Is this a normal price to quote for so little work?

[SUNRAY]

Why didn’t you do it properly instead of badly than apologising?

It wasn't done badly in the slightest, quite the contrary there are about 7 sockets running on 2 switches by the door, all beautifully installed and wired correctly with 3/0.029" T&E. All I had to do was fit a 13A plug on each cable that didn't already have one, actually 2 cables into one plug as there are 8 lights. Apart from that minor deviation all perfectly compliant with our excellent set of regulations honed by experts over the last century.

There was no technical point for making any alterations to the fixed electrics, indeed that would have been counter productive as it would have required generating paperwork for the job and my post was all about avoiding the silly cost of that quoted by the fitter.

My apology was just as secure noted, an apology to the community of the likelyhood of another wrecked thread without any valid point being raised.

 

[markyd1]

£280 Seems excessive to me, that like one hour's work surely?

An hours work....including 4 years training, diesel, time traveling to job, £350 worth of tools, certificate and knowledge that it is safe......He is not charging enough

 

[JohnW2]

An hours work....including 4 years training, diesel, time traveling to job, £350 worth of tools, certificate and knowledge that it is safe......He is not charging enough

I must remember that approach when drawing up invoices

The hour's work, diesel (well, fuel ) and time travelling are all fair enough, but what proportion (see **) of the cost of things like "4 years training and £350 worth of tools" (and you forgot to mention insurance, vehicle acquisition, maintenance, tax/insurance, 'club membership' and all sorts of other things!) do you think I should charge each and every client (presumably 'for ever') for whom I do a "1 hour job" ?

[** If one does, say, 40 chargeable hours per work for 48 weeks per year, then it would be reasonable to add on about 0.05% of one's total yearly overheads for each hour of work undertaken ]

Kind Regards, John

 

[markyd1]

I must remember that approach when drawing up invoices

The hour's work, diesel (well, fuel ) and time travelling are all fair enough, but what proportion (see **) of the cost of things like "4 years training and £350 worth of tools" (and you forgot to mention insurance, vehicle acquisition, maintenance, tax/insurance, 'club membership' and all sorts of other things!) do you think I should charge each and every client (presumably 'for ever') for whom I do a "1 hour job" ?

[** If one does, say, 40 chargeable hours per work for 48 weeks per year, then it would be reasonable to add on about 0.05% of one's total yearly overheads for each hour of work undertaken ]

Kind Regards, John

I was going to list all the other things but got bored tapping the keyboard. It doesnt stop there, time sourcing materials, paperwork, PPE, Regs books the list goes on, so 0.05% is not a lot.

 

[markyd1]

The Ship Repair Man Story

Why experts get paid more….

medium.com

 

[JohnW2]

The Ship Repair Man Story

Why experts get paid more….

medium.com

That's plagiarism

It must be best part of 50 years ago in a (very useful!) book about "How to be a Successful Consultant" that I first read that story - essentially identical other than that it was an oil refinery that was losing 'millions' per day and brought in a long-retired guy who had been in the industry for decades 'as a last resort'. If I recall correctly his bill was for $1,000,002 (equivalent today to more than your ship man), made up of $2 for hitting a pipe with his hammer and $1,000,000 for knowing which pipe to hit.

Over the years/decades, I've attempted (albeit far more modest) variants of that one on clients, and it's never really worked! I think that's a bit rotten since I'm sure that there have been some occasions on which companies have 'saved millions' or 'earned millions' as a result of a few hours' work on my part - but they invariably try to get away with paying just for those 'few hours' ('at the usual hourly rate')

Kind Regards, John

 

[JohnW2]

I was going to list all the other things but got bored tapping the keyboard. It doesnt stop there, time sourcing materials, paperwork, PPE, Regs books the list goes on,

Yes, the list is very long. However by the time one tots up all the annual overheads and then divides by,say,1920 (48 weeks of 40 hours) it almost certainly won't add up to more than a few pounds to add to each hours work - which is hardly the same of producing 'add-ons' which make one hour of work (plus fuel and travel time) worth £350

so 0.05% is not a lot.

I'm not sure what you mean by that since, as above, I agree ..... 1/1920 (about 0.05%) of your total annual overheads will not be a lot, even if the overheads are pretty high.

Kind Regards, John