Back in the day I would have estimated the time and materials for every job and once completed I would work out the cost and compared it to my day rate.
If customer wanted some special item or something unplanned came up then I would feel justified charging my time for that.
For "run of the mill stuff" planned jobs, rewires, extra sockets etc I would not feel justified .
I would turn up on the job with all that I needed and a bit extra.
After all that I would compare the two prices and if they came within a plus or minus 5% band then I would consider I had estimate accurately.
With complete rewires or additions to existing that is usually easy to determine if I have done the first fix myself (includes all chasing, wiring, plastering, etc myself) I know then that final fix of sockets, switches, pendants etc should go smoothly and whilst I`m going thru that final fix I would allow 15 mins per item to final fix per working hour and this time would almost always be a realistic target to achieve or better including all tea breaks, toilet breaks, customer discussion, clearing out metal boxes of plaster etc, stripping, sleeving, doubling conductors, connecting, fixing, levelling etc to finished position.
That is easily achievable and often bettered.
If I am dealing with existing wiring then all bets are off, quite often you`d come across problems with existing wiring, the most common one is conductors too short and especially in awkward locations for a start.
I was always more than happy to converse with customers and let them see what I was doing so long as they did not become a hindrance or start to try to tell me how to do the job.
Often they are just interested in how it`s done and sometimes learn something.
It often amused me to see on "building sites" you`d notice that all cables were cut miles too long during first fix but, conversely, when actually making the final connections they were often cut and stripped far to short to be reasonably managed, particularly on kitchen sockets over a base unit and also under a wall unit.
The other "gem" would be the cable that was previously left to dangle almost to the floor for the pendant wiring was now cut so close to the ceiling that you could only connect whilst craning your neck by putting your whole face horizontal with the ceiling whilst up a step ladder - I1d always leave a few inches dangle to aid my body vertical position whilst connecting then carefully push that last bit of conductors up above the ceiling.
Other peoples first fix ideas could sometimes be a nightmare and if the subsequent wiring is a proverbial rats nest then hey ho double ditto.
Personally I would leave the prepared conductors long enough to turn them down comfortably by 90 degrees, therefore horizontal and facing you and provision of that little extra to remake that last bit of the connection in case of a future break off in future inspections/additions, conductors then neatly folded into safe positions away from screws etc and a final waggle and final tightening check prior fitting back.
Sheathing not stripped off far enough inside the back box is another hidden gem - always leave sufficient inside the back box but not far too much.
PS - I hate plaster depth boxes (16mm) even for one gang one way switches, 25mm is always the minimum for a nice neat job.
If customer wanted some special item or something unplanned came up then I would feel justified charging my time for that.
For "run of the mill stuff" planned jobs, rewires, extra sockets etc I would not feel justified .
I would turn up on the job with all that I needed and a bit extra.
After all that I would compare the two prices and if they came within a plus or minus 5% band then I would consider I had estimate accurately.
With complete rewires or additions to existing that is usually easy to determine if I have done the first fix myself (includes all chasing, wiring, plastering, etc myself) I know then that final fix of sockets, switches, pendants etc should go smoothly and whilst I`m going thru that final fix I would allow 15 mins per item to final fix per working hour and this time would almost always be a realistic target to achieve or better including all tea breaks, toilet breaks, customer discussion, clearing out metal boxes of plaster etc, stripping, sleeving, doubling conductors, connecting, fixing, levelling etc to finished position.
That is easily achievable and often bettered.
If I am dealing with existing wiring then all bets are off, quite often you`d come across problems with existing wiring, the most common one is conductors too short and especially in awkward locations for a start.
I was always more than happy to converse with customers and let them see what I was doing so long as they did not become a hindrance or start to try to tell me how to do the job.
Often they are just interested in how it`s done and sometimes learn something.
It often amused me to see on "building sites" you`d notice that all cables were cut miles too long during first fix but, conversely, when actually making the final connections they were often cut and stripped far to short to be reasonably managed, particularly on kitchen sockets over a base unit and also under a wall unit.
The other "gem" would be the cable that was previously left to dangle almost to the floor for the pendant wiring was now cut so close to the ceiling that you could only connect whilst craning your neck by putting your whole face horizontal with the ceiling whilst up a step ladder - I1d always leave a few inches dangle to aid my body vertical position whilst connecting then carefully push that last bit of conductors up above the ceiling.
Other peoples first fix ideas could sometimes be a nightmare and if the subsequent wiring is a proverbial rats nest then hey ho double ditto.
Personally I would leave the prepared conductors long enough to turn them down comfortably by 90 degrees, therefore horizontal and facing you and provision of that little extra to remake that last bit of the connection in case of a future break off in future inspections/additions, conductors then neatly folded into safe positions away from screws etc and a final waggle and final tightening check prior fitting back.
Sheathing not stripped off far enough inside the back box is another hidden gem - always leave sufficient inside the back box but not far too much.
PS - I hate plaster depth boxes (16mm) even for one gang one way switches, 25mm is always the minimum for a nice neat job.
