EICR Cost

[anobium]

Just had a EICR carried out on MIL house.
Was quoted £350 initially but final charge was £460. It's a 3 bed semi in very poor state and there were 2 of them and they were there just over 2 hours.
Is this a reasonable charge or have we been ripped off

 

[ETAF]

why did it increase to £460 - and what was in the quote/estimate you accepted

 

[anobium]

No idea and it was a verbal quote to brother in law for them to test electrics in the house

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Just had a EICR carried out on MIL house.
Was quoted £350 initially but final charge was £460. It's a 3 bed semi in very poor state and there were 2 of them and they were there just over 2 hours.
Is this a reasonable charge or have we been ripped off

Sounds like you were ripped off. Unless they had to spend an extreme amount of travelling time to get there. I would be asking why they asked for more than the original quote, two hours is a normal amount of time. Quote is a fixed amount, an estimate is just a guess at the cost which might vary. If it was a quote, that is what they should expect to get paid.

Maybe copy the EICR for forum members to review?

 

[JohnW2]

Was quoted £350 initially but final charge was £460.

Did both those figures include VAT?

No idea and it was a verbal quote to brother in law for them to test electrics in the house

As implied above, a fairly informal verbal quote may well (not necessarily with any intention to mislead) not have included VAT, whilst the amount of the 'final charge' obviously will have done. Mind you, £350 + VAT is only £420, leaving a bit of an unexplained increase.

Kind Regards, John

 

[anobium]

Sorry, it's even worse, I got the initial figures wrong, verbal quote was £300, final figure was £470.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

As implied above, a fairly informal verbal quote may well (not necessarily with any intention to mislead) not have included VAT, whilst the amount of the 'final charge' obviously will have done. Mind you, £350 + VAT is only £420, leaving a bit of an unexplained increase.

All quotations, or prices intended for retail customers should include VAT.

 

[oldbutnotdead]

£300 is steep for an EICR on a house that size- might be realistic in London but not up here in t'North. Though it gets more realistic if it was a 100% test and inspect rather than 20%.
And that sort of job the price shouldn't vary from quote to job unless the householder obstructed the job unreasonably (insisted on hoovering before they knocked the power off or summat daft like that).
VAT- yes all retail quotes should be Inc VAT PROVIDED the trader quoting is VAT registered.

 

[JohnW2]

All quotations, or prices intended for retail customers should include VAT.

They should - but, in my experience, tradespeople often forget that when 'talking' (e.g. when giving verbal quotes), probably because they tend to think in term of 'what they get', and think only of the VAT as something they have to add on when preparing an invoice.

Kind Regards, John

 

[anobium]

It was a test which social services specified for an elderly lady who his mentally handicapped. We want to see if is safe for her to occupy the house. What's the difference between a 100% and a 20% test. We were give a 9 page report full of various boxes which were ticked.

 

[JohnW2]

.... What's the difference between a 100% and a 20% test. We were give a 9 page report full of various boxes which were ticked.

It's really about the 'inspection', not the 'testing' since, in a domestic property, all (100%) of the accessible circuits will normally be tested.

However, "100% inspection" would require, for example, the unscrewing of every socket, light switch, ceiling rose etc, to facilitate visual inspection. That is not usually done but, rather only a proportion (not necessarily as low as 20%) are inspected. However, if inspection of that proportion reveals problems, it might be necessary to inspect more, perhaps all, of the remaining parts of the installation than was initially intended.

The person commissioning the EICR can indicate the scope/extent of the inspection that they require (which may obviously impact on cost) - there are generally no 'rules'.

Kind Regards, John

 

[sparkwright]

If you can block out the contractors personal details, try and send the report - we can tell you if it's been filled out correctly.

 

[markyd1]

3 bed semi about £250-£300 inc vat around Bucks area

 

[anobium]

Thanks everybody, it transpires that it's a company which have branches throughout the country, and apparently the final account was drawn up by the office. Methinks I will have a word in their ear tomorrow. It's not the money it the principal.

 

[JohnW2]

Thanks everybody, it transpires that it's a company which have branches throughout the country, and apparently the final account was drawn up by the office. Methinks I will have a word in their ear tomorrow. It's not the money it the principal.

Fair enough - it therefore sounds as if it was essentially the person who gave the verbal quote who was 'at fault'. Mind you, as has been said, unless perhaps we're talking about London, £470 seems rather steep - but maybe that's the price one pays for using a 'big company'?

Kind Regards, John