We Went Wrong In Life

[WELLSIANA]

Sadly we have in the family a divorce and i noticed the solicitor is £210 plus vat an hour , which got me thinking my dentist is around £100 an hour a car mechanic £50 per hour , yet here we are with our lives and peoples lives in our hands , and around here if you charge £25 an hour your expensive and very likely undercut . Recently i priced two bungalows up chased in re - wires , myself to chase and plaster at £3500 each and they looked at me as if i was insane . Electrical around here is dead as a way of getting on , its just a survival job . No money in these rural areas at all . Should have gone to university but not intelligent enough . quite true the rich get richer and the poor must struggle to remain poor.

 

[7029 dave]

That's around Norfolk way. Have you tried relocating or even expanding the area you work.I am working for nearly half the salary I was on 9 years ago.!

 

[telectrix]

yep.us sparks are the most undervalued trade going. partly because of the Electrical Trainee's.... you learn a trade in 5 years (minimum) then take advanced courses, updated quals., etc.and are worth maybe £50/hour, yet the Electrical Trainee's undercut. they go in @ £20 just to get the work to recover the short course fees. then there's the kitchen fitters, builders, etc. that think anyone can do it. it's only 3 wires, innit?

 

[Industspark]

During the recession I lost my business for that very reason, was charging £18 per hour for day rate doing large industrial installations. Then boom recession and then a lot of sparks struggling and I was undercut on what I thought was very reasonable if not low.
With that I went worked for a Facility company to get me by and they wouldn't pay me more than 21k a year.
Safe to say that served its purpose and I've been lucky enough for past 3 years to be back to JIB+ rates.
I may not have my own business anymore but there are jobs out there close to the 40k mark again.
Chin up and your skills will be recognised and rewarded

 

[telectrix]

it's a bit late for me. i'll be 70 in november. lol. scaling down a bit, doing the smaller jobs now. just for once, i'd like to get a couple of weeks let loose with a ton or so of tray, trunking and galv conduit.

 

[Dave OCD]

I priced up a job earlier this evening, a mid 70s terraced house just bought and they're ripped the downstairs ceilings down. Quote was for new CU & resite from garage into hall as that's becoming a bedroom for an elderly relative, 4 double sockets & centre light in said bedroom,LED downlights in hall, kitchen, new ensuite and main bathroom [14 in total] , 12 additional double sockets and various other small bits and pieces including 'centering' all the offset bedroom pendants. I quoted £1580 and apparently a bloke a few doors down [NIC D.I.] has quoted £500 less !

 

[Leesparkykent]

I priced up a job earlier this evening, a mid 70s terraced house just bought and they're ripped the downstairs ceilings down. Quote was for new CU & resite from garage into hall as that's becoming a bedroom for an elderly relative, 4 double sockets & centre light in said bedroom,LED downlights in hall, kitchen, new ensuite and main bathroom [14 in total] , 12 additional double sockets and various other small bits and pieces including 'centering' all the offset bedroom pendants. I quoted £1580 and apparently a bloke a few doors down [NIC D.I.] has quoted £500 less !

Did you laugh when they told you that?

 

[Dave OCD]

Did you laugh when they told you that?

I've had a hard old week Lee and wanted to be off home so just smiled and said I wouldn't waste any more of their and my time.
Had a missed call from them since though but no message.

 

[123]

I've had no real issues getting my rate, but round here the Gas Man and Plumbers are the ones laughing. In particular the Gas Man - on an oil to gas conversion they are lifting £500-£800 a day.

 

[ruston]

Yes because the other price probably didn't exist, if it did ,they bloke probably had a fit when he realized what was involved.
In situations like that I used to do as you did , by saying " he's got the job." Most times they got back to me.

 

[Midwest]

Posted here just to keep in the loop. Think every domestic customer I've done work for, don't worry about the state of their electrical installation, as long as the lights still come on and the oven and socket for the iPhone charger works.'

'I'm having a new kitchen or bathroom, pay a fortune for that, spose I need a few electrics or lights, can't cost more than a couple of quid'. Go's along the lines of new sink, with water coming out of the tap. Some people have no idea, save spending thousands on loads of new wood for their designer kitchen.

