Electrician Charges
Discussion
oilydan said:
hairyben said:
A lot of the industry offers lower-than-ideal (to ourselves) priced EICR's (electrical inspections) on the basis it wins the work and you can make it up on the remedials.
I was charged about 400 for the inspection.Companies I sub to are keen to peg you at £100 net.
LookAtMyCat said:
PAULJ5555 said:
I worked out he was on £200 a day all cash in the back pocket.
Very cheap. For a very good sparky you're looking at 3-400 a day, 4-500 for a heating engineer. Obviously this can get reduced if it's cash no invoice.blade7 said:
The heating engineer that did the CH on a place I have was the UK apprentice of the year 4 or 5 years ago, his rate was £200-250 a day. He didn't tell me about the award, I googled him before he started.
Then i'm sure he's a very busy idiot; underselling himself and the trade. £20 an hour? You can earn £9 an hour working on the tills at Lidl. I'm charging double that and i'm booked for 11 weeks currently. My quotes are always in the same ballpark as other engineers that quote the same jobs, so everyone is charging the same. Maybe you just 1)have found a stupidly cheap engineer, in which case, well done 2)don't know what you're paying (did you actually add up the materials and get to the labour rate?).
I do know there are guys working for that, but i'm always stupidly busy so more fool them, eh?
There's also the flipside of the guys turning up, rattling a spanner for an hour and charging £200 for doing practically nothing. How much are they earning a day do you think??
LookAtMyCat said:
My rate is £50ph. If i'm working for you all day (8-6, I don't take breaks) that's £500.
If you're doing 2x the work of someone who charges £250/day then who could complain?Had complete CH fitted to my daughter's house for £4K. Two guys, who said it would take 3-4 days. Had a couple of quotes - ballpark the same.
In reality they'd finished, bar a towel rail that hadn't turned up, at the end of day 2. I went to the house at the end of day 1 and I was gobsmacked by how much they'd done.
LookAtMyCat said:
blade7 said:
The heating engineer that did the CH on a place I have was the UK apprentice of the year 4 or 5 years ago, his rate was £200-250 a day. He didn't tell me about the award, I googled him before he started.
Then i'm sure he's a very busy idiot; underselling himself and the trade. £20 an hour? You can earn £9 an hour working on the tills at Lidl. I'm charging double that and i'm booked for 11 weeks currently. My quotes are always in the same ballpark as other engineers that quote the same jobs, so everyone is charging the same. Maybe you just 1)have found a stupidly cheap engineer, in which case, well done 2)don't know what you're paying (did you actually add up the materials and get to the labour rate?).
I do know there are guys working for that, but i'm always stupidly busy so more fool them, eh?
There's also the flipside of the guys turning up, rattling a spanner for an hour and charging £200 for doing practically nothing. How much are they earning a day do you think??
Sheepshanks said:
If you're doing 2x the work of someone who charges £250/day then who could complain?
Had complete CH fitted to my daughter's house for £4K. Two guys, who said it would take 3-4 days. Had a couple of quotes - ballpark the same.
In reality they'd finished, bar a towel rail that hadn't turned up, at the end of day 2. I went to the house at the end of day 1 and I was gobsmacked by how much they'd done.
Full systems are never as profitable as combi swaps, and 4k is pretty cheap for an average supply and fit 'from-scratch' full system of 10-rads, but:Had complete CH fitted to my daughter's house for £4K. Two guys, who said it would take 3-4 days. Had a couple of quotes - ballpark the same.
In reality they'd finished, bar a towel rail that hadn't turned up, at the end of day 2. I went to the house at the end of day 1 and I was gobsmacked by how much they'd done.
Top of the range Boiler + flue + control £1200 (obv this could be a lot lower if a cheaper boiler)
Radiators + valves lets say 10 of £1000
Copper, fittings, other materials £300 (cheaper if done in plastic, which it probably was if done in 2 days).
Labour £1500. Main guy prob does £400 a day other guy £350 a day.
Steve H said:
You are valuing yourself at £100k pa, best of luck to you if you can get it but lets not kid ourselves that it's a reasonable rate for the work.
When you've been a heating engineer for as long as me, you can come back and say i'm not worth exactly whatever I say i'm worth. If I wasn't worth it, people wouldn't pay it.
The last electrician that did work here didn't charge. (That wasn't a pun BTW). He said it only took him half an hour so no money needed.
Had a plumber do the same last year.
Funny thing about living in the Highlands, people often work for free. Helping out a neighbour is payment enough.
London were never like that when I was there!
Had a plumber do the same last year.
Funny thing about living in the Highlands, people often work for free. Helping out a neighbour is payment enough.
London were never like that when I was there!
LookAtMyCat said:
You can earn £9 an hour working on the tills at Lidl.
