Charging by tye of job

Marci70

Hello, I wonder if you can help. I had a problem with overflowing flusher in the toilet and my bath tub needed to be sealed again with silicone. He changed the syphon system, and also he suggested that it would have been better to remove the panel of the bath tub so the sealing would be done better and would last longer. The invoice I received is fragmented according to the actions he took. So he charges things like :removing bath panel£15,removing toilet cistern £25, sealing with silicon £65. Then of course he charges for the parts. There is no mention to the hours he spent or labour. The amount he charges us is £300 for 3hours of work. I was wondering if someone should at least give us an hourly quote. I just found the amount too high!
Thanks

glentoran99

what did he quote you before you agreed to the work?

glentoran99

https://www.google.com/search?q=plumber+hourly+rate&sourceid=ie7&rls=com.microsoft:en-GB:IE-Address&ie=&oe=


Average hourly rate for a plumber in the UK is between £80 and £100

Marci70

I asked for a quote but he said it would more or less like last time. I have used him once before and I was happy and I trusted him. Silly of me not to insist for a quote. I guess that if a plumbers hourly rate is an average of £80 then I should consider myself lucky for being charged only £300 for 3 hours. On the other hand I should consider myself stupid for becoming a scientist who tries to improve people's life daily with huge responsibility and only gets paid £20 an hour. Thanks for your reply it really helped me to understand and accept the quote.

glentoran99

Plumber seems to be the trade to be in these days

shortcrust

Marci70 wrote: »

I asked for a quote but he said it would more or less like last time. I have used him once before and I was happy and I trusted him. Silly of me not to insist for a quote. I guess that if a plumbers hourly rate is an average of £80 then I should consider myself lucky for being charged only £300 for 3 hours. On the other hand I should consider myself stupid for becoming a scientist who tries to improve people's life daily with huge responsibility and only gets paid £20 an hour. Thanks for your reply it really helped me to understand and accept the quote.

This sort of comment really winds me up. Perhaps plumbers are expensive because they’re in short supply, and perhaps they’re in short supply because people don’t want to enter a profession that’s seen as ‘lowly’ by so many people like you.

Doozergirl

shortcrust wrote: »

This sort of comment really winds me up. Perhaps plumbers are expensive because they’re in short supply, and perhaps they’re in short supply because people don’t want to enter a profession that’s seen as ‘lowly’ by so many people like you

I think breaking a job like that into parts to total £300 is taking the proverbial but you do speak truth.

Apprenticeships are down 35% year on year. There's already a problem with a skills shortage, and there's a full blown crisis looming. We're not going to be solving the housing crisis without people to build houses. Rates are rising for those of us that employ people as well.

There's also a change in behaviour. I can't imagine many people calling a qualified plumber to silicon a bath and change toilet gubbins 30 years ago.

shortcrust

Doozergirl wrote: »

I think breaking a job like that into parts to total £300 is taking the proverbial but you do speak truth.

Apprenticeships are down 35% year on year. There's already a problem with a skills shortage, and there's a full blown crisis looming. We're not going to be solving the housing crisis without people to build houses. Rates are rising for those of us that employ people as well.

There's also a change in behaviour. I can't imagine many people calling a qualified plumber to silicon a bath and change toilet gubbins 30 years ago.

You're right about that!:D

I do think we have a big problem in this country with the way we think about different types of jobs and professions. I bet the OP's parents and teachers would have been aghast if they'd said there were going to be a plumber! And quite a few threads on here where people question bills seem to boil down to "how can a tradesperson earn more than someone like me?" I have a theory that it only became uncouth to talk about how much money you've got in our society when 'people in trade' started earning serious cash.

BTW, no chips on my shoulders. No one complains about my hourly rate because I'm seen as a middle class professional who does a 'clever' job.

Furts

shortcrust wrote: »

You're right about that!:D

I do think we have a big problem in this country with the way we think about different types of jobs and professions. I bet the OP's parents and teachers would have been aghast if they'd said there were going to be a plumber! And quite a few threads on here where people question bills seem to boil down to "how can a tradesperson earn more than someone like me?" I have a theory that it only became uncouth to talk about how much money you've got in our society when 'people in trade' started earning serious cash.

BTW, no chips on my shoulders. No one complains about my hourly rate because I'm seen as a middle class professional who does a 'clever' job.

There is a fascinating, related aspect to the silicone on the bath. OP said it is being re-done. So why ? Then reflect on exactly 30 years ago - the time quoted by Doozergirl. I have a bath installed exactly 30 years ago. The legs are adjusted and tightened - there are nuts, the lock nuts are tightened - they come above. The legs include intermediate legs and are on spreader timber bearers. The wall floor junction is sealed under the bath and the hole in the floor for the waste has been sealed. No way would this attention to detail exist in a new home. Yet all this is on a common bath fitted by a mass house builder 30 years ago.

Now for the reality check - the silicone is as good as the day it was installed and the bath has never moved or leaked. The original taps work perfectly and none in the house have even needed new washers in 30 years. The chrome plated finish on all the taps is like new.

So why do I type this? The reason is to state standards have fallen dramatically in the last 30 years. However coupled with this consumers understanding of how things work, what represents good workmanship, inspecting work, and what represents real quality have fallen at an even faster pace. Which means the cowboy element have the upper hand and outright bodgery can occur today that was impossible to get away with 30 years ago. Here the future does not look bright! It is only going to get worse and here consumers have themselfs to blame for allowing this to occur.

DSmiffy

First of all, did the plumber do a good job and are you happy with the work?

Secondly, in future, maybe think about getting a quotation first, I suppose you will need to mark this down to a lesson learned.

Thirdly, plumbers, electricians, plasterers, joiners etc are all qualified tradespeople (ok, there are some cowboys out there operating under these names, but getting recommendations from others first usually weeds those out). They have spent time and effort learning their trade and invested in themselves through time, effort and training. If they are self-employed, they do not have a company subsidising their pension, they do not get paid time off work for sickness, holidays, etc., if they do not work, they do not earn. All of these things are factored in when pricing for a job which is why your usual one man band type of operative is always going to be more expensive, and if he's not, then that is when I would start to ask questions about how qualified that person may be to do the job to a good standard
Just my opinion

DSmiffy

Furts wrote: »

So why do I type this? The reason is to state standards have fallen dramatically in the last 30 years. However coupled with this consumers understanding of how things work, what represents good workmanship, inspecting work, and what represents real quality have fallen at an even faster pace. Which means the cowboy element have the upper hand and outright bodgery can occur today that was impossible to get away with 30 years ago. Here the future does not look bright! It is only going to get worse and here consumers have themselfs to blame for allowing this to occur.

^^^ This exactly !
There are far too many "Rate my builder", "Trust a trader" sites now where anyone can set themselves up as a tradesperson and get 20 mates to post a glowing review of their work, when in actual fact they don't have the insurance cover, skills or qualifications to do the job.
Always go on recommendations from trusted friends and family.