Boiler replacement quotes - surprisingly high

[kev_1911]

yes steve it did,however up here in the north we dont seem to be able to get much more for a boiler swap, when i did my gas quals the lecturer always boasted that we could easily demand a pound a minuete,so i dobt any of the guys on here are trying to patronise you,they're just being honest about prices.best advice is to ask friends and neighbours for any good local firms that they trust,or if you really want a scare get BG in for a quote then ring the other guy back.hope you find what your looking for.

 

[stevelup]

Thanks kev for the reasonable response.

Let's all just forget about this shall we. I now know that a 'reasonable' rate for a gas fitter is 500 pounds per day so if I ever manage to get anything done at less than that price, then I'll be happy!

The frustrating thing is that one of the companies I got a quote from was the same company who installed the new gas supply last year. There were two blokes on site for 5.5 hours and the total cost came to 247 inclusive of materials (about 10M of 28mm copper + the associated bits). I thought that was extremely reasonable.

This same company then came back with a price of 2350 to change over a boiler and would not provide an 'install only' price.

I can do nothing more than conclude the obvious - they are hiding a lot of extra margin in the cost of the boiler. Otherwise why would they not offer an install only price?

I was not asking for a 'commissioning only' price either, it was 'install only' - ie. I supply the boiler, they do the rest.

Maybe they just didn't want the work?

 

[mehran]

You know they could have lowered the price for running the gas pipe in hopes to get the boiler?

 

[namsag]

Or maybe they where trying to make some money back from being to cheap before what do you have in at present

 

[stevelup]

mehran: unlikely as I never mentioned replacing the boiler at the time. The reason for the new supply installation was that the existing pipe ran under a screed floor and popped up in the middle of a wall that I was about to knock down before then finally winding its way to the boiler.

It seemed the most sensible option at the time to replace the entire length.

namsag: that's a bit far fetched... I am currently the proud owner of a Vokera Linea 24

Steve

 

[namsag]

Stands back and waits for flack . The chances of it needing a proper powerflush are quite remote . You could prob get away with just using ferroquest (x800 day before) then flushing with x300 after install then add x100.

Your system is sealed and they usually dont have that much carp in them. Providing condensate run is straight forward there is no reason some one by them selves could not fit it by themselves in a day using existing hole and electrics.
This is the sort of cream job that a lot of people would come in at a reasonable price at. Purely because for arguements sake £500 for a day in your pocket is far better than not having a grand for 2 days.
As for what is reasonable to pay someone in your business do you feel guilty at making a living or do you charge what the market will allow and get on with it

 

[Corgigrouch]

Stevelup.. Your calculations are quite erroneous because they assume a sole trader fits boilers all day every day.. If you are as you say in charge of anything then you already know that only a proportion of the working week is taken with productive work a large portion is consumed by paperwork, admin, quotes, customer care, all have to be paid for somewhere... I would suggest that this is why you no longer work for yourself... Should have charged more

 

[stevelup]

Your calculations are quite erroneous

I was using extreme figures. You could re run them again and still come to a similar conclusion.

There are 264 working days in the year (based on a five day week). Assuming 25 days off as holiday, that leaves 239 days.

Even if your efficiency was very low - let's say that you are fully occupied only 50% of the time (surely a very unlikely figure), you would still gross 60K.

All the business expenses are tax deductible and that you only pay peanuts for NI, I still don't see why you can't clear 30-40K PA as a salary.

 

[stevelup]

The chances of it needing a proper powerflush are quite remote . You could prob get away with just using ferroquest (x800 day before) then flushing with x300 after install then add x100.

Agreed - I was considering this.

Your system is sealed and they usually dont have that much carp in them. Providing condensate run is straight forward there is no reason some one by them selves could not fit it by themselves in a day using existing hole and electrics.

It is all straightforward - this gets back to my main point... Why have I been quoted 1300 for the installation by two different companies. I think it's unreasonable and everyone is jumping on top of me for it!

This is the sort of cream job that a lot of people would come in at a reasonable price at. Purely because for arguements sake £500 for a day in your pocket is far better than not having a grand for 2 days.

Exactly. As I said earlier, I don't want it doing for nothing, but then I don't see how 1300 is justified either. I suspect they just didn't want the business - I can't come up with any other explanation.

As for what is reasonable to pay someone in your business do you feel guilty at making a living or do you charge what the market will allow and get on with it

We are in a highly competitive market, battling against foreign competitors with lower cost bases. We charge what the market will stand, but it's a good deal less than we want to be charging!

 

[namsag]

Do a little reasearch steve it is easy to find out how many boiler changes are done a year then take the lions share away which BG does then divide it by amount of guys out there . You would be lucky if boiler changes account for 15/20% of there time.
Are you sure you employ 42 people because you struggle to even grasp the basics of business.
only 25 days holiday that is dickensian

 

[stevelup]

Why are you focussing on boiler changes? It doesn't matter whether you are changing a boiler or doing something else - I thought we were discussing whether or not 500 per day was a reasonable day rate.

Or do people charge extra for doing boiler installs to compensate for the smaller less profitable jobs. If that is the case, we are getting closer to the truth with regards to the exorbitant quotes I got.

Can you please just answer the following question truthfully and without any prejudice. Disregard this whole thread and imagine it is a new question.

The question is this:-

"Is it reasonable to charge 1200 in labour to fit a new boiler in exactly the same location as the old boiler given that all the services are already there"

I find it incredibly difficult to accept that this is reasonable!

Steve

 

[namsag]

In my opinion no it is not if that is purely what the job is. And i don`t think it is because they didn`t want the job it is purely people are paying prices around that mark with no quibble. Bg would be around 4k for that job and people pay that.
And the bit that makes me laugh the most is people make a big issue about certificate and cost of it... it takes 2 minutes to register it online and costs £2.50

 

[tonybhoy]

£500 a day is unreasonable no one can reasonably dispute that although some probably will.

A straight changeover with no hassle no power flush and someone else buying the boiler ,£400.

 

[stevelup]

Right - that's fair enough then.

I apologise if I offended anyone here with accusations of profiteering.

It's probably best not to bring BG into the equation as they are on another planet and only survive by their tenuous link to the past and by manipulating pensioners!

 

[namsag]

Will leave yous with it i am off to gym now, need to build muscles up as i have a wage packet to pick up.