Opinions required on a tricky estimate.

[Soulsurfer]

Hi all, I have just carried out a 50% EICR on a property as the builders usual electrician (loosely used term here ) has said that the job is too much for him to tackle after usual work hours for his proper boss on the private for this builder !

He cannot test and hasn't got kit or knowledge anyway, no insurance and so on.. so now after finding a lot of issues on the report he has asked me to estimate it. The problem being I already know it needs broken consumer unit replaced but also many coded problems worked through and sorted first, then new board and full certs for all of it.

From what I saw on 50% look and test it will be at least a 40hr week or more to look into the issues and start to rectify without thinking of touching the board.

Estimating something like this I am thinking of the rough hours halving ring finals etc.. breaking down legs for IR tests and so on then at least the new board and other materials on top plus time allowed for certs and a little dollop on top too for any unforseen plus hassle contingency !

Ping the figure out and see if he goes for it.
What do you think about this kind of thing ? My old boss used to apply a 1.7 or 2 x multiplier onto all his works and air con too after pricing all materials and that seems really rough but also far less time consuming but got 90% of his jobs like that and made a packet.

Thanks.

 

[Octopus]

All you can do is explain what’s involved and give a day rate plus estimated parts .......

No fool would give a fixed price.....

 

[Soulsurfer]

All you can do is explain what’s involved and give a day rate plus estimated parts .......

No fool would give a fixed price.....

Thanks Murdoch, one of the strange ones was an fcu feeding a 2 gang dimmer plate which once powered on to feed lighting came on for around 5 seconds, then bang blew the dummy dimmer to bits but not immediately see then not blowing 1362 fuse in spur nor the mcb at source ! Bit weird, quite a bang !

 

[westward10]

With fault finding we allow two hours further investigation per circuit/fault. Sometimes it can be rectified but otherwise the client is further quoted to remedy the problem. You can allow a set figure of say £20 per issue to cover any necessary parts you may need at the time.

 

[Nigel]

As above an estimate on time to locate and repair minor faults.

We allow a half day per fault but do not do domestic ao this may be too much.

 

[NDG Elecs]

I tend to give an idea of the price range for an individual issue. Say you have a lack of end to end continuity on a RFC - I would say it may take anywhere between 1-3hrs to locate the precise location of it, and then the cost of fixing it depends on where the problem is. So I might say "as an idea of rough costs I anticipate it costing between £30 up to £180.00 to find and fix"...

 

[Martyn Fletcher]

I tend to give an idea of the price range for an individual issue. Say you have a lack of end to end continuity on a RFC - I would say it may take anywhere between 1-3hrs to locate the precise location of it, and then the cost of fixing it depends on where the problem is. So I might say "as an idea of rough costs I anticipate it costing between £30 up to £180.00 to find and fix"...

NDG Elecs, I'm trying to look at this from a customer perspective.
So, if it takes you an hour or less and needs no parts it could cost as little as £30. If on the extreme end it takes as much as 3 hours and requires parts, those parts will cost £90, for a cable break?
Not having a go, just wanting to understand your thinking.

 

[NDG Elecs]

NDG Elecs, I'm trying to look at this from a customer perspective.
So, if it takes you an hour or less and needs no parts it could cost as little as £30. If on the extreme end it takes as much as 3 hours and requires parts, those parts will cost £90, for a cable break?
Not having a go, just wanting to understand your thinking.

NDG Elecs, I'm trying to look at this from a customer perspective.
So, if it takes you an hour or less and needs no parts it could cost as little as £30. If on the extreme end it takes as much as 3 hours and requires parts, those parts will cost £90, for a cable break?
Not having a go, just wanting to understand your thinking.

Yep, basically Martyn, that's it in a nutshell. I explain it to the customer as clearly as I can to say I might find the issue at the first socket I look at, then again I might have to split the cct down five times and then find the issue is somewhere behind a freshly tiled wall.. so from one extreme too another.
If they insisted on a fixed quote for the job, I would try to explain that it was not the most sensible way too approach it. If they still insisted I would say ok then it's £1200.00!!

 

[Soulsurfer]

Yep, basically Martyn, that's it in a nutshell. I explain it to the customer as clearly as I can to say I might find the issue at the first socket I look at, then again I might have to split the cct down five times and then find the issue is somewhere behind a freshly tiled wall.. so from one extreme too another.
If they insisted on a fixed quote for the job, I would try to explain that it was not the most sensible way too approach it. If they still insisted I would say ok then it's £1200.00!!

actually chief, that's exactly what a trade mate has said to me that if pushed just go with 2K or similar as a start and if not covered then will be extra on top as at present I have around 20 plus coded issues many are C2 as well ! Thanks for your valued opinions all.