kitchen rewire

lquesty

Had to at short notice get an electricain in 2 rewire small kitchen with 8 sockets i proived covers. He wired new cooker and hood had 2 earth them involved taking floor boards up upstairs and fitted 2 new fuses in fuse box 93 pounds each did 3 days work has billed me £1,468 i think this is very expensive any advice would be really appreciated.

0scar123

Having looked at some of the posts on the forum, I see that some people have had a whole house re-wired for less. However, a lot depends on the location (London would be quite expensive compared to Manchester) but it does show the wisdom of getting a quotation before-hand.
I should phone a couple of local firms and ask for quotes for that amount of work. Should give you some idea as to how you have fared.

techmob

sounds very expensive to me.

fluffpot

I would go back to the electrician and ask for a detailed breakdown of the bill before you will pay it. Then come back to this forum and post the information he has given you so we can advise.
It sounds like he has fitted rcbo fuses in the fuse board - these can be expensive dependant on the make and if the work was done at short notice then he may have had to pay a premium to get them in time.
Was it just one person working on the job? Did he work over a weekend or evenings? Does the price include VAT?
I'm assuming that you didn't talk about the price before he started work.....?
Come back with more info so we can help
FLuff

BOBS

Sounds very expensive - hopefully you can negotiate some reduction.

paulsad

Sounds dear to me - by about £500.

albert_s

definitely seems expensive to me, a lot depends on your location as to how much though.
if he has fitted RCBOs depending on the type and make they start at about £30 trade for cheaper(more common) ones.
did he provide you with a certificate for this work?
electrical work in a kitchen such as this type is notifiable to building control and the spark should be part P registered to do this(England&Wales), if he is not then he would have to notify building control independently which could cost him upwards of 2 or £300 so he has maybe added this to your price,
he is still legally obliged to provide you with a test cert for this job though.
can you supply a bit more info on this.


source of info:- I am an electrical qualified supervisor with over 20yrs exp.

lquesty

He would not talk about money just kept saying he would sort it. Got breakdown 6 J Twin cable
2 J cable
1.5 cable
10 earth wire guard
4 earth wire guard
Induction boxes 401
induction boxes 301
Simface bases
Simface outlets
REBO mains safety cutouts
Fixtures / screws etc £348.61

First fix install on site. Basic installation tests. Install temp circuits. £720.

Second fix. Fit basic circuit. Install cross boarding. Supply for mains to hob and oven. Earth loop test and REBO test. £408

Thank you for replying im worried because he has also kept my backdoor key but if anyone knows anything about these things please let me know as i dont know. Thanks again

lquesty

had no certificate either.

albert_s

a lot of that just looks like he is bulking out what he actually done,
6mm T&E cable can be expensive, depends how much he used.
I notice he also used 2.5 and 1.5 cable, sockets(plugs) and lighting cable respectively, and if he has altered the lights signifigantly they would also need RCBO protection, you say he only fitted 2.? sockets and cooker I would assume....
the major issue for me is NO test certificate,
IMHO this is illegal, although if you havent paid yet he may hold this back until he gets his money (a common practice).
it is a legal responsibility to provide the relevant paperwork for alterations such as this, and as he has added a new circuit for your cooker it would be an "electrical installation certificate" and not simply a report.
you need to get onto him and ask for some paperwork, perhaps threaten him with trading standards,
where did you find this guy from.? local paper....?

fluffpot

As he still has your door key, I would tread carefully, he might be fine, but better safe than sorry. Your best bet is to be armed with information (which hopefully this forum can supply!) which you can use to argue the case (if there is a case). Your trump card (as Albert says) is that he must issue you with an electrical installation certificate - has he told you he will do this when he receives payment? I will only issue a cert once I've been paid (to cover myself) but will always tell people this upfront.
If you know his trading name you can check out if he is a registered electrician here: https://www.competentperson.co.uk

The materials he has given you a breakdown for so let's look at that first:
Assuming the fuse board and kitchen aren't too far away from each other, I can't see how he would use more than a reel (100mm) of 2.5 cable and maybe (being generous) 20m of 6mm cable. You didn't mention any lights so I can't see that much 1.5 cable was used. I would have paid around £100 for all the cable.

I've never heard of 'earth wire guard' but could it be... earth sleeving - green and yellow plastic sleeve used earth wires. The cost of which is about £1.50 for 10m! - so say £3.
Again not heard of induction boxes - but presume they are metal back boxes for sockets/switches - no more than £10 for these.
Simface bases/outlets?? Again as you provided the sockets I assume these are for the oven/cooker - I would over estimate £20 for these
RCBO's - you have already said that these were £93 each.
In total then I make the the materials £319 - not too far off. It's the price of the rcbo's that should be checked. It would be useful to know the brand as we can then advise if this is a realistic price.

Labour
He has charged £1,128 for labour. You said he was there for 3 days, so assuming that it was just him, then this is £376 per day. Is he VAT registered? Were any of the days on a weekend? He might charge more for this. Where you are located will also influence the price.
Just to compare, I'm a fully qualified electrician in London and I will charge between £250 and £300 per day (but I'm not VAT registered).

Hope this helps

Fluff