horly rate

[opm electrical]

i have just started up as a self emplyed sparky and while i am aware that the best way to price a job is per item, but when working out the price of a job i was baseing the time cost on £15 per hour and i have also taken on a job where all materials were supplied thus pricing for labour only. i have been told by a few people that £15 p/h is too low and i'm ripping myself off. how high do i go without taking the ****.
teesside area

 

[ajelec10]

Its defiantly to low, Your hourly rate doesn't just cover your 'Wages' it need to incorporate all of you overheads. Eg, cost of your van, cost to run your van (tax, mot, insurance, servicing,) cost of your insurances (public liability) cost of your enrollment fees to your governing body, and the list goes on and on, depending on your area 25 an hour is probably about where you need to be at a minimum
Regards
AJ

 

[sparkswillfly]

agreed

 

[dolomite]

You've got to work out how much fuel you use to get to jobs, wear and tear on you're van and all the other little bits that'll add up all to quickly.
It's too easy to think your making good money with lots of cash coming in, till the bills arrive!!
I'd work out what you need to take as a wage, then try to work out your bills over the week/month/year etc and add all that on.
You've got to bear in mind you might not be earning every hour of every day of the week etc and factor that in too!
Its not easy, but £25ph seems to be about right for most places.

Dolomite

 

[Dazza1976]

Id say that £25 per hour is even too cheap.
Most electrical contractors in London/Surrey area are charging around £60-80 per hour.
Have a look on The Handy Squad website, they mainly just do maintenence work, and they charge £70 for the 1st hour and £35 per half hour after that.

If you put yourself out for £40-£50 per hour you are still giving customers a good deal compared to other firms out there .

 

[mr david]

Daza I agree with you but having had experiance of being self employed on Teesside price over £20p/h and you wont get any work, simple as that.

 

[ajelec10]

Id say that £25 per hour is even too cheap.
Most electrical contractors in London/Surrey area are charging around £60-80 per hour.
Have a look on The Handy Squad website, they mainly just do maintenence work, and they charge £70 for the 1st hour and £35 per half hour after that.

If you put yourself out for £40-£50 per hour you are still giving customers a good deal compared to other firms out there .

Let me know where i can get 60pph and ill be there with my tools in the morning, might even throw in some extras. lol
AJ

 

[danzor]

I think £60ph is more what bigger firms charge as they higher overheads. (Office wages to cover, office fees etc) I live in London and I'd say £40-50ph is about right for 1 man band

 

[ajelec10]

We have 8 guys on at the mo and 60pph is still very high.

 

[opm electrical]

ill join ajelec for £60 p/h. see you in the morning lol. seriously though thanks for the advice

 

[Des 56]

Just read the thread and saw only the mention of £60 an hour
Where do I start
When can I start
Why cant I start ?

 

[Spudnik]

£25/ hr is average, especially at the moment.

And again, it very much depends on where you are in the country.

 

[Modernelectric]

count me in for 60 pound per hour. people that pay that much are naive and are not shopping around for value!

25 pound seems reasonable! if a tradesmen came in my house and told me he charged 60 pound per hour i would laugh him back out of the door and down the driveway.

 

[Mark2009]

i have just started up as a self emplyed sparky and while i am aware that the best way to price a job is per item, but when working out the price of a job i was baseing the time cost on £15 per hour and i have also taken on a job where all materials were supplied thus pricing for labour only. i have been told by a few people that £15 p/h is too low and i'm ripping myself off. how high do i go without taking the ****.
teesside area

Hi
I would say way to low, £15.00 per hour working for an agency or company but if you are serious in business then 60 to 80 pounds per hour is not to much, if you supply men then anything between 250 to 350 per man per day.

I would price for Materials at full cost and then the price for your day rate and don't forget that you will get the materials at discount, i would not do cheap work for anyone if they want cheap they will get cheap.

Thanks

Mark

 

[A&MELECTRICAL]

I have had to drop my rate drastically to stay competitive, If you are still landing jobs at £60 an hour you are very lucky, i am charging a maximum of £20 an hour at the moment and we are still getting undercut by huge amounts.

 

[Modernelectric]

yes where are all these customers willing to pay £60 per hour?

