Cheap EICR prices

[davesparks]

Like Murdoch I find carrying out an eicr to be tedious and avoid doing them wherever possible. So I only really do them for friends and regular customers. I quote each one on a job by job basis as they are all very different properties

 

[NDG Elecs]

I used to enjoy them but do find the paperwork a pita now. The way I look at them now is it is better than spending a day chasing out with a lung full of dust. Pays the bills.

 

[vxwestie]

im afraid its about doing a decent enough EICR for the money people will pay, not being paid enough for a proper EICR.
Im charging on average £170-£200 down here in Cornwall and try to fit in 'another' job in to make up the day. If your taking 2hours to type it up when using an Ipad, something is wrong. Fill out the Ipad as you go along and have a standard covering letter.

 

[NDG Elecs]

im afraid its about doing a decent enough EICR for the money people will pay, not being paid enough for a proper EICR.
Im charging on average £170-£200 down here in Cornwall and try to fit in 'another' job in to make up the day. If your taking 2hours to type it up when using an Ipad, something is wrong. Fill out the Ipad as you go along and have a standard covering letter.

Yep, been meaning to get a tablet sorted to do just that vx. At the minute I hand write it then type up at home. Laborious I know! A standard cover letter is a good idea, but I often try to explain things like 'no end to end continuity on CPC of RFC' in easier to comprehend terms for the client. Each cover letter is tailored to the individual report. Far end of a fart is a term that could describe it possibly!

 

[Octopus]

im afraid its about doing a decent enough EICR for the money people will pay, not being paid enough for a proper EICR.
Im charging on average £170-£200 down here in Cornwall and try to fit in 'another' job in to make up the day. If your taking 2hours to type it up when using an Ipad, something is wrong. Fill out the Ipad as you go along and have a standard covering letter.

Out of interest, what does your standard covering letter say?

 

[vxwestie]

Not a lot to be honest. All most people are interested in is the 'satisfactory' 'unsatisfactory' bit lol.
Basically I just outline what's been done, I use the letter to notify of any code ones and post out the coding procedure and that uncoded items are just observations and deviations but may not indicate the safety of the installation (about like the old code 4)
i don't use the reports to gain work (I've too much as it is ) but the cover letter just applies a bit of common sense and indicates it's my opinions and recommendations

 

[Octopus]

Not a lot to be honest. All most people are interested in is the 'satisfactory' 'unsatisfactory' bit lol.
Basically I just outline what's been done, I use the letter to notify of any code ones and post out the coding procedure and that uncoded items are just observations and deviations but may not indicate the safety of the installation (about like the old code 4)
i don't use the reports to gain work (I've too much as it is ) but the cover letter just applies a bit of common sense and indicates it's my opinions and recommendations

I do something very similar but its on the email with the invoice and cert attached....

 

[Paul.M]

I'm doing a small take away EICR job to satisfy the local council, 12 ways = £300. Any small defects will be taken care of there and then within the price. Anything beyond it will be "I'll fix it at £xx amount". Beyond that will be a code and a quote with no cert.

Your running a business at the end of the day. Stick to the Regs, your education, the scams and deal with the customers on an individual basis. EICR's are a minefield. Yep we all have done the "ball park figure" over the phone but once we get there!!!! The game changes.


Circuit and hourly rates can sometimes not apply. Go and have a look at it if your spider senses are tingling.

 

[NDG Elecs]

I do something very similar but its on the email with the invoice and cert attached....

I do exactly the same Murdoch if any issues are simple ish..

 

[NDG Elecs]

I'm doing a small take away EICR job to satisfy the local council, 12 ways = £300. Any small defects will be taken care of there and then within the price. Anything beyond it will be "I'll fix it at £xx amount". Beyond that will be a code and a quote with no cert.

Your running a business at the end of the day. Stick to the Regs, your education, the scams and deal with the customers on an individual basis. EICR's are a minefield. Yep we all have done the "ball park figure" over the phone but once we get there!!!! The game changes.


Circuit and hourly rates can sometimes not apply. Go and have a look at it if your spider senses are tingling.

I hate ballpark figures most of the time.... "Hi Mr X, yes it could be around £100 to £500 to sort it all" dependant on how much the previous owner Mr DIY went berserk with flex and JBs to supply his new kitchen...!

 

[shanky887614]

£150 sounds more like it for an average sized house eicr.

pricing by the circuit is the best way, an eicr is just that.

if its just loose connections etc ill tighten as i go but anything more is noted with X amount to fix, preliminary cert issued or not completed fully depending on client.

why write it twice if they want you to fix it

 

[Brightspark2]

What do you mean you recommend 50-100% on inspection and 30-50% on testing?

I think the average price round north west England is about £150-£250. You are probably a little high.

 

[Dcf]

£350 is steep even for Aberdeen.half a shift for a flat and a full shift for a house is probably more like it.
the problem with eicr's is that you don't know what's involved until you get there.
it could be sound without a grommet out of place .....you're in and out quickly.
at the other end of the spectrum diy donnies school of wiring.... Not so quick.
my rule of thumb is the more I find the longer it takes , the more I charge.

 

[shanky887614]

£350 is steep even for Aberdeen.half a shift for a flat and a full shift for a house is probably more like it.
the problem with eicr's is that you don't know what's involved until you get there.
it could be sound without a grommet out of place .....you're in and out quickly.
at the other end of the spectrum diy donnies school of wiring.... Not so quick.
my rule of thumb is the more I find the longer it takes , the more I charge.

book a day, if it is going to take longer you tell them and let them how much etc.

your testing not fault finding so should do standard tests then code and if you are charging day rate only after rest is complete start to fix problems.


your bassically doing an mot on the house.

how many centers fix problems as they find them and pass it?

