Price for hourly rate sparky
Discussion
Probably as good a forum as any.
I'm doing a bit of moonlighting, installing and configuring some network equipment (wifi, switches, patch panels). I'm a limited company contractor in IT so all above board with VAT etc.
I can't charge them my normal day rate as it would be too much so I would have thought a reasonable price would be the cost of a sparky. The customer is a commercial sparky (and has run all the cables) so feels right.
West Mids/North West location?
Am I right about £25 an hour?
I'm doing a bit of moonlighting, installing and configuring some network equipment (wifi, switches, patch panels). I'm a limited company contractor in IT so all above board with VAT etc.
I can't charge them my normal day rate as it would be too much so I would have thought a reasonable price would be the cost of a sparky. The customer is a commercial sparky (and has run all the cables) so feels right.
West Mids/North West location?
Am I right about £25 an hour?
worsy said:
Probably as good a forum as any.
I'm doing a bit of moonlighting, installing and configuring some network equipment (wifi, switches, patch panels). I'm a limited company contractor in IT so all above board with VAT etc.
I can't charge them my normal day rate as it would be too much so I would have thought a reasonable price would be the cost of a sparky. The customer is a commercial sparky (and has run all the cables) so feels right.
West Mids/North West location?
Am I right about £25 an hour?
£25 is at the low end really, cant believe any trade would work for less than £20 per hour but how do you moonlight from your own company? If I went out at night or weekend to do work I'd want more money not less.I'm doing a bit of moonlighting, installing and configuring some network equipment (wifi, switches, patch panels). I'm a limited company contractor in IT so all above board with VAT etc.
I can't charge them my normal day rate as it would be too much so I would have thought a reasonable price would be the cost of a sparky. The customer is a commercial sparky (and has run all the cables) so feels right.
West Mids/North West location?
Am I right about £25 an hour?
Why are you not charging your normal day rate divided by 7.5/8, assuming this is similar to you "day job"? Potentially plus extra to cover the out of hours element, or a bit less if it's mates rates and they are accomodating the out of hours so you can actually do it alongside your day job?
GG89 said:
£30 at the very least.
Says the sparky...?C Lee Farquar said:
We're paying £30 for a DECENT sparky who's competent in high end automation even though ours is basic.
More like it.The problem is how a whole trade is judged at one price and suddenly all sparks are deemed to be worth it.
Fresh out of his time, no specialist work just fitting a couple of new sockets and such like is not worth £30 of anyone's money.
A decent experienced sparky for a complex job, sure.
It's annoying how trades all seem to get pigeonholed with a rate for their trade, not for the specific job difficulty or experience.
samdale said:
GG89 said:
£30 at the very least.
Says the sparky...?C Lee Farquar said:
We're paying £30 for a DECENT sparky who's competent in high end automation even though ours is basic.
More like it.The problem is how a whole trade is judged at one price and suddenly all sparks are deemed to be worth it.
Fresh out of his time, no specialist work just fitting a couple of new sockets and such like is not worth £30 of anyone's money.
A decent experienced sparky for a complex job, sure.
It's annoying how trades all seem to get pigeonholed with a rate for their trade, not for the specific job difficulty or experience.
Every one should work for peanuts.
Of course a sparky is worth £30 if you can't do it yourself or haven't got the time.
A tradesmans rate isn't just an hourly it is how much he is worth to you.I would rather pay £90/hour and have him come today rather than wait a month and pay £30/hour.
Of course a sparky is worth £30 if you can't do it yourself or haven't got the time.
A tradesmans rate isn't just an hourly it is how much he is worth to you.I would rather pay £90/hour and have him come today rather than wait a month and pay £30/hour.
mickmcpaddy said:
samdale said:
GG89 said:
£30 at the very least.
Says the sparky...?C Lee Farquar said:
We're paying £30 for a DECENT sparky who's competent in high end automation even though ours is basic.
More like it.The problem is how a whole trade is judged at one price and suddenly all sparks are deemed to be worth it.