 

[cheeky_blue]

I am still charging 30quid an hour and getting plenty of work (sole trader).
I am based in Kent about 30 miles outside of London.
If I have a job in London then minimum 200quid per day plus include all the extras in the quote such as congestion charge, fuel etc.

 

[Mark2009]

yes where are all these customers willing to pay £60 per hour?

Hi
Being Part P should boost your pay, i was working in London and this guy was charging 250.00 per house for certification, i would not go cheap if your getting 15.00 to 20.00 i would go and work for a Company less stress, there are companies who are struggling to find electricians in North London.

Thanks

Mark

 

[markythesparky]

Danzor,

So you get much work at this rate. Although i have seen this rate for arger firms, a one man band struggle to justify it. we have j a court case currently going on and the court appointed an 'expert witness' to cost the job. his conclusion is that we should be charging £16.13!!

When we explained to him that the JIB rate was £13.42 and that Spon's recommend that an employer could charge £24.19 he dismissed the book as unreliable. When we told him that the ECA states that a sparks on JIB rates should COST the employer £17.80 a hour he dismissed that too. he was absolutely adamant that an electrician wouldnt get any work at £25 an hour (which is what we charge)

 

[Mark2009]

Danzor,

So you get much work at this rate. Although i have seen this rate for arger firms, a one man band struggle to justify it. we have j a court case currently going on and the court appointed an 'expert witness' to cost the job. his conclusion is that we should be charging £16.13!!

When we explained to him that the JIB rate was £13.42 and that Spon's recommend that an employer could charge £24.19 he dismissed the book as unreliable. When we told him that the ECA states that a sparks on JIB rates should COST the employer £17.80 a hour he dismissed that too. he was absolutely adamant that an electrician wouldnt get any work at £25 an hour (which is what we charge)

Hi
I find it hard to believe that the court would appoint someone as an expert witness the rates you talk about is when you work for a company, i have worked for a one man band and he charged 350 per man per day, if you give an overall price for a job and they sign the contract in any court of law they are stuffed.

Thanks

Mark

 

[ICE]

I know for a fact that my Boss charges me out at £350.00 per day, but then again I am worth every penny. LOL


ICE

 

[markythesparky]

£350 a day!! How many hours are yu expected to do for that? and what breaks do you get. i'm wondering if i should be charging more.

 

[ICE]

My hours are 8 to 5 (on site) (traveling time not paid for)

I have a 20 min tea break around 10 and then 30 min lunch around 1
I also run a company van which the fuel and everything that goes with it is also paid.
I am PAYE so bare in mind that he pays NI Tax Fuel Van Insurance and what ever else an employer has to pay
I gross £150 a day

what do you reckon he earns out of me a day?

ICE

 

[markythesparky]

So to get my bearings...... do you get paid per hour? for an 8 hour day or 9 hours?

We pay our sparks £140-£150 for 8 hours. this is 8 am to 5pm with hour lunch which is not paid for. This works to £17.50-£18.75. would this be the same. We charge £200 a day.

To answer your question and based on my experience, i reckon he is earning about £160 to £180 an day out of you but this of course depends on where your working and what circumstances he has to pay for.

all in all he cant loose money on that at all even if he had to pay for you to go to manchester everyday.

 

[jimmyjazz]

Just installed a new 10 way board, removed 6 storage heaters (customer loaded van) & converted points to sockets & put into new board £550. Local small company quoted £925! What do you guys charge for a straight board change? Currently charge £40/45 per hr or £250 a day.

 

[Dazza1976]

Lol, i cant beleive how much this topic has been debated.
When I mentioned £60-£80 per hour, that is what alot of companies round london/surrey are charging. As i said the Handy Squad charge £70 per hour (They also charge that sort of rate just to come and hang some pictures on the wall !) Pimlico Plumbers charge £80 per hour for their electricians and a staggering £130 per hour on a Saturday !
There are numerous companies charging these sort of rates, and they have got work coming out their ears. People are prepared to pay these prices if they get a good quality service.
Obviously if you are going to be there for the whole day you will do a more reasonable day rate, say £250-£300.
I used to get nearly £15 per hour to drive a van for a living, and didnt spend 3 years at college to still be earning that sort of money.
Say you go out to a job, it takes you 45 mins to get there, you have spent money on petrol and added wear and tear to ur van,you unload your tools and the job itself is an easy one and only takes an hour to do, is it really worth your while if you are only going to earn £15 for it ?? I wouldnt bother getting out of bed for that!!
As i said many companies are charging 60-80 and getting the work, if you are providing a similar quality service why shouldnt you charge these sort of prices ?? it shouldnt matter how large or small your firm is.
At the end of the day people will quite happily pay £100 per hour to have their car serviced, so why shouldnt we charge a decent price, when after all peoples lifes can be put at risk if we do not do things properly.
Someone also mentioned about Jib rates, they are the minimum we should expect to earn per hour if working for another company, and you will probably find that any company paying you those sort of rates are probably charging the custome 5 times more !

