Domestic electrician rates

I was self employed in the northern home counties until I retired and moved to the east midlands.

I used to charge £ 200 for a day, £100 1/2 day and £50 per nour - whichever was the least, mind you that was down south and 10 years ago.

My experience of up in the midlands has been interesting. The electricians up here seem to charge£60-£80 per hour but so far not found anyone who is actually any good or I would have work for me. The last one couldn't install flush sockets level or in line and I found a light switch with the earth wire not even connected but he was only a domestic sparks on the NICEIC so perhaps I was expecting a little to much.

You might load your charges then you can pick your customers (in good times), you might lower your charges and be prepared for a race to the bottom in poor times. You might include a lot of unchargeable behind the scenes work in your charging rate  wheras Fred Bloggs might charge for each little bit.

I used to charge a rate that included all labour and travelling from/to a job plus materials and mark up. So prior starting say a rewire I`d have boxes and cables for first fix and sockets, switches, pendants etc for final fix. I went to the wholesalers  in my own time. Wheras A N Other charged a lower hourly rate but broke off several times to go to wholesaler for supplies. My total price was cheaper. 

I would avoid telling customers hourly rate but just give the total for the job

if you tell them your hourly rate they tend to compare it to the hourly rate they get paid at work and that is like comparing Jellyfish with Snowballs

Sometimes Norm Lad you would be expecting far too much for a proper job. But you knew that!

These guys were discussing pricing jobs a couple of days ago. They make some good points.  It might help you decide what you want to charge.

You can watch the whole thing or scroll a long to 1:21:18 (keep going to at least 1:31:30)

https://youtu.be/r64-vD9J02E?t=4878

As they say Jimi, it all depends. A good idea is to work out what it costs you to not work but be ready. Ie your van, your tools budget, testgear your accountant etc, your bank charges,self employed class 2 contributions, your scheme costs, your insurance for working, your CPD, and all the IET books every year or two..

Now I don't do much but I still do some jobs. Sometimes in the past I have lost or broken tools, or needed more or better ones. This has usually cost me £2500 per year so £10 per day. Insurance usually about £500, Scheme £500, Van and fuel £3000, bank and stuff £300 etc. Class 2 is a nuisance and 10% of turnover, and time in the office probably at least 10% of working time. Don't forget the VAT registration, if your T/O is less than £80k you are not working hard enough! So overheads are about £7k a year before you do any work, that's 140 per week, say £5.00 per hour. You won't work 40 hours unless you get a contract, so allow for that too. How much is offered in jobs with your qualifications in your area, perhaps £40k basic plus overtime. Realistically you need to earn that plus the overheads in 30 hours, so about £900 pounds for 30 hours minimum, £30 per hour. You will probably get £40 easily and £50 some of the time, again remember small jobs need more traveling and faff, but a call-out charge puts customers off big time. You need to offer prices up front where possible, and where too many unknowns then offer an estimate with the conditions stated in writing. Do a good job and you will have happy customers like this.

One last point, I strongly advise no EICRs until you have a wealth of experience, 2391 and more insurance. It seems easy until...and despite the schemes trying to say otherwise the code books are far from adequate. You need proper training for each kind of property, and time being taught by an expert, all far from easy. Ask JP.

I forgot advertising, word of mouth is best but it takes a long time to get all your work this way, it will cost you at the start but in the right place is good, try local free mags and church magazines etc.

I like online supplies purchasing, although I have several accounts. It is quick, going to the wholesaler takes ages where I live because the traffic is terrible (Bristol). A little planning and a store of parts in the van is good and doesn't cost too much. If you are doing house rewires you are going to need more heavy bashing tools and a chasing machine and vacuum, well worth the money and the job becomes somewhat easier.

There is much more advice, but the number one priority is to leave customers happy and pleased. Anything else spreads like wildfire and you will have no work!

If it’s any help, I pay £30 ph to the two regular self-employed subbies that work for us. That’s (NI) by the way, a fairly far flung corner of the U.K., (at the moment). Very buoyant here as big projects in Dublin have sucked up a lot of the local guys. 
For what it’s worth, £30 ain’t enough although I can’t persuade my business partner otherwise.

If you are dodging about doing odd jobs you will be lucky to have four paid hours per day.

Realistically you need to budget on doing three of jobs a day, but then you are looking at charging £70-80 per hour for the hours you actually work.

Everyone will think you are creaming it if you charge £50 for the first hour and assume you get eight jobs gone each day making £400 per day, but it doesn’t work like that.

I do have a tale about a subbie electrician who grossed over a £150k last year doing work similar to what I am doing, but surprise surprise he not working for some of the firms now, the people I have told the tale to said if they had done it I would not know about it, because they would not have told anyone!

In theory I should be earning nearly £60k per year on my day rate as a subbie with mileage and materials on top, but I cannot keep the pace up. None of what I do is particularly complicated, it’s all about doing a job that is acceptable on time.

A few years back, a sister in law of mine was complaining about the cost of getting a washing machine repair . 

He charged me £65 for an hours work, robbery!

Ho OK then . You work in a factory making plastic carrier bags and get a reasonable basic wage plus a good bonus.

You are probably earning more than him.

Dont be ridiculous!

Ok where did he come from? XXXX (about 20 mins drive) . 

How did you manage to get your washing machine to him?

I didnt, he came to me.

What time did he arrive and thern leave.

(An hour and a quarter).

So you £65 for an hour is really an hour and a quarter plus 20 mins drive each way. So he did not charge you anywhere near £65 an hour. You work out per hour how much you get paid then ask your boss how much he charges customers per hour in order to pay you your wages. The repair man is probably earning less than you.

I do not get paid for travelling to work.

Well if your boss sent you from this factory to the other factory 20 mins away would he pay you for travel time.

Yes but that is different.

I think I have been too cheap for too long. (East Midlands)

I charge between £18.75 and £20/hr depending upon the job and the customer. Having read this, it's time to put my rate up I think.

Back last year I drove up to Cheshire for the day to do a job.

When I arrived there was a nice double cab pickup and trailer parked on the exceptionally wide footway with two spaniels looking out of a window, who greeted me as I got out of my van.

The owner a gardener was mowing the lawns next door and tidying the garden, as I worked he went on to do another five properties without moving his pickup and trailer, he just moved from house to house, when I left he looked like he was moving to another rather than packing his kit up.

I did speak to him partway through the day and actually passed comment that he looked like he has got it sussed, he smiled.

It ain’t what you do, it’s the way that you do it.