gonna email him tomorrow and change the document to estimate instead! he's got plenty of money like but even still im sure he ant got any where near like £750 plus in his head!! lol

 

[ElectricMick]

I know what you mean. I've tried on a number of occasions to give estimates and explain that unforseen thing occur and I can see customers grimacing at the thought of not getting a fixed quote - I think some people imaging we do this for fun and not to earn a living!!! I am just about to start work on an extension to a 300 year old cottage - TT with some sockets that the megger gets a 2000 ohm earth loop on, an unearthed lighting circuit and a melted cu where the guy thought he could run a shower on 2.5mm T+E through a 30A fuse (No RCD!!!). He wondered why I couldn't quote fixed price and only offer him an hourly rate!!! This one is not going to bite me.

 

[sparkyork]

holly smokes!! thats it you gotta cover your self, new build you know where your at but you never know, but in all honestly i dont expect to find anything but soft soil underneath the grass, ive just changed me mind and am gonna say £750 for the works rather than £800!

 

[tony.towa]

Just a thought on your email.

1. List out and detail all the work, including groundwork , approximate trench depth etc and that it will be backfilled after.
2. Detail the electrical installation including the fact that the circuit will be protected by a 30mA RCBO/RCD and that the cable will be Steel Wire Armoured.
3. Detail that all work will be carried to comply with the 17th Edition, BS7671 2008.
4. Work will be tested and relevant certification will be provided. The necessary notification will be made to Building Control the cost of which is included in your quote.

The reason I suggets you highlight the notification is that if he contacts building control himself he is likely to find that they will charge in the region of £116 plus VAT for them to do the inspection. (That's the lowest charge down here)

Do not quote £750-00 try for £741-65 (it gives the impression that you have worked everything out and not just grabbed a figure out of the air)

Hope I've not offended by possibly trying to "teach granny to suck eggs" as Shakey would say.

Tony

 

[sparkyork]

no no tony it tatkes a lot offend me me old fruit, lol! good idea, i have pretty much itemiised everything on it but not gone into much depth with the notification thing as i can notify it through nic at a minimal cost anyway. also im thinking of getting bane to give me hand on this job as well, so if we get it done in the day it could be a good earner for us both!!

 

[tony.towa]

You can get notification done at a minimal cost but you had to pay out how much to be able to do that. That's what I mean about having to claw your costs back. Don't undersell yourself, you can always come down in price but you can't go up!!!!