Electrical quote in London

wannadie

We have contracted a builder to help renovate our 3 bedroom terraced house nr richmond in London. We!are generally very please with the quality of his work and broadly please with the value but think his final electrical bill is too high.

The original quote was based on 60 points so the cost was £3600 which seems quite reasonable to re-wire a house.!We were aware that we had gone over 60 points but the final count is now at 116 and we are baulking at the revised price.

The builder has suggested that the electrician charges him £30 per point and for the addition £30 per point he supplies all the cable, switches, sockets, isolators, extractor fans, spotlights which seem to be mid range quality and some profit for him. He has also absorbed the costs of a handful of minor changes.

Does this seem reasonable?
Is £60 per point too broad i.e. should the price vary between the type of electrical point, light switch, isolator, tv point?
What does an electrical point consist of?
The quote includes items such as a TV splitter and BT connection box; this seems like double accountings as we are paying for the TV / BT end points?

I would also like to stress that we are vert satisfied with the work so are looking for a fair resolution.

Thanks
Matt

wannadie

Apologies for the English, we only have Internet access via a 'smart' phone / dumb user!

screwedagain

£60 per point sounds a bit high but could well be the going rate in London.

For a typical socket this will include cabling, conduit, backbox, socket outlet, labour and testing (I assume you're getting the relevant test certificates from the contractor). The £60 per point has been worked out by dividing the total quote by the number of points, so this will also include the cost for a new consumer unit, circuit breakers/RCBO's, earthing etc. Actually when you consider that the price sounds more reasonable.

The price will also be affected by e.g. faceplate types. Are they just white PVC or more decorative matt chrome etc. This can have a big effect on price. Did you have any particular requirements regarding lighting e.g. dimmable downlights, or LED lamps/bulbs etc.? Again these can be expensive.

I don't understand your query regarding TV/BT points... If there are multiple TV points you will have probably needed a powered distribution amplifier/splitter in the attic. Did you buy anything like this directly yourself, or did the contractor supply it all?

Too late now(!) but this emphasises the importance of:
1. Figuring out exactly what you want before getting quotes
2. Asking for quotes to be broken down to give a cost per point, so you know from the off what the cost impact will be if you ask for extras. Makes it easier for everyone concerned.

HTH

macman

How did you manage to fit 116 power points into a 3 bedroomed house (especially if you started off with an estimate of 60)?!
Assuming 3 b/rs. 2 recept, kitchen, hall/landing etc, that's about 14 per room/zone.

dave82_2

When we had ours redone each point, light, spotlight, shaving point, double socket, tv point was £50

This was North London.

fluffpot

£60 a point seems about right for London although it will depend on the type of property
The £60 will work out as an average per point - some will be more and some less, but it evens out in the end.

I can't see you've got much to argue about though as you originally agreed a price of £60 per point (presumably when you accepted his original quote) and it's just that you've added more in....

I also cannot possibly see how you can have 116 points in a 3 bed house either! Please tell us more? Have you gone downlight mad? You may regret that when you get your first leccy bill!

Moomum

We are rewiring our 5 bed Victorian detatched, some electricians tried to charge us £80 a socket for 80 sockets. In the end we found an electrician willing to do a quote based on a weekly wage for however long he was there. Quotes ranged from £5000 to £18,000!

wannadie

We had quite a few downlights but are putting in lower wattage bulbs.

This quote includes tv, satellite, bt points, many of the lights are on two way switches so it all adds up.

I think the general comment is £60 / point is reasonable. I think he uses MK fixtures so not the cheapest.

Thanks,

Better get to the bank and extend that overdraft!