£312 + VAT for 8 hours electrical work?

[atomickitten]

Hi all, let me know what you think.

Electrician has put some spotlights up for me, installed an extractor fan, installed shaving socket, and moved a plug socket. Stupidly didn't get quote before he started. Took him 8 hours, he's charged me £312 + VAT. All he supplied was shaver socket and the wiring.

Even being generous allowing for costs, that's £30/hour before VAT - a bit steep? Average? Based in Oxfordshire.

 

[expertgasman]

Even being generous allowing for costs, that's £30/hour before VAT - a bit steep? Average? Based in Oxfordshire.[/quote]

Perfectly fair.

 

[cajar]

The £30 per hour spent working has to cover time spent quoting for work he doesn't get, picking up cable, wear and tear on tools, fuel. It's reasonable, even if it is a bit more than you expected.

 

[loosenup]

"All he supplied was shaver socket and the wiring. "

and his time , and the van , and the fuel to get to you , his expertise, signing it off on part P, liability insurance, indemnity insurance, warranty, wear and tear on tools, consumables , tax, national insurance, pension, .. the biggest thing is .. he knows what he is doing ..
you would not query £50 an hour for a solicitor because he is a solicitor, yet a tradesman is expected to work for peanuts .. run a business, do the job to high standard and then gets slagged off for charging the going rate .

i assume you are happy with his work.
did he do a bad job?
did he have an employee with him ?
do you work?
how much an hour do you earn ?
how much does your employer pay for you to be in work ?

food for thought.

 

[Nige F]

"you would not query £50 an hour for a solicitor because he is a solicitor, food for thought.

I`d be over the moon if I found a solicitor for £ 50 per hour - you wouldn`t get a Pox Doctor`s clerk for that

 

[expertgasman]

you would not query £50 an hour for a solicitor because he is a solicitor,

You wouldn't get him to sign a letter for that!

Seriously, you are right, tradesmen tend to be undervalued. How much is the average (proper) gas fire service compared to a chimney sweep doing his stuff, then compare our tools and fees, to his brush, sheeet aned vac!

My (non franchise) garage charges £50 + vat, which I think is pretty good. Wh, 2 years ago.en I had an XJ8, the franchise garage fee was pennies off £100 per hour.

To the OP, I have no problem with you asking the question, provided you didn't just want a moan fest.

 

[cumbriahandyman]

Hi all, let me know what you think.

Electrician has put some spotlights up for me, installed an extractor fan, installed shaving socket, and moved a plug socket. Stupidly didn't get quote before he started. Took him 8 hours, he's charged me £312 + VAT. All he supplied was shaver socket and the wiring.

Even being generous allowing for costs, that's £30/hour before VAT - a bit steep? Average? Based in Oxfordshire.

Closer to £40.00 an hour. Would you have had him do the job if that is what he quoted?

Did you get a receipt? Did you pay him in cash? Was he actually registered for VAT?

 

[^woody^]

The first thing is was it really 8 hours work or 4 hours stretched out, and the next is what hourly rate is he using?

You need to get the bill itemised and take it from there

I know big firms who don't charge £35/h (which is what his rate is looking like when estimated materials are deducted) and so his costs can't be anywhere near that

Dispute his bill and get him to justify it.

Unless the work was clearly awkward and time consuming, then you can knock £100 off

 

[Whitespirit66]

Dispute his bill and get him to justify it.

The spark doesn't need to justify anything. The Op has admitted to not asking for a quote, so they have laid themselves wide open. Ringing up the electrician, and entering into haggling after paying is unlikely to succeed.

It's just lucky that the electrician wasn't a rip-off merchant. The bill falls between the 'bargain priced' and 'complete rip-off' categories. Best to just put this one down to experience, and get three quotes next time.

 

[expertgasman]

Akitten, i have to confess I thought the £312 INCLUDED the vat, although the post clearly says otherwise! I did a quick calc but was misled by your £30 ph, with which I concurred. Which just goes to show that we can all be mind manipulated.

Anyway, the rate @ 8hrs is probably as much as he could expect to get, but, frankly, you should have asked a couple of questions before you hired him.

Having said that, most plumbers on here CLAIM to get well more than that. I do, when a job is taken in isolation, and ignoring non productive time.

Tim the Baker aparently charges £1k a day for renewals work.

How did you find him, and is he a sole trader or part of a contracting firm?

 

[kevindgas]

we charge £37 an hour for electrics, £47 plumbiing & £59 for gas if you want a full day days labour this is reduced to £240 for 8 hours for any trades we undertake.
as said everything has to come out of that vat, insurances, fuel, registrations, wear and tear of equipment/vehicles, phone/s, advertising

we haven't increased our labour rates for 4 years yet everything else has increased fourfold, just registrations have increased from £320 a year to £634! insurance goes up year on year!

my garage charges £92 ph, my solicitor ££££££££'s per hour (3 figure!!)

 

[^woody^]

The spark doesn't need to justify anything.

Yes he does

Just because a price was not agreed, does not mean that some random figure can be charged.

He needs to submit an invoice based on fair industry rates

 

[Alarm]

Atomic, how long would it have taken you?
What tools would you have needed to purchase?
How would you know what was safe or not?
What damage would you have caused in the process?


As before quotes would have been any sensible persons first step.

You have had a good deal if all is done correctly, signed off and caused minimal damage to decour. Was done when you wanted it to be done.

Get the idea?

 

[Alarm]

The spark doesn't need to justify anything.

Yes he does

Just because a price was not agreed, does not mean that some random figure can be charged.

He needs to submit an invoice based on fair industry rates

What?
He submitted an invoice on what he charges.

Nothing more nothing less.
How do you work out your charges?

 

[^woody^]

What?
He submitted an invoice on what he charges.

Nothing more nothing less.
How do you work out your charges?

If no price is agreed, the charges must be reasonable, so its not enough to submit a invoice with "what he charges"

For me, I never ever start any work without the client being given a quote or an [accurate] estimation of likely charges.

I could not imagine just starting work without such a basic thing in place - after all how would you know that the client can afford to pay if he has no idea of what the work will or might cost?

It is just not professional to go ahead and then bang the invoice in without the client having a clue what he will pay. Its a typical cowboy trait