Electrician Quote

Mark_84

Had a quote to:

To wire & install 150mm Humidistat fan in
kitchen & 100mm timer fan in bathroom.

£ 337.27

This involves knocking the holes through the external walls in both the bathroom & kitchen.

I am going to try and get another quote but wondered whether this was reasonable ?

zax47

Sounds about right to me. Without seeing the site, it's comparable with what I'd charge. What are the walls made of, brick or stone? How thick? Even with a core drill, 4" holes through walls are a pain to cut.

sparky883

Sounds good to me,Niether cheap or expensive,If you shop around you might be able to get £40/£60 off But is it worth the hassle,Take a risk-Ask the Company To knock of the £37-27 as you like round figures,Offer cash BUT not a "Cash Job" if they are a small company this help thier short term cash flow.
FTR- Cash Job-Tradesman puts cash in pocket,Does nt put through books,pays no tax,does not issue reciept (no trace)

Cash Payment-Issues reciept,puts through books,Cash helps him in short term

Mark_84

Thanks Guy's. I might get another quote to compare.

The walls are made out of brick. Terrace house built around 1890 (apparantly hard to drill ...)

themanbearpig

Where abouts in UK are you?

I paid £70 for an inline to be fitted into the bathroom.. included wiring up, drilling hole in ceiling, and making hole into roof for outlet.

£340 sounds like a rip-off for outside the SE.

zax47

themanbearpig - did you miss this bit?

"This involves knocking the holes through the external walls in both the bathroom & kitchen."

That's where the extra cost comes in! Among my fellow tradespeople, these hard Victorian bricks are known as "b!tch bricks"!

As I, and others, have said - £340 sounds about right for the work described by the OP (not what you had done which was completely different - fan in loft, no isolator needed, no holes through wall etc...!).

Mark_84

I have had another quote as follows:

Kitchen Humidistat Fan £240 +Vat
Bathroom Fan £175 + Vat

Both fans would be Xpelair.

The guy said that since my fuse box was of the older type with wireable fuses and the wires from the meter feeding it weren't of the correct thickness he would be able to install the fans but not issue a certificate unless the fuse box was replaced with a modern one.

Replacement fuse box £375 + Vat (Wylex)

Total: £790 + Vat (£908 inc Vat)

Are these prices fair ? Would it be correct that a certificate can't be issued for installing the fans if the fuse box isn't upto the job ?

The Guy did offer to do half the work for cash to exclude the VAT so i may be able to haggle slightly ...

Thanks

Mark

baldelectrician

Don't buy a Wylex consumer unit

I buy MK (£50-£70) more costly, but worth it

The fans shoud be core cut (no knocking required), which leaves a better job

I would suggest you insist on a core cutter.

I have my own core cutter (and use it a few times a year), works out cheaper than hiring one

zax47

Mark_84 wrote: »

Would it be correct that a certificate can't be issued for installing the fans if the fuse box isn't upto the job ?

Not necessarily. Nothing wrong with fuses - he can supply an EIC (Electric Installation Cert) for his work and note the deviations from the 17th edition regs, in the space provided. However, if he is adding new circuits then he has an obligation to make sure they comply with the current regs.

You should really think about changing your CU to provide (at least) RCD protection for your installation. £375 is about right for that, using a half-decent box from Wylex or Hager, but a few quid more would get you an even better MK (as baldelectrician said).