You think ? Tesco is the best payer for that kind work and they pay around £7.20 PH. I found the wrinkly middle aged trades thought they were worth a lot more than younger guys that were prepared to work harder and wanted to get on....LookAtMyCat said:
Full systems are never as profitable as combi swaps, and 4k is pretty cheap for an average supply and fit 'from-scratch' full system of 10-rads, but:
Top of the range Boiler + flue + control £1200 (obv this could be a lot lower if a cheaper boiler)
Radiators + valves lets say 10 of £1000
Copper, fittings, other materials £300 (cheaper if done in plastic, which it probably was if done in 2 days).
The boiler and control is about right - WB & their Wave. System is smaller - 8 rads and only 2 downstairs needed doing (they were done in microbore in trunking) so they only supplied 6 (inc towel rail). Back of house is an extension and they judged that to be OK but said would replace if any issues arise. All done in copper.Top of the range Boiler + flue + control £1200 (obv this could be a lot lower if a cheaper boiler)
Radiators + valves lets say 10 of £1000
Copper, fittings, other materials £300 (cheaper if done in plastic, which it probably was if done in 2 days).
Existing boiler was combi, with 22mm gas, so that was an easy swap. Only extra work was condensate drain - handily the soil pipe goes through the airing cupboard where the boiler is.
A big chunk of that £4K is VAT, of course.
It still seems a lot for 2 days, but they did a lot in those 2 days. Around me, with slightly bigger houses, I've seen guys spend 2 weeks replacing heating systems.
Edited by Sheepshanks on Thursday 30th April 21:15
400/500 a day is criminal for sparks or heat engineers, people obviously pay as they know no better there is obviously some greedy trades people out there. Know its tempting to rip off clients BUT come on !!!! trust me NO heat or plummer or sparkie is worth that rate. They are all up themselvs thinking they are the gift of the trade,
people need to wise up ...rant over from a semi retired tradesman
people need to wise up ...rant over from a semi retired tradesman
its hot said:
400/500 a day is criminal for sparks or heat engineers, people obviously pay as they know no better there is obviously some greedy trades people out there. Know its tempting to rip off clients BUT come on !!!! trust me NO heat or plummer or sparkie is worth that rate. They are all up themselvs thinking they are the gift of the trade,
people need to wise up ...rant over from a semi retired tradesman
How is it ripping people off, along as upfront on costs. We charge what we think we are worth, customers have a choice to use someone cheaper if they wish.people need to wise up ...rant over from a semi retired tradesman
There are plenty of polish etc chaps willing to work for £100/Day Cash if people wish, however many would rather pay a premium for what they know will be a good reliable service.
BTW i don't charge that much (spark), £250/Day is what i believe to be a fair price in the South West.
R1 Indy said:
How is it ripping people off, along as upfront on costs. We charge what we think we are worth, customers have a choice to use someone cheaper if they wish.
There are plenty of polish etc chaps willing to work for £100/Day Cash if people wish, however many would rather pay a premium for what they know will be a good reliable service.
BTW i don't charge that much (spark), £250/Day is what i believe to be a fair price in the South West.
250 a day for a GOOD spark is about top money in my view with my qualifications and 40 odd years on the tools I could charge a grand a day in theory and tell them they are getting all my expert experience and knowledge the reality is they could get the same for under a third of the cost. the fact is and im sure im not the only one my customers got a top notch job and couldnt get better or faster job and for sensible money. people are misled into thinking another £200 a day gets them a better job, believe it if you will There are plenty of polish etc chaps willing to work for £100/Day Cash if people wish, however many would rather pay a premium for what they know will be a good reliable service.
BTW i don't charge that much (spark), £250/Day is what i believe to be a fair price in the South West.
its hot said:
400/500 a day is criminal for sparks or heat engineers, people obviously pay as they know no better there is obviously some greedy trades people out there. Know its tempting to rip off clients BUT come on !!!! trust me NO heat or plummer or sparkie is worth that rate. They are all up themselvs thinking they are the gift of the trade,
people need to wise up ...rant over from a semi retired tradesman
Agreed. I don't think that they are ripping anyone off if they are quoting a price to someone daft enough to pay it but actually thinking they deserve to earn the same as someone that has studied for years to become a doctor/lawyer etc or believing that they should get more than double a teacher/nurse's salary is delusional.people need to wise up ...rant over from a semi retired tradesman
R1 Indy said:
How is it ripping people off, along as upfront on costs. We charge what we think we are worth, customers have a choice to use someone cheaper if they wish.
There are plenty of polish etc chaps willing to work for £100/Day Cash if people wish, however many would rather pay a premium for what they know will be a good reliable service.
BTW i don't charge that much (spark), £250/Day is what i believe to be a fair price in the South West.
