costs of sockets and ring circuits

hijack1422

Help me please - my son is having his kitchen refitted; the guy is telling him he needs an additional ring circuit - he only has a small flat! ALso he is charging him £65 for each socket - 6 sockets took him 15 minutes to prepare! Now he wants £45 to move a light switch 10 cms; as the walls are totally stripped back ready to replaster and tile, I think these costs are way above reasonable, but, of course his kitchen is a mess! Any advice or commetns would be really appreciated. Its my first post so I hope its ok to talk money....

ricicle · Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2006 7:50 pm Post Subject:

It is wrong to expect Pro guys on here to estimate costs - especially not seeing the exact work involved (it is not uncommon for something unexpected to hinder an apparently straightforward job)
Did you not agree a total price for the job beforehand or at least agree a price per point so that you could decide to proceed or seek another quote?

il78 · Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2006 7:51 pm Post Subject:

If you feel that the prices are unreasonable, try phoning a few electricians to compare their costs.

Taylortwocities · Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2006 7:57 pm Post Subject:

As this is electrical work in a kitchen you should make sure that the cost includes testing, certification and notification of the works to the Local Authority. Its now the law.

If your 'expensive' sparky is not registered to self-certify (ie a member of one of the Part P schemes) then he should not do the work as you will have no proof to give the next person who buys the property that the work in the kitchen was properly done.

See here http://wiki.diynot.com/electrics:part_p:diy_electrical_work_and_the_law

TTC

hijack1422 · Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2006 7:57 pm Post Subject:

Thanks for the replies so far; firstly, he DID get an estimate, but now the guy is saying he needs all this extra work and he has no choice but to agree if he wants the kitchen back in working condition; I KNOW it can be very difficult (but surely not WRONG to ask as the first reply says!) to assess fair prices; I just thought that, as the area is totally stripped back , there were no unknowns to affect advice on a reasonable price; we will try to negotiate......

Many thanks to Taylor; I will def check his quals - had no idea of this.
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securespark · Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2006 9:03 pm Post Subject:

Tell him to sling his hook, and that you will only pay his bill when you get the correct paperwork signing off the job.

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