What is a the going rate to replace an old plastic socket front to an chrome one?

[Jrobbo8866]

What would be a reasonable price to exchange 7 white double socket fronts for chrome customer has purchased already?

 

[FatAlan]

Depends on condition of existing wiring and presence of CPC’s?

 

[i=p/u]

Depends on condition of existing wiring and presence of CPC’s?

Depends if all bondong is In place or would ya let go fat alan

 

[Jrobbo8866]

Yes there is cpc present

 

[SJD]

It also depends if the new faceplates fit the mounting boxes! For example, if the new ones are flat plate with USBs and need 35mm boxes, but only 25mm boxes fitted!

 

[littlespark]

Depends if all bondong is In place or would ya let go fat alan

What’s “bondong”...... I don’t know, but I think I like it!

A couple of hours labour, but stipulate that’s straight swap. Any additional work will be extra- say so on quote.
You’ll need a length of 1.5 earth wire to link the plates to the back boxes, unless drywall boxes. And have some of those 3.5 extension screws....

 

[mattg4321]

You don’t ‘need’ to fly lead to the back of the box unless both lugs are adjustable for a socket.

Some might consider it good practice though.

 

[pirate]

Why wouldn't you though? It doesn't take more than a minute...

 

[Jrobbo8866]

It also depends if the new faceplates fit the mounting boxes! For example, if the new ones are flat plate with USBs and need 35mm boxes, but only 25mm boxes fitted!

Yeah literally just a straight swap no usb sockets are being installed just 3 sockets 2 Spurs 1 light switch and a cooker switch.

 

[i=p/u]

Tenner each yiu doing good, 50 is good price

 

[Dustydazzler]

£110

 

[i=p/u]

Mr 50, youl be back works for me. Send them to get materials too

 

[LewisM]

£140 if you're within 15miles of Luton

 

[i=p/u]

What’s ‘bondong’? As one of 007’s girlfriends? ??

Bonding, sorry al

 

[Micktw68]

1/2 day. @pprox £150 depending on back box situation.

 

[suffolkspark]

£60

 

[Dustydazzler]

£60

That’s quite expensive per socket

 

[Mike Johnson]

I'll do it for £59.99 per socket.

 

[suffolkspark]

That’s quite expensive per socket

Post #1 says price to exchange 7 fronts so £60 for the whole thing, any spark should be able to rattle that out in under an hour

 

[Dave OCD]

It all depends, how well are the existing sockets terminated, sometimes the cores are cut ridiculously short inside the boxes then the L-N layout in the replacement sockets are configured opposite to the originals, then you get the kitchen accessories where some genius has tiled up to the edges so they're effectively grouted in. The list goes on.

 

[i=p/u]

Yh your right, but pull the tools in, get done, £50 and out works for me

 

[suffolkspark]

It all depends, how well are the existing sockets terminated, sometimes the cores are cut ridiculously short inside the boxes then the L-N layout in the replacement sockets are configured opposite to the originals, then you get the kitchen accessories where some genius has tiled up to the edges so they're effectively grouted in. The list goes on.

Nothing some ideal splicelines or 2 port wagos and a bit of 2.5 can't sort, that would only be an estimate anyway, as with pricing anything blind, if it's a bunch of bastards behind each one then yea maybe longer, and if they're screwless flatplate and 25mm I wouldnt entertain it

 

[i=p/u]

How much and hold ye to it

 

[Dave OCD]

£70.

 

[i=p/u]

Handy money

 

[Deleted account]

£50-£60 hours work.

dependant on depth of backboxes.

 

[stevethesparks]

I always do an end to end check when changing sockets in an unknown premises. Many times I have found a problem. Have you allowed for this?

 

[i=p/u]

If ya get 50 here ya might get 100 everywhere else. But i have an estate car, with all tools tucked in sweetly and walk away. Some ppl who have a buisness with all sorts of costs wouldnt entertain it for that

 

[Dustydazzler]

If you are worried about hidden nastys that could cause significant faffing about then probably better to charge by the hour.
£40 per hour , if it takes you 2-3 hours then you bill accordingly surely has to be the best option

 

[Mike Johnson]

I used to have a pal (RIP Malcolm) that could make a one hour job last all day, but I do miss him. LOL

 

[Dustydazzler]

I used to have a pal (RIP Malcolm) that could make a one hour job last all day, but I do miss him. LOL

the hidden art of of stretching a job out , it takes real skill to look busy but while really be going very little.
I know a few unscrupulous wet pants who do this...
i got done myself one hiring a wet pants on an hourly rate he spent nearly 2 days taking out a bathroom while I was away for a couple days.
I came back on day 3 expecting the room to be ready to tile it was an empty shell. He got a day and half’s money and told to sling his hook

 

[cloverman]

I used to have a pal (RIP Malcolm) that could make a one hour job last all day, but I do miss him. LOL

Yeah met a few of them blokes ! (well still do) But yes for some strange reason you kinda miss them on occasion. Perhaps because they made me look good

 

[scootknew]

about £70 cash, depends on travel distance aswell.

 

[WellMeaning]

Love this thread!

One group want £50 cash in hand to turn up, probably around 6pm once they knock off from their day job. The other price it per hour, allow contingency, test circuits and probably schedule it during daylight for £110.

I wonder which lot would tell the customer they need a new 18th ed consumer unit?

