Advice on reasonable quote please.

[alim1]

hello all. i am getting some quotes for the following work req in my timberframed extention and a quote for £500 all inc for the work bellow, let me know if this is reasonable in middlesex area.

run powerline from main house to ext with new fusebox. 5x internal power socket incl cooker. 1x ext socket. 2x ceiling rose. and 1 external light. (no wall chasing)

thanks.

 

[Lectrician]

Too cheap!

 

[EddieM]

Usual advice applies, get 3 quotes, hard to say as none of us can see exactly what's involved. TBH your £500 quote doesn't sound too bad.

 

[alim1]

thank you. also, what ID should an electrician show? i.e a gas engineer shows a gas safe id. does an electrician has a similar?

 

[welchyboy]

Sounds on the cheap side to me, but without seeing the job hard to tell

get a few more quotes, get a few friends to give you recommendations, even if a spark is registered dont mean hes any good

Also sites like trust a trader usually full of chancers too

 

[flameport]

thank you. also, what ID should an electrician show? i.e a gas engineer shows a gas safe id. does an electrician has a similar?

No. There are several schemes electricians and other types can belong to, but in regards to the work done, they mean very little.
The same applies to gas safe - belonging to that does not automatically mean a decent job will be done.

 

[pjcomp]

Getting three quotes is all very well - but what do you then do with them? Take the most expensive because that's most likely to be best quality? Take the lowest because that saves most money? Go for the middle one to get the best of both worlds? How do you judge whether any of the people who've quoted are actually any good?

This "get three quotes" advice has been around since Noah put the ark out to tender, but no one giving the advice ever follows up with what happens next. Maybe, once upon a time, when everyone was reliable, honest and truthful (before pigs forgot how to fly) you could get three quotes and confidently take the lowest.

You're going to allow this person into your home, probably trust him with a key to come and go, and let him - nay, ask him to - drill, chase out, bash about your property, then leave you with something that if it goes wrong could kill you.

Fine, get your three quotes. But decide for yourself which of the people concerned you'd feel happy with working for you in your home, possibly over an extended period. It's got to be someone you can get on with a feel you can trust. Then ask him for the phone number of his last customer and ring them up, ask if he did a good job for them - he'll pass you to someone he knows will give him a good reference, but it's worth a try.

Best of all, ask around friends. workmates, family, for a recommendation.

PJ

 

[JohnW2]

... This "get three quotes" advice has been around since Noah put the ark out to tender, but no one giving the advice ever follows up with what happens next.

Quite so - I've often been very tempted to ask the 'what next?' question.

In the imperfect world in which we live, there's virtually no satisfactory answer. When it comes to things like electrical work, even 'personal recommendation' means very little. Those who employ electricians can comment on issues like punctuality, tidiness and pleasantness, but the great majority have no way of knowing what beauty or electrical horrors may lurk beneath their floorboards or within their walls and CUs etc. Apart from avoiding those who even appear 'dodgy' (or seriously too cheap or seriously too expensive), I fear it's usually down to pure gambling.

Kind Regards, John

 

[EddieM]

Well, if you had only one quote, you have nothing to compare against, but yes of course ultimately is is down to the customer to decide who seems the most professional / competent. I have had quite a few times when I haven't gone with the cheapest quote, because they simply didn't seem as experienced, professional etc etc, but if you only have one quote, how do you know? Do you just get one quote for your car insurance?

 

[JohnW2]

Well, if you had only one quote, you have nothing to compare against, but yes of course ultimately is is down to the customer to decide who seems the most professional / competent. I have had quite a few times when I haven't gone with the cheapest quote, because they simply didn't seem as experienced, professional etc etc, but if you only have one quote, how do you know? Do you just get one quote for your car insurance?

I don't think that anyone (certainly not either pjcomp or myself) are suggesting that people should not get (at least) three quotes. The problem is in the difficulty in knowing what to do once one has the quotes, and the paucity of advice given about that stage of the process.

The commonest suggestion is that one should try to obtain 'personal recommendations' - but, as I said, that may mean nothing in terms of the quality (or even safety) of the electrical work. Nor can one really rely very much on judgements about the apparent experience, competence and professionalism of those concerned - since, as in most walks of life, there are some extremely convincing (and 'charming') 'cowboys' out there.

Choosing between car insurance quotes is generally much more straightforward. One can usually make a reasonable decision on the basis of just price and the contents of the detailed policy document. About the only other information one might want to throw into that melting plot is the experience of others in dealing with the company concerned (particularly in relation to the handling of claims).

Kind Regards, John

 

[welchyboy]

Why get at least 3 quotes?......what do i do then?.......you are seriously kidding me right!


Obviously the more quotes you get the more of an idea of the rough cost of the job

And by meeting the contractors face to face you should get a good first impression of them, thing is they are doing the exact same thing to you as a customer

Sadly you cant purely rely on recommendation but it gives you a better chance than calling someone up randomly out of the paper

Obviously you have to use your own judgement and take a bit of a chance but thats life im afraid

 

[JohnW2]

Why get at least 3 quotes?......what do i do then?.......you are seriously kidding me right! ... Obviously the more quotes you get the more of an idea of the rough cost of the job

Indeed - that's why I said that one should get (at least) three quotes - so as to find out the ballpark of the price range.

And by meeting the contractors face to face you should get a good first impression of them, thing is they are doing the exact same thing to you as a customer ... Sadly you cant purely rely on recommendation but it gives you a better chance than calling someone up randomly out of the paper ... Obviously you have to use your own judgement and take a bit of a chance but thats life im afraid

Indeed - and I think that's roughly what I said. The problems are obviously that the best of 'conmen' and 'cowboys' are those who are charming, credible and give very good 'first impressions', and that recommendations usually come from people who have no way of actually judging the quality and safety of anything other han the most superficial aspects of work done. All one can do is to attempt to bring together all those possible sources of guidance, and then cross one's fingers!

Of course, if electricians with some sort of registration (maybe if only voluntary) knew that they were at constant risk of having their work randomly inspected/audited, then one might perhaps be able to have a bit of confidence in those who could produce evidence of such registration.

Kind Regards, John