Gas installation...are these fair prices.

jky

Pincher wrote: »

What's the lesson? There are no cheap, well trained, seasoned plumbers. It's like asking for a car that's lovingly cared for, one lady owner: she is actually a hoodlum with a pit bull.

Im not asking for cheap, im asking for fair.

everybody tells me that im an excellent decorator/ paper hanger etc but i only charge the going rate in my area, i dont charge extra because im good, people expect it done properly and thats what i do for them.

gas4you

An average RGI will charge between £260 and £300 + VAT per day.

They will also mark up all materials.

You sound as though you are selling your skills too cheap and working for a wage, rather than a business profit that you take a wage from.

MillicentBystander

gas4you wrote: »

An average RGI will charge between £260 and £300 + VAT per day.

They will also mark up all materials.

You sound as though you are selling your skills too cheap and working for a wage, rather than a business profit that you take a wage from.

There are way too many of them to justify such a daily fee imo. Like I said earlier, the Op should shop around and tell each one that's what he is doing. That should concentrate their minds a lot more.

victor2

jky wrote: »

Ill try that...thanks, i just get a bit worried about not seeing any of their work. All the plumbers ive had quotes from ive met them on jobs.

You will doubtless know from your own work that a lot of jobs come through recommendations from satisfied customers. That's always the risk with getting quotes from available tradesmen and not following up references. There could be a reason why they're available....
We're lucky in that we have a builder who has now done quite a few jobs for us. The latest cost us a significant amount, low thousands in our case, but we are now happy enough in dealing with him that we don't get other quotes. The latest job has been finished to his usual high standard and another is already in the pipeline. But we first got him by getting 3 quotes for a job we wanted doing and he came out with the middle cost. That in itself is often a good quick guide - ignore the highest and lowest quotes and go with one in-between.

gas4you

MillicentBystander wrote: »

There are way too many of them to justify such a daily fee imo. Like I said earlier, the Op should shop around and tell each one that's what he is doing. That should concentrate their minds a lot more.

Yes there are lots around who charge a lot less, I lose many quotes to them, but give it around 12-18 months later when problems occur, then quite often I get called in as the original installer cannot be contacted.

My extra fee then charged, makes the whole job more expensive than my quote in the first place. My comment to them is always, 'it's not so cheap now is it?'

One takes one's chances when buying cheap:)

jky

Thanks Victor.


I think a lot of you are not getting what im trying to ask. I dont mind paying but i want to know exactly what im paying for...materials, labour. I want to know how much they are charging me for doing it.

Im not paying a plumber a ridiculous amount of money to install it for me when its the sort of job i could probably do myself, not the boiler end but the rest of it, a lot of people i know have installed their own heating.

I might be a 52 year old female but im a dab hand at DIY. I plumbed in my own bathroom a few years ago, hot to hot, cold to cold, waste. (Its easier than hanging some of the designer wallpapers that im asked to hang these days).I know thats nothing to do with gas and thats the risky bit so dont jump down my throat but the bits that take the longest time when installing heating is a job that a lot of people i know do themselves.

So unless i get a quote that tells me exactly what im paying for then i wont know if its a fair price or not. So i will keep looking to see if i can find a quote im happy with.

gas4you

Why not just 2 or 3 quotes to fit the boiler then, and do the rest yourself?

You would probably be looking at around £400 + VAT for labour only, including a visit back to commission it.

jky

gas4you wrote: »

Why not just 2 or 3 quotes to fit the boiler then, and do the rest yourself?

You would probably be looking at around £400 + VAT for labour only, including a visit back to commission it.

Because i think it might be too much for me now, i wish i had done it a few years ago.

ollski

I wouldn't provide a total breakdown on costs because of fluctuating prices on components and because I could imagine the customer wanting me to buy A from here, B from here, C from the internet etc etc. It would vastly increase time on the job. Will core drill go through the wall like a knife through butter or will it wear a 150 quid diamond core drill to the nub?. I couldn't work with a customer monitoring tea breaks, spares acquisition etc because I had estimated an exact number of hours. The trade really doesn't work that way.
There are many gas operatives in an area on the gas safe site, some install, some repair, some are loft insulators, some are commercial, some are registered through companies, some are no longer operating, but yes that leaves quite a few to give you a quote. If they all give you a similar quote then that is the job price.

jky

ollski wrote: »

I wouldn't provide a total breakdown on costs because of fluctuating prices on components and because I could imagine the customer wanting me to buy A from here, B from here, C from the internet etc etc. It would vastly increase time on the job. Will core drill go through the wall like a knife through butter or will it wear a 150 quid diamond core drill to the nub?. I couldn't work with a customer monitoring tea breaks, spares acquisition etc because I had estimated an exact number of hours. The trade really doesn't work that way.
There are many gas operatives in an area on the gas safe site, some install, some repair, some are loft insulators, some are commercial, some are registered through companies, some are no longer operating, but yes that leaves quite a few to give you a quote. If they all give you a similar quote then that is the job price.

no i wouldnt expect to know a b and c but i would think i am entitled to know exactly what im paying for, i let my customers know what im charging them for.

Thats why you only give a 30 day guarantee for the price you quote because of fluctuation, and i dont monitor tea breaks.

How do i close this thread, im a bit !!!!ed off with you lot.

But thanks to the people who gave me good advice.