 

[ebee]

well say half hour each way and 20 mins per socket and say 1 hour contingency . I`d allow four hours 20 mins should cover most (hopefully) , some might round this approximation for about a half days work at whatever your rate is (some might add a bit for vehicle running costs say fuel etc or some might include a figure in the hourly rate). So I personally would given them an estimate based on that and generally stick with that. You might win a bit you might lose a bit. I`d explain that it is an estimate not a fixed price just in case they are one of those jobs that run away. if I work it out at the end and it`s in say a plus or minus 10% of estimate then I`d charge as estimate.
Yes you could say £XX per hour but I almost never do that.
Reason? whatever your hourly rate is the first thing they often reply is "I don`t earn that much!" my reply is "neither do I! it`s my charging rate not my earning rate! How much do you earn and what do you think your boss charges for that work?" when you start to explain overheads such as sick pay, holiday pay, insurance, scheme membership, yadda yadda yadda , the list goes on, then sometimes they understand, sometimes not. Less hassle to just give an estimate in the first place.
I think most of us are just trying to make an honest living, a few are tradesmen from hell.
Most customers are reasonable people but a few are customers from hell.
It works both ways

Strange enough though, you never see a TV prog named "Rogue Customers"

 

[Dustydazzler]

in the world of todays trades , time is money. Not just time spent doing the job but time spent collecting materials, doing paperwork, driving to and from multiple jobs per day.
Even the smallest ofjobs can eat up 1/2 a day, Often not leaving enough time to start the next job until the following day,
I often use this comparison but my brother in law is a landscape Gardener And his hourly rate is £45-50 per hour. It’s completely non negotiabl.
He is literally run off his feet most months and on some jobs is making £500 in a single day.
If you think a qualivied vetted registered electrician should be earning less than your friendly local Gardener then the entire industry needs a wobble...

 

[telectrix]

7 socket faceplates, no snags ........ £210 ... ... Telectrix, reassuringly expensive.

 

[Mike Johnson]

It sounds to me as though the industry is wobbling along all by itself, some putting up their rates substantially and still winning work, others struggling to get their estimates accepted on first submitting them and getting the work later, but have not seen a post suggesting that anyone is having trouble making ends meet, so possibly it's the balance that is out of kilter, I am sure the area electrician saturation has something to do with it and the wealth of the area you work in.

In my holiday home area of France I could work every hour of the week for whatever rate I wanted as any trades person can, the rates are stupidly high and so is the waiting time for a trade to start, makes one wonder why there are any trades left in the UK, but saying that the cost of being a tradesperson in France is astronomical compare to the UK if you are legit.

 

[scootknew]

mike johnson, do you have any examples of diffrent costs please?

 

[Mike Johnson]

I bought a house in France about twelve years ago and insured it for the purchase price, when I had a claim the insurance company said that the cost of re-building a house in France is approximately double if not more that the cost of buying an older property I was therefore underinsured, this is due to labour and material costs, most labours demand about €300.00/day, technical tradesmen can demand their own price due to lack of availability, but not unheard of to be charged €500.00/day for a rood tiler, electricians the sky's the limit.

 

[ebee]

I bought a house in France about twelve years ago and insured it for the purchase price, when I had a claim the insurance company said that the cost of re-building a house in France is approximately double if not more that the cost of buying an older property I was therefore underinsured, this is due to labour and material costs, most labours demand about €300.00/day, technical tradesmen can demand their own price due to lack of availability, but not unheard of to be charged €500.00/day for a rood tiler, electricians the sky's the limit.

I think you`ll find that here too, rebuild more than initial build

 

[Mike Johnson]

I don't actually think so, in the UK land price's are much higher so once the land has a building on it the re-build cost are not the major expenditure.

 

[Mike Johnson]

Really don't like the "Latest posts" side bar being populated by the same thing every day?????????

 

[scootknew]

how is the wiring regs compared to here? they have rings, radials etc? split way boards

 

[Mike Johnson]

No rings, no T&E only eight MCB's to an RCD, white goods on separate radials and lots of other differences that will/does perplex most UK sparks, not unusual to have twenty plus MCB's in a Board or three phase in a domestic property, example below
.

 

[pirate]

It's a fair point to consider land cost when looking at insurance/rebuild costs. I have seen many hundreds of survey reports and it's almost always the case that for old properties the re-instatement cost is much higher then the purchase price due to the cost of actually replacing like for like as far as practicable. The value of the land is considerable, but if you take a new-build which is destroyed by fire, the reinstatement figure is often lower than the original purchase price because a) you already have the land b) the price of the "kit" and finishing will be lower than the original price which includes the land and services and c) there is no Builders Premium/profit such as forms a substantial amount of the original price tag.

 

[littlespark]

Going rate for swapping a few plastic to metal?

If one the other threads on here is anything to go by, in London it could be £500 or more!

 

[Dustydazzler]

Going rate for swapping a few plastic to metal?

If one the other threads on here is anything to go by, in London it could be £500 or more!

You jest , but back in the late 90s early 00s I worked in Fulham & Chelsea for a good while for a contractor.
Some of the prices for jobs even way back then we’re eye watering. We used to rewire the old converted flats above the shops along Kings Road and £5000 for a 2 bed rewire wasnt uncommon then

 

[Mike Johnson]

Considering even then you would be paying £5.00/hour or £50.00 a day for parking it's not that surprising.