Electrical work - ballpark figure for rewiring a house

Rural_Puppy

Hello all
In August, a local electrician I have used before started rewiring my 3 bedroom, 140m2 house. Two stories. Replacement of all sockets, light switches, wiring, consumer unit. He employed the slowest tradesman I have ever come across, and has charged me by the hour! Over 200 hours, and still not quite finished, over 6 months later. The kitchen had already been rewired and charged for.
I bought all the sockets etc, he supplied the cables and back boxes. So far the cost for materials and labour is coming in at nearly £7000. (plus the kitchen cost that was over £1700, so nearly £9000 total.)
My question is what is reasonable? in terms of the number of hours it might take to rewire a house of this size, and in terms of cost. The house was undergoing a full refurb so no furniture and easy to open up under floors and behind walls etc.
I accept that I am partly at fault for not asking him at the outset a) what the cost would likely be or b) how long it would take.  However, I feel he might be taking advantage a bit.
Are these costs excessive?
Thoughts welcomed. Thank you.

Anthony147

Yes - Pretty much double what it should be (circa 4K + face plates). Three bed empty house under a week to two weeks depending on number of people working concurrently.

Rural_Puppy

Thank you. Indeed, I had budgeted between 3 and 4k for the work. I will raise with him that I feel the cost is excessive for the work carried out. Are there any electrical work cost calculators I might be able to refer to?

Anthony147

There are numerous job quote sites but he’ll just say it’s more involved than normal, harder access, more materials, you’ve been under his feet etc.

Unfortunately you’re between a rock and a hard place as you’ll need him to notify and certify the work - Anyone brought in while charge the other arm and leg.

Cold comfort now but never engage on time / materials for a “full” job and hope it all works out as I have a feeling he hasn’t finished gouging you yet which is something you may want to consider with regard to bringing someone else in 

You could point out average prices but I don’t think he cares and just wants regular payments from you.

Just so you know - I’d kick him off the job as a principle - He’s taken you for a mug - in terms of price, work and time taken.

fenwick458

You can't compare a £4k rewire to an hourly rate rewire, you will have a better standard of work if it's take them 200 hours to do it so there's that at least. 

Rural_Puppy

fenwick458 said:

You can't compare a £4k rewire to an hourly rate rewire, you will have a better standard of work if it's take them 200 hours to do it so there's that at least. 

Why can't these be compared? Surely the result is the same?

Risteard

It's really not that unreasonable. The last new build I did was 10,000 Euro plus VAT and the last partial rewire I did was around Stg £5,000 - I really don't think £4k is terribly realistic for a rewire. Sorry to burst your bubble. 

TELLIT01

fenwick458 said:

You can't compare a £4k rewire to an hourly rate rewire, you will have a better standard of work if it's take them 200 hours to do it so there's that at least. 

Doing the work excessively slowly does not equate to a better standard of work.  It could just as easily be somebody who is extremely unsure of what they are doing, or (possibly the most likely) done in order to squeeze every penny they possibly can out of a customer who has has agree to pay a day rate.

fenwick458

Rural_Puppy said:

fenwick458 said:

You can't compare a £4k rewire to an hourly rate rewire, you will have a better standard of work if it's take them 200 hours to do it so there's that at least. 

Why can't these be compared? Surely the result is the same?

not really. I don't really know how to explain it. do you think all cars on the road are the same? would you reckon a £1000 second hand car is the same as £30,000 car?
there are different standards of work. 4k is the bottom of the price range, you don't get anything fancy here. when you are paying someone on an hourly rate, every day you probably tell them something new that you want doing, and check their work, maybe get them to alter it slightly. similarly the tradesman is getting paid per hour, so they aren't just going to rush it in, or even worse, just cut corners completely when they run out of time on the job

fenwick458

TELLIT01 said:

fenwick458 said:

You can't compare a £4k rewire to an hourly rate rewire, you will have a better standard of work if it's take them 200 hours to do it so there's that at least. 

Doing the work excessively slowly does not equate to a better standard of work.  It could just as easily be somebody who is extremely unsure of what they are doing, or (possibly the most likely) done in order to squeeze every penny they possibly can out of a customer who has has agree to pay a day rate.

yeah it could be that, but after a week or 40 hours having the tradesman do you not think the homeowner would have spotted that?
back then was the time to be discussing if the OP thought the price was excessive, not right near the end when you're 200 hours into the job, you don't have any options now,.

so to the OP, whats the standard of work like, is it all good and looks like they have taken their time, or is it really shoddy and rushed looking? 

TELLIT01

fenwick458 said:

TELLIT01 said:

fenwick458 said:

You can't compare a £4k rewire to an hourly rate rewire, you will have a better standard of work if it's take them 200 hours to do it so there's that at least. 

Doing the work excessively slowly does not equate to a better standard of work.  It could just as easily be somebody who is extremely unsure of what they are doing, or (possibly the most likely) done in order to squeeze every penny they possibly can out of a customer who has has agree to pay a day rate.

yeah it could be that, but after a week or 40 hours having the tradesman do you not think the homeowner would have spotted that?
back then was the time to be discussing if the OP thought the price was excessive, not right near the end when you're 200 hours into the job, you don't have any options now,.

so to the OP, whats the standard of work like, is it all good and looks like they have taken their time, or is it really shoddy and rushed looking? 

Yes I do think the OP would have spotted that, and they say that he was the slowest tradesman they had ever come across.  I do agree that they should have raised the issue much earlier and there is little they can do now other than boot the contractor off the site and get another one.  That will not be easy as trades generally don't like taking on a part done job.