Electrician rounding up hours
HangOnASecond
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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?
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?
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Anything in writing before work started about the charge and how it’s calculated?
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.
Take car to garage for work & you will find £X per hour or part of.
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!
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.
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.
He said to the salesman, “My wife would like to talk to you about the Volkswagen Golf in the showroom window.”
Salesman said, “We haven't got a Volkswagen Golf in the showroom window.”
The man replied, “You have now mate".
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.