 

[LankyWill]

Know how everyone feels, i am employed but have to provide my own transport, tools, meter, steps, etc. Just sold my car and bought a van and really feeling skint all the time. Plus the tyrant wont pay me anymore than £12 an hour!!! im self sufficient at work and never have any callbacks or complaints compared to all the other monkeys on the books. I feel the trade is really suffering in terms of fair pay and recognition of Properly trained sparks. Plumbers are killing it round my way as well as the carpenters!!!

 

[Leesparkykent]

I've had no real issues getting my rate, but round here the Gas Man and Plumbers are the ones laughing. In particular the Gas Man - on an oil to gas conversion they are lifting £500-£800 a day.

I'm doing my gas ATM for that very reason . On a combi swap round here they are nicking a grand for not even a full days work.

 

[solarsavings]

And yet on the gas forums they all want to be sparks because the gas fitters are all getting under cut and it's difficult to make ends meet. Go figure.

 

[ED17]

It's not just the money, we get treated like pooh on site whilst other trades are looked after!

 

[cliffed]

Agree with all,the problem theses days ,it's all fast fix,installing cables etc,it's all too easy,anyone can have a go.Its not gonna be installed neatly,properly or tested correctly but nobody seems to care,bring back the days of trunking & conduit,that's Gita sort the whizz kids out.

 

[Industspark]

This is one reason I haven't done a house wire in years. So many regulations with little reward and respect.

 

[Guitarist]

Basically it's supply and demand, and due to the number of quick courses, there's now too much supply. The guys may be useless and may have never been in a loft before, but they have a shiny van and are part P registered. The only way to stay in business nowadays is to build a large customer base of people who will pay more because nobody else will do.

 

[David M]

I tend to get a feel for customers (after years of experience) who are only really interested in getting the cheapest price rather than focus on getting decent job done. Fortunately I'm now in a position where I can just walk away, as the majority of my work comes from recommendation or regular customers.
As soon as it becomes obvious the potential customer is only interested in the cost, I always give them a high ball park figure then say to them " I recommend you get other quotes in, then call me if my price is competitive" this way it sets a seed in their heads in most cases, and if I get the job I'm quids in and under no pressure.

 

[SteveG]

A tip for all you Sparkies is; Try specialize a bit, stand out from the crowd.
The title 'electrician' has vastly moved on since I was an Apprentice back in the early 1970's.
I'm from a time when electricians tool box's were massive and heavy. You would have in there a full set of stone chisels, 6 pound lump hammers, star drills rawl-drills
A low sweep brace and bit with a full set of wood drills. A full set of wood chisels, a claw hammer, 2 sash knifes and much more besides your pliers side-cutters and screw drivers.
You could hardly carry it.
I started to specialize after a man was called to a factory I was working at, to mend a machine we had all had a go at trying to fix.
He came in a nice car and was well dressed and his toolkit was - pocket tackle and a laptop.
He plugged the laptop into the fancy controller with flashing red lights and after about half an hour he said 'your encoder is faulty'
My what? 'The encoder - i'll get a new one. He got someone to fit it and packed up his laptop and kit and did one.
His bill was more than my weeks wage.
That was nearly 30 years ago and I thought then 'I'm gonna be that man'
And I was/am.
An example; a comical one if you like. Sometime last year I was phoned to ask if I knew anything about a certain type of controller/plc.
It was Friday afternoon and I was on my way home. I said I did and the voice said 'can you be here 8:00 Monday morning.
It was 200 miles from where I live so it was an early start plus I had a lot on and would struggle to fit them in so I wasn't too bothered about the work.
He asked me my rate.... seeing as I didn't care I inflated it to £60 per hour - base to base. He was over the moon. He said he had, had two others in - one at £95 and the other at £110 per hour and neither had sorted it. (the voice in my head said -------s) But I went and lets say it was running perfect when I came away.
And if you want to know what was wrong; a servo drive had lost all its parameters due to a duff battery. I replaced the battery and uploaded and downloaded the parameters from another identical servo drive.