Are you in the SW?There are plenty of polish etc chaps willing to work for £100/Day Cash if people wish, however many would rather pay a premium for what they know will be a good reliable service.
BTW i don't charge that much (spark), £250/Day is what i believe to be a fair price in the South West.
its hot said:
400/500 a day is criminal for sparks or heat engineers, people obviously pay as they know no better there is obviously some greedy trades people out there. Know its tempting to rip off clients BUT come on !!!! trust me NO heat or plummer or sparkie is worth that rate. They are all up themselvs thinking they are the gift of the trade,
people need to wise up ...rant over from a semi retired tradesman
Bitter you didn't choose/couldn't do a skilled trade and earn some actually decent money?people need to wise up ...rant over from a semi retired tradesman
Being a gas engineer or electrician requires a lot of time, effort and upfront cost. To be a top tier guy in these fields requires a lot of intelligence and time and effort. To run a successful trade business you have to be a salesman, a highly skilled tradesman and your own full-time secretary. I've never ripped anyone off in my life.
jason61c said:
Hope you're having a laugh!? Can you define heating engineer? Engineer is probably not the right term.
If it's that easy mate, go get on it. Even the s
t engineers around here get work charging 2-300 a day.I'm not sure what the definition is; I just mainly install boilers, heating systems and the required plumbing/heating/gas and all its related fields/building/electrics that go with it. I drive around in a van, working for myself and answering to no-one, and earn a pretty fantastic crust doing so. And yes, I do have a good laugh in the process.
Edited by LookAtMyCat on Thursday 30th April 22:11
Edited by LookAtMyCat on Thursday 30th April 22:12
LookAtMyCat said:
If it's that easy mate, go get on it.
I'm not sure what the definition is; I just mainly install boilers, heating systems and the required plumbing/heating/gas and all its related fields/building/electrics that go with it. I drive around in a van, working for myself and answering to no-one, and earn a pretty fantastic crust doing so. And yes, I do have a good laugh in the process.
When I was looking at a biomass install which was commanding a premium at the time, the going rate was £300 a day. I ended up doing the whole thing myself, If I thought I'd get £500 a day doing it, I'd consider it. Regular very good guys seemed to be £200 a day. I've no idea how you can charge £500 a day, every day in the southwest.I'm not sure what the definition is; I just mainly install boilers, heating systems and the required plumbing/heating/gas and all its related fields/building/electrics that go with it. I drive around in a van, working for myself and answering to no-one, and earn a pretty fantastic crust doing so. And yes, I do have a good laugh in the process.
Edited by LookAtMyCat on Thursday 30th April 22:11
Technician is a term I prefer to engineer in these cases. Same reason an electrician isn't an electrical engineer.
jason61c said:
LookAtMyCat said:
Very cheap. For a very good sparky you're looking at 3-400 a day, 4-500 for a heating engineer. Obviously this can get reduced if it's cash no invoice.
Hope you're having a laugh!? It goes from one extreme to another on this forum.
Office workers saying trades overcharge and should work for £100/day and trades talking b
ks saying they earn £500 a day.Entertaining tho.
Maybe he's the same bloke who's mate worked for Dubai as a pilot for 120k a year, and all his mates had £1m houses by the time they were 30, and anyone's whos done well for themselves has a household income of £200k. Some proper bullst around here at the moment.
Decent midlands sparky will earn about £200/day top end, self employed. Major company will charge about £250 per man per day, the guys themselves are on about £10hr. Best mate is a self employed sparky doing industrial/agricultural stuff, not the sort of thing any fresh faced apprentice would do. Obviously some days he quotes for a job taking 3 days and it takes 2, but in general his day rate is £175.
Heating engineer as they like to call themselves, or plumber as everyone else calls them, on about the same. Cant remember what I paid for some labour last time, but was suprised how little it was. From memory £250 for 1.5 days, which values their time at £166/day.
Maybe Im blessed with good, reasonably pried tradesmen, or maybe the OP is talking crap. I'll leave you to decide.
t around here at the moment. Decent midlands sparky will earn about £200/day top end, self employed. Major company will charge about £250 per man per day, the guys themselves are on about £10hr. Best mate is a self employed sparky doing industrial/agricultural stuff, not the sort of thing any fresh faced apprentice would do. Obviously some days he quotes for a job taking 3 days and it takes 2, but in general his day rate is £175.
Heating engineer as they like to call themselves, or plumber as everyone else calls them, on about the same. Cant remember what I paid for some labour last time, but was suprised how little it was. From memory £250 for 1.5 days, which values their time at £166/day.
Maybe Im blessed with good, reasonably pried tradesmen, or maybe the OP is talking crap. I'll leave you to decide.
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