Plumber's charges

bdd198

I've just had a plumber complete a recommissioning job on my boiler and checking the plumbing in my new flat to make sure it is all working and safe. He has spent most of the day there (seven hours) and has had a colleague with him who is a gas engineer for the boiler. The work they have carried out has been very straight forward, cleaning the boiler, changing the odd pipe etc.

I'm confident they will have done a good job, but my concern is the price they have just quoted me for the work...

£60 for each half hour - £120 an hour. That's £840 just on labour!

Is this in any way reasonable or normal? I live in West London/Kingston area.

I know I should have askedfor a fixed price in advance or a maximum daily rate, but I had to call themout in a bit of a hurry and didn't have time to do my usual searches to compareprices. Hindsight is a wonderful thing and I've learnt a very valuable lesson.

Canucklehead

bdd198 wrote: »

I've just had a plumber complete a recommissioning job on my boiler and checking the plumbing in my new flat to make sure it is all working and safe. He has spent most of the day there (seven hours) and has had a colleague with him who is a gas engineer for the boiler. The work they have carried out has been very straight forward, cleaning the boiler, changing the odd pipe etc.

I'm confident they will have done a good job, but my concern is the price they have just quoted me for the work...

£60 for each half hour - £120 an hour. That's £840 just on labour!

Is this in any way reasonable or normal? I live in West London/Kingston area.

I know I should have askedfor a fixed price in advance or a maximum daily rate, but I had to call themout in a bit of a hurry and didn't have time to do my usual searches to compareprices. Hindsight is a wonderful thing and I've learnt a very valuable lesson.

How/where did you find these tradespeople? Why was the boiler recommissioned and what parts have been used? Have you been quoted a price after the fact i.e. after the work has been completed..if so, this is an invoice not a quote.

Have to say, the OH worked in West/Southwest London in plumbing & heating for 30 years. If he had been billing at that rate, we'd be enjoying an early retirement.

bdd198

I bought the flat a few months ago, and it was sold following repossession so the water system had been drained down. The only parts they replaced were minor plumbing fittings which came to a grand total of £59.

I was orally quoted a price before they started and I believed it was £60 an hour, not half hour. It is possible I have misheard them because at £60 every half hour I would have questioned it. Unfortunately nothing was written down. £60 an hour seems to be more reasonable for London plumber quotes with a quick search online.

I found these trades people from a flyer that was put through the door. I had already had a cowboy plumber come round who charge me £60 for an hour's quote, failed to understand how my plumbing system worked, unscrewed a pipe and soaked the kitchen and then quoted me £1,000 to do totally unnecessary work. After that I just wanted someone who I felt I could trust and allowed myself to go to the first person who sounded like they knew what they were doing, and left it to them without carefully negotiating a price in advance.