Fresh out of his time, no specialist work just fitting a couple of new sockets and such like is not worth £30 of anyone's money.
A decent experienced sparky for a complex job, sure.
It's annoying how trades all seem to get pigeonholed with a rate for their trade, not for the specific job difficulty or experience.
t sparky 
smifffymoto said:
Every one should work for peanuts.
Of course a sparky is worth £30 if you can't do it yourself or haven't got the time.
A tradesmans rate isn't just an hourly it is how much he is worth to you.I would rather pay £90/hour and have him come today rather than wait a month and pay £30/hour.
It's a different deal. Of course a sparky is worth £30 if you can't do it yourself or haven't got the time.
A tradesmans rate isn't just an hourly it is how much he is worth to you.I would rather pay £90/hour and have him come today rather than wait a month and pay £30/hour.
With a sparky you are paying an individual their basic wage plus covering the cost of their education and the modest kitting out of a van. Along with a premium for the person being house trained.
With the rate you pay the garage you are paying the individual their basic wage which will be a lot lower as there is no shortage of mechanics (at the base level) and no barriers to entry (at the base level) no need to find domesticated humans
but then you are also paying for the massive investment in equipment, the huge cost of premises and the wages of the clerical employees. When a mechanic first starts out he is taking home pretty much all of his hourly wage from the get go. Let's guess at that being around £10-£20/hour? When a sparky starts out he may well be technically taking nothing from that £30/hour as he has to pay back the cost of his education and the investment in a van and tools and marketing for business.
Over time, the sparky should get to the point that he is earning at least £20-25 out of the £30/hour with the balance being the running cost of the business but the mechanic will probably not see a significant rise in take home without rising through the ranks etc.
mickmcpaddy said:
So the best sparky you can get is worth £30 per hr but some average joe mechanic working in a main dealer is worth £90.
Your grasp of basic wages and finance is at infants school level. If a self employed sparky charges £30 ph he gets £30 then takes all of his costs/taxes/expenses from that (tools, tax, mileage, maybe VAT etc).If a main dealer takes £90 ph from a customer do you really think the mechanic gets that? He will be lucky to see £90 per day - before deductions.
DonkeyApple said:
It's a different deal.
With a sparky you are paying an individual their basic wage plus covering the cost of their education and the modest kitting out of a van. Along with a premium for the person being house trained.
With the rate you pay the garage you are paying the individual their basic wage which will be a lot lower as there is no shortage of mechanics (at the base level) and no barriers to entry (at the base level) no need to find domesticated humans but then you are also paying for the massive investment in equipment, the huge cost of premises and the wages of the clerical employees.
When a mechanic first starts out he is taking home pretty much all of his hourly wage from the get go. Let's guess at that being around £10-£20/hour? When a sparky starts out he may well be technically taking nothing from that £30/hour as he has to pay back the cost of his education and the investment in a van and tools and marketing for business.
Over time, the sparky should get to the point that he is earning at least £20-25 out of the £30/hour with the balance being the running cost of the business but the mechanic will probably not see a significant rise in take home without rising through the ranks etc.
As a self employed spark, i go on the basis of £50/day covers my business costs. With a sparky you are paying an individual their basic wage plus covering the cost of their education and the modest kitting out of a van. Along with a premium for the person being house trained.
With the rate you pay the garage you are paying the individual their basic wage which will be a lot lower as there is no shortage of mechanics (at the base level) and no barriers to entry (at the base level) no need to find domesticated humans
but then you are also paying for the massive investment in equipment, the huge cost of premises and the wages of the clerical employees. When a mechanic first starts out he is taking home pretty much all of his hourly wage from the get go. Let's guess at that being around £10-£20/hour? When a sparky starts out he may well be technically taking nothing from that £30/hour as he has to pay back the cost of his education and the investment in a van and tools and marketing for business.
Over time, the sparky should get to the point that he is earning at least £20-25 out of the £30/hour with the balance being the running cost of the business but the mechanic will probably not see a significant rise in take home without rising through the ranks etc.
As my overheads before salary is around £1000-£1200 a month.
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