how much should i charge

[aldershotandy]

ive spent today,upgrading earth bonding,,
the runs were really difficult. had to go all around the house,,
materials
80mtrs 10mm earth
2 earth clamps
2 boxes of 9/11mm clips

about 5hrs labour,,,,,,,,,so a day really,,including original survey and wholesaler visit,,,,
im thinking in the region of £260,,,how does that sound,,
job is in surrey

 

[sparkiedave]

Sounds about right, I usually charge £25/hour or £180/day, the reason I charge a bit less per day is that I would prefer to do a full day at one place than run round doing 3 or 4 smaller jobs, and I used to find that if I did six hours, like you say, the day is gone from the point of starting something else, but the customer would be stood over you with a stop watch saying "but you only did 6 hours", don't seem to get that now, the building firms I work for know that if I finish early, I'm willing to stay for the rest of the day and help them, plumbing, joinery etc, so if they don't find me a full days work, they still get something for the extra time if they want

 

[aldershotandy]

thanks dave,,,,,,,,,,ive been a subby for 15/20 yrs but never really had to get out there and price things myself,,,,,,
its pretty tough down my way at the moment,,
so did not want to be to pricey but on other had it cant be done for love,
cheers again

 

[sparkiedave]

Also depends if you are trying to build up a business, some folks are good to have get your name around for you

 

[breezer]

Other side of the fence

[customer thinks]he has been here 1 day, run in some cable, taken 5 hours to do it, he wants £260. 260 /5 = 52, £52 an hour, i wont be using him again[/customer thinks]


I would tell him less, and say that is + materials, and charging for a box of clips, er. no.

I thought you wanted him to say nice things about you, does a cafe /restaurant charge you for the salt / pepper / sauce?

 

[RF Lighting]

Of course he does.

It's in with the price of the meal.

Why should I pay for a box of clips which I have used in your house.

I've been on a job where we have used around 3000 clips so far. Should we stand the cost of these?

And the 1000 or so plugs and 2000 screws?

What about earth sleeving? Is that free too?

A little leak can sink a big ship.

 

[Spark123]

What were the resistance readings of these main protective bonds? (no guessing what I'm thinking!)

 

[nozspark]

I was thinking that as well, isn't the max length 37m (ish) for 10mm??

 

[ColJack]

is there a maximum reading for main bonding condutcors?

I can't see one specified in the regs...

OP, if you knew you were going to do earth bonding then why didn't you have clamps and cable on the van?

if you didn't know you were going to do earth bonding, then what did you go for?

 

[aldershotandy]

is there a maximum reading for main bonding condutcors?

I can't see one specified in the regs...

OP, if you knew you were going to do earth bonding then why didn't you have clamps and cable on the van?

if you didn't know you were going to do earth bonding, then what did you go for?

i have just started doing some work for a bathroom installer,,,before commencement of work i inspected the existing earthing arrangements,,
although the consumer unit had been changed 4 yrs ago,,no earthing to gas and water had been done,,,,,
maybe because of the difficulty,,who knows,,
its amazing what views people on here have,,some helpful some not so,,
job is now completed and although i charged the client £260 they gave me £300 and asked for my card,,,so all happy

 

[aldershotandy]

I was thinking that as well, isn't the max length 37m (ish) for 10mm??

never heard of this and cant find anything in the regs,,,,,,and ive been in trade for 30yrs,,,

dont comment just for the sake of it please,,,
i was only asking for some pricing guidence as im new to the pricing side of things,,
im not green behind the ears

 

[aldershotandy]

What were the resistance readings of these main protective bonds? (no guessing what I'm thinking!)

spark,,,,,,,,,,
the gas was 0.02
water was 0.03

what are you thinking,,,,,
not the answer to my original question thats for sure,,,

 

[aldershotandy]

Of course he does.

It's in with the price of the meal.

Why should I pay for a box of clips which I have used in your house.

I've been on a job where we have used around 3000 clips so far. Should we stand the cost of these?

And the 1000 or so plugs and 2000 screws?

What about earth sleeving? Is that free too?

A little leak can sink a big ship.

thanks mate,,,,,,,,,,where do some people get off,,,,i cant afford to give these things away,,

 

[ElectricDunc]

I agree with RF Lighting, you don't get something for free these days.

Regarding the size of cable there is a bit in the regs about bonding conductors have to have a maximum resistance of 0.05ohms. Obviously if you use the tables to work out the resistance of the piece of cable you should have installed 16mm for a run that long but in practice that just isn't true (as your readings have shown).

As for the price it doesn't sound too horrific. Personally I only charge for the hours i've worked on site plus a bit for traveling. However, when there are two of you on site (as in my circumstances) 2 hours gets very expensive and I do rely on repeat custom so would rather try and fit another quick job in to make up the day.

 

[oharaf]

Rob is dead right, if you're using a substantial quantity of something it is included in your costings. A handle full of clips you'll let go, besides they have probably been paid for twice over or so. But big jobs require careful costing.

The 80metres of bonding sounds massive. The readings seem good, I was always told it should be 0.05 ohms or less!!! Will check the regs myself at some point.

It is tough out there, I've had a pretty good few weeks and work all the way upto next Wed (when I go away) and then a couple of decent jobs to start as soon as I return, however, still catching up with Jan & Feb