General Rewire

Would £2,500 non vat (Cash on the nail) be realistically to rewire empty 4 bed terraced?

ffatboyjimm said:

I've got a 4 bed terraced house and the house is empty with all floorboards accessible. Would £2,500 non vat (Cash on the nail without delays) be realistically possible or is that too cheap?

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You need to get some quotes.

I'd say that's doable in south wales (as said labour only).
But only if that's just the electrics and without telephone, ethernet, alarm etc.

Depends where you are based and what you want (a few sockets and a light in each room, or loads of downlights, chrome fittings, "smart" stuff etc)...

I had a (reasonably) basic rewire done for around that figure a while ago, a three bed semi in similar state (unoccupied) but with plenty of sockets fitted, so I don't think you're way off... Draw a plan of what you want and where and get a couple of quotes.

Thanks Colin

And don’t buy ANYTHING until you have discussed the project with whoever is doing the job. Projects where the customers think they’ll save a few Bob by buying materials are always a PITA.
So often the materials aren’t up to scratch, missing, late or just plain wrong.

The last job I did like that I refused to give a price for “labour only”. I charged hourly and had several lazy hours waiting on site while the customer made several trips to B&Q to try and get the right stuff.
It cost him more in the end.

ffatboyjimm said:

I've got a 4 bed terraced house and the house is empty with all floorboards accessible. Would £2,500 non vat (Cash on the nail) be realistically possible or is that too cheap?
I think this would possibly be with me buying the materials and the £2,500 for labour only - Am I anywhere near the mark.

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The only reason you wouldn't pay VAT on services is if the trader is non VAT registered, because turnover is below the threshold. Nothing to do with paying cash.

The reason for paying cash might be for the trader to avoid tax, and if that's the case, they won't be certifying the job and you won't be getting your tick in the box from the council building control department.

IMHO.

ffatboyjimm said:

£2,500 for labour only - Am I anywhere near the mark.

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If you want an ultra basic install with each room only having a couple of sockets, a single light switch and a pendant light in the ceiling, there are probably people who will do it for that amount.

If you want a decent installation that will actually be fit for purpose, you will need to spend considerably more.

Taylortwocities said:

And don’t buy ANYTHING until you have discussed the project with whoever is doing the job. Projects where the customers think they’ll save a few Bob by buying materials are always a PITA.
So often the materials aren’t up to scratch, missing, late or just plain wrong. The last job I did like that I refused to give a price for “labour only”. I charged hourly and had several lazy hours waiting on site while the customer made several trips to B&Q to try and get the right stuff. It cost him more in the end.

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Do the quality of materials differ from supplier to supplier?

As @Taylortwocities says, having the customer do some of the work, or source materials, and increase the cost, there are times when it is done, but it can so easy back fire, I remember a supply of faulty parts, and so many fitted before it was realised they were faulty, so customer had to pay for cost of removal and refitting. Also not arriving on time and other work booked, so three weeks wait until tradesmen returned.

The installation certificate can have three sections, design, installation, and inspection and testing, where are three are done by the scheme member electrician he can use the scheme provider to get the compliance certificate, but where one of the sections is done be some one else, it needs in the main the LABC involvement and a completion certificate with domestic installations. There are some scheme providers who do allow in England, not Wales, third party inspection, but not the major scheme providers.

So you need to find a person first and agree what is to be done, being careful to ensure the paperwork required will be forth coming. I was made very clear to me by the LABC inspector it is the owner who is responsible to ensure all LABC applications and notification are made, using a scheme member is considered as ensuring the notifications are made, but only if he does the whole job.

Things do go wrong, in the rewire of mothers house it did go wrong, and the electrician and his mate were clearly not going to finish on time, the firm flooded the house with labour on the last day, seem to remember last day there were 6 guys, so it was complete for plastering on time, and for my mothers return on time. Had I selected a one man band that would not have happened. And had I been paying by the hour my bill would have been higher, the point is who takes the risk.

Several have given advice regarding paperwork which is all correct. The chances of getting all boxes ticked when paying cash in hand is also limited.

Basically the job has to be done by scheme member or pay a substantial amount to LABC. However there is little to say who the installer can employ and there is nothing to prevent that being the houseowner. So my advice is look for an electrician and negotiate with him how much of it he is happy for you to do and/or provide.

A neighbour had an extention 4-5 years ago and elected to have a full rewire at the time and negotiated with the builders scheme member to mark all the chases and cable routes, he did all of the bashing, including in the extention, ran all cables and even prepped the ends under electricians direction. The final cost for the extention was only a little more than the original quote which didn't include a consumer unit or rewire.
He was lucky to find such a 'user friendly' electrician as many DIYers helping out are far from helpful and generally too much of a PITA.

My last bit of advice; let him supply the materials, it may very well be cheaper and there will be no problems.

SUNRAY said:

The final cost for the extention was only a little more than the original quote which didn't include a consumer unit or rewire.

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So he probably saved a fair bit as the final cost wasn't much more than the original quote?

ffatboyjimm said:

So if the original quote was without the rewire and consumer unit and it was only slightly less than the total he spent when he did much of the electrical work himself means he probably saved a fair bit as the final cost wasn't much more than the original quote? Have I got it right?

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That just about sums it up but bear in mind that was including the extention which involved 4 of the 8 rooms in the house and added a nineth.

So if he had a total house rewire when having the extension done so he could have saved £3000 - £3,500

ffatboyjimm said:

So if he had a total house rewire when having the extension done it must have saved a good few thousands pounds I'm guessing. Maybe £3000 - £3,500

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Quite possibly but remember he did most of first fix.