New consumer unit, how much to install?

PenguinOfDeath

sk240 wrote: »

Why do plumbers and electricians think they are worth so much money, i work in the space industry, building sattelites for the likes of NASA etc, and have trained for a very long time and only get £120 a day.
Tradie wages are crazy!
If the electrician is any good, it shouldnt take any longer than a day!
Obviously im in the wrong job

Assuming this isn't a wind up, you aren't just paying the tradesman's wages for the job, think of their running costs, insurances, diesel, trade waste tipping costs, upkeep of certs etc etc

keystone

sk240 wrote: »

Why do plumbers and electricians think they are worth so much money, i work in the space industry, building sattelites for the likes of NASA etc, and have trained for a very long time and only get £120 a day.

Oh don't be so silly. Simpistically out of his money he has to:

Pay for his van
Pay for his insurances
Maintain the van and put fuel in it
Buy and maintain his tools
Keep up to date with training
Pay for his all his overheads
etc etc etc etc

Putting materials costs to one side take the sum of all that lot away from turnover and that gives him a gross profit. He is taxed by HMRC on his gross profit. He is not allowed to pay himself a salary, call that a cost and then get taxed on the profit that is left.

You company has paid for your training, you also cost your company a great deal more than £ 120 a day. £ 150 a day to a tradesman probably netts out at substantially less than you draw as salary.

Have you lost the capacity to think somewhere along the line?

Cheers

Woodyrocks

I have had 4 quotes for replacing consumer unit in new house over the past month and they range from £400-450

HTH

fluffpot

sk240 wrote: »

Tradie wages are crazy!
If the electrician is any good, it shouldnt take any longer than a day!
Obviously im in the wrong job

Well why don't you retrain then and start coining it in like the rest of us????? :rotfl:

DavidF

sk240 wrote: »

I recently had my consumer unit changed, and tested etc and it took 4hrs max.
If its just a CU change, then even i could do it in 6hrs.

Why do plumbers and electricians think they are worth so much money, i work in the space industry, building sattelites for the likes of NASA etc, and have trained for a very long time and only get £120 a day.
Tradie wages are crazy!
If the electrician is any good, it shouldnt take any longer than a day!
Obviously im in the wrong job

Your £120 per day = about £300 per day in what it "costs" for NASA ect to buy your services....and believe me that is a conservative estimate.

BlueC

fluffpot wrote: »

£150 a day - i don't think so! Not for someone who is any good

Board changes take 2 days on anything average size or above - 1 day to test and do remedial works (there are always some), 1 day to do board change and paperwork

Crikey I'm glad you're not my spark. 2 days to change a board? How much of that is spent drinking tea, having a smoke, or "popping out to get a few bits"? Or do you start at 11am and knock off at 2pm?

OP, if its a simple board change then max 1 day work for a decent spark. Expect around £120 to £200 depending on rates in your area. If it is more involved - e.g. moving or extending cables - then it may take a bit longer.

That said, you may not even need a new consumer unit so don't throw money away if it isn't needed. The unit you linked is fine, I think we have the same but in a 12 way. Seems to come with a decent range of breakers too. Some sparks will want to supply their own which is fine but don't let them charge you £200 for a £50 box.

zaax

It isn't just a change of board the whole house has to be checked including up dating the earth bonding, and then issue the certificate.

fluffpot

BlueC wrote: »

Crikey I'm glad you're not my spark. 2 days to change a board? How much of that is spent drinking tea, having a smoke, or "popping out to get a few bits"? Or do you start at 11am and knock off at 2pm?

OP, if its a simple board change then max 1 day work for a decent spark. Expect around £120 to £200 depending on rates in your area. If it is more involved - e.g. moving or extending cables - then it may take a bit longer.

That said, you may not even need a new consumer unit so don't throw money away if it isn't needed. The unit you linked is fine, I think we have the same but in a 12 way. Seems to come with a decent range of breakers too. Some sparks will want to supply their own which is fine but don't let them charge you £200 for a £50 box.

Hey, don't worry, I wouldn't want to work for you if you have that attitude....
To do the job properly takes time. But of course, I forgot, you know how long it should take - are you an electrician then???

keystone

fluffpot wrote: »

- are you an electrician then???

More like:

BlueC

fluffpot wrote: »

Hey, don't worry, I wouldn't want to work for you if you have that attitude....
To do the job properly takes time. But of course, I forgot, you know how long it should take - are you an electrician then???

I have had a lot of electrical work carried out both in my job and at home. It just so happens that my electrician tonight emailed me a price for moving our own CU:

"My day rate is £150 so for the consumer unit move that would be one
day plus materials - so around £160"

It is never 2 days work but fair play to you if you can charge that amount of time/money. For comparison I recently had an incoming mains moved for a building (2 flats) including 2 meter moves and reconnections, new mains breakers, new SWA cabling (2 reasonably long runs), and move and reconnection of 1 CU.

Took 2 guys less than a day (one arrived about 9am, the other lunchtime, both finished by 5pm), so less than 2 days work. You'd have been at it for a month by the sounds of things.