Anyway, i think i have done enough ranting for now, cant wait for your further responses !

 

[opm electrical]

i cant believe its got this much interest either. all i wanted was some guidance as to what to charge. i put a quote in for my first job (labour only) expecting it to take me 5 days and i quoted £600. its local so travelling isnt an issue. so i guess ill just have to graft my nuts off and do it in 4 days instead

 

[kung]

The only thing id say is you have to take into consideration a few things ! people will pay going rates if they get a good safe clean job done regardless but what one person charges £20phr might do more/less than another charging £30phr its what you feel is right for your speed/work quality if just starting out id pitch at £20phr and onece your name is out there you can tweek your pricing to suit.
Best of luck.
Regards
Kung.

P.s. if you quote 5days and it takes 4 the customer will be happy & if you run into a few probs your be glad you quoted for the extra day ! morel of this is if you quote for a day but it takes 2 days or even 1.5 days if the customer has taken time off work they wont be happy if you need more time that the day quoted but will be if you took a day or 1.5 and quoted for 2 days !

 

[dolomite]

Hi all!!

Just as an addition to this thread, does everyone have a minimum charge?? Say for the first hour or two. If so whats the usual for this?
Got to be worth your while driving there, getting tools out of the van eh?!

Ta

Dolomite

P.S. had a call today asking me to change a light bulb.....................in a street light!!!!!!!

 

[mazdaman]

£15 an hour, you may as well work for someone else and save yourself the hassle of all the other work you need to do to run a business. If you work for yourself you need to factor in that you do not get paid, as you would if you worked for someone else, for bank holidays, 8 of approx, annual leave, plus the other time you need to put in such as your free quotes, visits to accountant, time when being audited for Part P, HMRC audits, van servicing, repairs etc on top of all the other overheads that have been mentioned, insurance, advertising cost software licences, etc. I charge £35-£40 per hour for domestic, £45-£50 for commercial and from £60 upwards for industrial, max so far I have charged is £120 per hour working in dusty environment at heights. If I can give you some sound advice that is if you are self employed you are a Business man first, electrician second!! If you are a brilliant sparky but a crap businessman your business will fail! Do you sums for a full 12 months and allow for the jobs you don't get paid for or someone going bankrupt as has happened to me.

As a rule of thumb to get your cost right, if you quote and you get every job you quote on, your to cheap!!
Look at getting approx 60% of the jobs you quote on. If you are still getting 85% upwards, put your cost up.

Its better to do less work for more money. If I charged 50% more than a competitor but only get 50% of the work I quote on for similar work, we both end up with same pay but my competitor has to do twice as much work, including paper work, running around to suppliers etc for the same amount of pay and I can have more time off. Some think it's a competition if they 'win' the job but it's all about getting more pay for the work that you do, do!

Charge what you think you are worth but many electricians do not charge enough because we are fighting with each other for business and with those doing jobs on the side. We should charge like solicitors, they will not drop the price but they also know there competitors will not drop either. They work together and have a pricing policy. I am an Electrical Engineer and worked for the electricity board and have managed many high cost projects. I now have my own electrical contracting business. All sparks should put there cost up. Do you know you can get paid more for removing rubbish!! I mean that, these online sites for work people will pay £400 to have rubbish removed from there garden and it takes about 2-3 hours for £400!! Employ a couple of numpties so you don't get your hands dirty. I sometime wonder if its worth being a spark at all but certainly not for £15/h!! No disrespect but its business novices like yourself who are driving prices down.