Electrician rounding up hours

HangOnASecond

I had an electrician round the other day to do a couple of jobs. He charges a flat rate of £40/hour (plus VAT) for labour.

According to his own timesheet he was here for 2h 30m. However on the invoice he's rounded that up to 3h.

Is it normal practice for electricians to 'round up' the hours like this? Am I obliged to pay for the 30m he wasn't actually working?

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

How did you engage his services OP?

Anything in writing before work started about the charge and how it’s calculated?

Undervalued

HangOnASecond said:

I had an electrician round the other day to do a couple of jobs. He charges a flat rate of £40/hour (plus VAT) for labour.

According to his own timesheet he was here for 2h 30m. However on the invoice he's rounded that up to 3h.

Is it normal practice for electricians to 'round up' the hours like this? Am I obliged to pay for the 30m he wasn't actually working?

Travelling time?

However the exact terms should have been agreed in advance. Had he been there for three house but only got the same amount of work done what you you have said then? Ultimately it was, presumably, the job that you were paying for not the pleasure of his company?

I used to have a contract with a client which stated that the minimum period of account was half a day. They were a reasonable distance away and I wanted a visit to be worthwhile.

born_again

Standard for many things.
Take car to garage for work & you will find £X per hour or part of.

[Deleted User]

I'm surprised that they don't have a minimum fee (half day for example).

You got an electrician for 2hr 30min for £120 + vat (so £144 inc), even taking the half hour into account, I'd say that's a bargain!

macman

Are you sure it's not 'per hour or part thereof'?
The going rate round here would be circa £90 per hour, so it sounds like a very cheap rate to me, especially given no minimum call out fee. 

Belenus

HangOnASecond said:

I had an electrician round the other day to do a couple of jobs. He charges a flat rate of £40/hour (plus VAT) for labour.

According to his own timesheet he was here for 2h 30m. However on the invoice he's rounded that up to 3h.

Is it normal practice for electricians to 'round up' the hours like this? Am I obliged to pay for the 30m he wasn't actually working?

What were the two jobs? Did he do them quickly and efficiently?

His charges sound reasonable and rounding up hours is standard practice in many professions. His travelling times may have been more than that 'extra' half hour.

Another electrician may not have rounded up his hours but may have taken longer to do the job and cost you more.

DullGreyGuy

HangOnASecond said:

Is it normal practice for electricians to 'round up' the hours like this? Am I obliged to pay for the 30m he wasn't actually working?

Comes down to your contract.

For the last 14 years my contract has been based on a "professional day" so work 20 minutes or 20 hours in a day my client pays the same. In practice I wont bill if I just check my email on a Sunday and reply to a few bits because I'm working with their middle east branches but then I may also leave a touch early on a Friday because the middle east office is closed for the weekend so it comes out in the round.