 

[7029 dave]

£70 a time or less, we all know they are armchair EICR don't we.

 

[NDG Elecs]

I got an email ages ago from one of the drive by testing companies saying they could do EICRs on my behalf and I could charge the client X amount and that they would only charge me, say, £80.00. I emailed them asking how many lims were put on these cheap reports, and why would I want such shoddy work to be presented under my business name. Got a reply quick sharp, must have really riled the bloke! Will try n find it, but it was ages ago and not 100% which email account I would have used.

 

[NDG Elecs]

Found the email I sent.

I sent this:

And received back this:

Hi Neil

Thank you for your email can I clear something up first the email says FROM £5.00 a circuits and also it says FROM 25 to 50.

This is depending on site and limitations applied by customers.

We work with many FM and Local Councils and £5 - £7 is the going rate across the UK most housing contract (edited company names) expect 3-5 house a day at £35 a house so our prices are not really that cheap and are aimed so companies like you can add there bit on top and still be competitive.

We make nearly 6M in profits and growing so our pricing structure is working just fine.

I also think that if you contact all big electrical testing companies and ask them what they can test in a day they will all be around 25-50 a day.

Of course we only test what is safely possible to do so in a day and don’t compromie standards.

I am very sorry that you feel like this but the industry is the way it is however if you have issues with us I welcome you to come and watch one of our testers on site.

By the way we are passed each year by NICEIC, NAPIT and the ECA as it clear DO know better than them.

Kind Regard






£35.00 per house!! And six million in profits means sweet FA, plenty of loaded cowboys out there!

 

[uksparks]

EXAMPLE

Lets just take a 3 bed semi for example, old wylex 3036 box retrofitted with MCB's, only 6 circuits.

Sockets Up
Sockets Down
Lights Up
Lights Down
Water Heater
Cooker

1. First of all I walk around the house in every room with the customer and look for any obvious problems.
2. Agree anything that you are not going to test or take apart with the customer such as light switches embedded in the walls with plaster and light fittings that are likely to fall apart or awkward to remove.
3. Unplug everything and switch all SFCU and 20A Switches off and remove lamps, then switch on all lights
4. Check bonding to water, gas and oil etc
5. Go to board, do a Ze
6. IR each circuit in turn at 250vDC to check to see if anything connected still, then 500vDC
7. Do end to end on rings
8. Cross connect rings to do R1+R2, go round all sockets to take readings
9. Jump L - E for each radial and do R1+R2 for them.
10. Put it back together, switch on
11. Do Zs on sockets, and calculate Zs on radials where no socket available or easy to do.
12. Do a functional test of switches etc
13. Check metering equipment and tails etc

That's about it... I think?

When doing an EICR, Ill remove a few faceplates on sockets and see what its like, if its ok, ill leave the rest, if not, ill continue, either way, I make a note of the ones I have looked at.

The light switches, again, if they are embedded in the wall or is going to damage decoration, then I don't look at them and they get noted down. Light fittings that are going to be majorly problematic to remove etc I don't, this is more for 12v or double insulated etc where you cannot get an earth reading.

The loft space, again, ill say whats in the loft, if they say no power or light I ignore it, if they say a light etc, ill include it, but if its inaccessible due to rubbish in the way, it gets noted down.

Typically it takes me about 3 hours or so to do a 3 bed semi properly, I would say thats about right.

I don't think im doing anything wrong with how I do it, obviously I write everything down, all readings and figures etc etc and then type it all up nicely along with any findings.

For this I would charge £125 - £150

 

[uksparks]

Would you believe it, I have just had an email drop in my inbox.... see below

************* is a specialist Anonymous subcontractor for testing and inspection. We can help you by providing a quality inspection service to your clients either at those times when your staff are busy on other projects, or as an addition to your current provision.

The inspection work is carried out under your brand, you can use Inspexx for ongoing projects or just for occasional assignments.

Features of our service include:

• Experienced and Qualified Technicians – all staff are C&G qualified and CRB checked.
• ECA registered member.
• NICEIC registered member.
• BSi 9001 Quality Assured.
• Branded reporting – the inspections are carried out under your name.
• Confidential – we do not contact your customers or share client information.
  
  Our services include EICR, PAT and Emergency Lighting testing.
• EICR: £5.00 per circuit (minimum charge per site £150.00 up to 30 circuits)
• PAT: £0.55 per test (minimum charge per site £75.00 up to 100 tests)
  
  The reports are sent directly to you. You can pick up any remedial requirements

Kind Regards
********

 

[Octopus]

********** is a specialist Anonymous subcontractor for testing and inspection. We can help you by providing a quality inspection service to your clients either at those times when your staff are busy on other projects, or as an addition to your current provision.

The inspection work is carried out under your brand, you can use Inspexx for ongoing projects or just for occasional assignments.

Features of our service include:

• Experienced and Qualified Technicians – all staff are C&G qualified and CRB checked.
• ECA registered member.
• NICEIC registered member.
• BSi 9001 Quality Assured.
• Branded reporting – the inspections are carried out under your name.
• Confidential – we do not contact your customers or share client information.
  
  Our services include EICR, PAT and Emergency Lighting testing.
• EICR: £5.00 per circuit (minimum charge per site £150.00 up to 30 circuits)
• PAT: £0.55 per test (minimum charge per site £75.00 up to 100 tests)
  
  The reports are sent directly to you. You can pick up any remedial requirements

Kind Regards
Kevin McCallum
********

Badly presented website and 1000+ circuits for £5.50 each (presumably plus VAT so about £6.10 - I really pity the poor mugs doing this work!

And PAT testing for 100 items £75.00 - well at those prices they can keep it! My minimum is now £60.00 for 24 items and its difficult to make any money at that rate (£2.50 per item)!