Is this quote fair?!

vinyldude1210

Hi,

We've just had an electrical inspection this afternoon on our near 250 yr old 3 bedroom detached house. We've been told that we need to have a full re-wire at a cost of £10,500!!! :eek: Ok, I know the cost is dependant on lots of factors...but, seriously this seems outrageous?! We only have 4 wall sockets in the whole of the upstairs of the house!

We've looked into it and it seems the "average" price for a house our size is approx £3000?

Would really like to know what your thoughts are about this. Needless to say, we will be getting other quotes.

Many thanks in advance

ormus

where do you live? belgravia?

(should be approx 2k/3k).

baldelectrician

Is your house special (up 75 stairs from the road for example )?

Get a few quotes. More info would help
location of house
type of floors (concrete / wood)
layout
type of walls (lath & plaster / brick /plasterboard)
how many floors
will the rewire be occupied?
etc....

You should use a competent person for the work, links below
In Scotland:
Individuals registered;
http://www.sbsa.gov.uk/register/ListAC.asp
Companies
http://www.sbsa.gov.uk/register/SearchCo.asp?T=Construction&ID=2
In England and Wales:
http://www.competentperson.co.uk

a_star_3

That sounds ridiculous!

We live in London and just had a few quotes for full re-wiring and installation of spot lights and the highest figure came up £4500 + materials. Lowest being £3000. I am supplying lighting material, cabling is theirs.

savcab

vinyldude1210 wrote: »

Hi,

We've just had an electrical inspection this afternoon on our near 250 yr old 3 bedroom detached house. We've been told that we need to have a full re-wire at a cost of £10,500!!! :eek: Ok, I know the cost is dependant on lots of factors...but, seriously this seems outrageous?! We only have 4 wall sockets in the whole of the upstairs of the house!

We've looked into it and it seems the "average" price for a house our size is approx £3000?

Would really like to know what your thoughts are about this. Needless to say, we will be getting other quotes.

Many thanks in advance

:eek: Simple advise get some other quotes. That sounds way way out the ball park to me. When getting uotes make sure you cover EVERYTHING you want and exactly where you want everything. It makes it less likely for there to be extras due to stuff youve missed.

For a laugh i would ask for a breakdown of that estimate.:rotfl:

vinyldude1210

As requested, here is that breakdown of the estimate...

Materials = £ 1500.00 , Plastering = £ 1300.00 , Labour = £ 7700.00 , Total £10,500 inc of vat.

Canucklehead

Hi

Absolutely stunning . Only one poster( an electrician strangely enough) asked the right questions. Everyone else automatically assumes that it's a criminal act to give a price like that , with no information whatsoever.
Let the OP detail what he has been quoted for , THEN you can all let rip.

How about that?

Corgi Guy.

guidarufino

I'm the OP's other half and just thought I'd chip in with my twopenneth worth here as I stumbled across this thread by accident.

We've had a second quotation today and this guy said the electrics weren't that bad (the first guy said they were f****d and dangerous) and we probably wouldn't need a re-wire. He said he couldn't be sure until he'd done a periodic inspection for which he'll charge us £80 (+ vat presumably) but he was confident it wasn't necessary.

So who the hell do we believe?! How do we know who's lying?

The other issue is that £10,500 seems very steep even if we do need a full re-wire. Needless to say we've spoken to lots of people about this and everyone, without exception, including those who know our house and know about this sort of thing, think that the figure the first guy quoted is way off the mark.

So we'll be getting a 3rd and probably a 4th quote. And we have a friend coming over who, while not NIC registered, has done re-wiring on his own home so hopefully knows his stuff. And at least we can trust him not to bullsh1t us which obviously somebody is... :eek:

savcab

Canucklehead wrote: »

Hi

Absolutely stunning . Only one poster( an electrician strangely enough) asked the right questions. Everyone else automatically assumes that it's a criminal act to give a price like that , with no information whatsoever.
Let the OP detail what he has been quoted for , THEN you can all let rip.

How about that?

Corgi Guy.

They did give a "breakdown"

ERR and I too am an electrician.

A PIR usually costs between £100 and £150 ish depending on the size of property. IN general it was recommended that houses were rewired every 25 years or so. Nowadays should the cable tests be within the parameters laid down in bs7671 then a rewire may not be necessary at the time. I would recommend to people that rewireable fuses are not as reliable as miniture circuit breakers due to disconnection times etc etc.
That is the problem in the industry as no two people see a job the same way and there are those who interpret results differently. Im sorry but £10,500 for any rewire is a HELL of a lot of money in a domestic environment.


The poster has done the right thing by asking questions and in this instance i would urge them to get more quotes and see whos advice they seem to be most comfortable with. I was phoned recenly by a frm looking for inspecting and testing of their equipment. I was the 6TH company he called. I told him i should have been first on his list:rotfl: the job was only around 3 or £400 so that goes to show that you have to try and get best value.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Spons-Estimating-Costs-Electrical-Guides/dp/0415386144

Always a handy tips guide.

ormus

Canucklehead wrote: »

Hi

Absolutely stunning . Only one poster( an electrician strangely enough) asked the right questions. Everyone else automatically assumes that it's a criminal act to give a price like that , with no information whatsoever.
Let the OP detail what he has been quoted for , THEN you can all let rip.

How about that?

Corgi Guy.

its a 3 bed detached house, !!!!!!. not the Citibank HQ.

Canucklehead

ormus wrote: »

its a 3 bed detached house, !!!!!!. not the Citibank HQ.

Good morning: We still know nothing about the property other than its age and size. Still no breakdown of costs i.e. number of powerpoints, light switches, downlighters, amount of channelling, MK brand or bargain basement fittings etc. A property's construction has implications....thatched, cob, listed...the list goes on... also location in the UK and access issues. Fwiw...the OH has worked throughout Central London over the years eg. Kensingston, Chelsea, Belgravia and you would be amazed at the specification demanded and the cost of works (plumbing and heating).

I've always advised at least 3 written, full specification quotes from trades recommended by a trusted source. Every job is different and estimating cost on an internet forum is a stab in the dark :rolleyes:

Btw,Ormus...we are still waiting for the name of the merchant who sells WB boilers with flues for £650 all in...I think your fellow MSErs should have benefit of your knowledge (but I suspect that is a non-starter).

Canucklehead