Hi folks,
just after a second opinion on a sparky quote… Its for a partial rewire following electrical damage in a house fire.
The sparky quoted $90/hr + GST initially and was reluctant to give a firm fixed quote as he suggested fixed quotes usually allow a fair buffer for things to go wrong or costs to go up, and if it all goes ahead smoothly the customer misses out. He insisted he is hard working, reliable and was recommended to me by another property investor who has used him for other properties.
He would not provide me with a discounted half-day or daily rate, and wanted to still be paid hourly even for a 8-9 hour day. He reduced his fee to $85/hr and said he can’t go any lower as he knows what his boss used to charge for his previous company (now a sole contractor) and what other sparkies charged.
I tried to negotiate a daily rate but couldn’t, and just interested to hear other thoughts on the price/agreement etc.
Cheers,
EmmaMost I have seen do a quote up with the full price. How do you know if you can afford it if he cannot give you a final figure??
Give serviceseeking.com.au a try. You post your job on there and people get back to you with estimates and you go from there.
$85/hr is too steep. I'd be looking for another sparky.
Tools
I would find another sparky, he's the type I don't like to deal with, he could be fresh out on his own and hes not confident enough to quote and his hourly rate sounds high but then maybe the area you are in may be charging this amount.
I just paid $100 per hour for a gas fitter, my eyes almost popped out of my head, but for what I was trying to achieve, it was actually cheap and the guy got the job doneThanks everyone for your comments. I’m in Perth…
I have booked him in to do a small job, he said 2-3 hours, next week and will see how that goes. In the mean time I’ll get another sparky or two to quote for the rewire.
I’d be happy using him if there was a fixed maximum ceiling price that I know it wont go over… but I really do feel there should be a cheaper daily rate than paying hourly.
Hi investors, this is my first post.
I am a sparky so this thread caught my interest.
I believe $85/hour is a reasonable price for a good domestic electrician.
My retail rate is $110/hour with my day rate coming down to $90/hour.
In my experiance with electricians you ordinarily seem to get what you pay for.
Remember you are paying for a licenced trade as you are with plumbing ….
Cheers,
A
Keep in mind that tradies have rather physical jobs, which takes a toll on the body. As such they will have to retire from the profession far earlier than someone with desk job. With that in mind, it makes sense that they need to charge accordingly.
Personally, electricity scares the bejeezus out of me and I do not want to be hiring a sparky that does a crappy job.
My sparky mentioned recently that the bulk of their work actually comes from homes that are around 12 months old. Such is the crappy job being done on newbuilds that they are having to clean up the mess only a year later.
As has already been said … you get what you pay for.
Jacqui Middleton | Middleton Buyers Advocates
http://www.middletonbuyersadvocates.com.au
Email Me | Phone MeVIC Buyers' Agents for investors, home buyers & SMSFs.
just thought i’d update this… seeing as job was finished some time ago.
ended up going with my sparky mentioned above, as i found him so decent to talk to, and the time he took to walk through the house to get a thorough understanding of the job and his ideas gave me confidence in him.
He hired in apprentice between when he quoted and when he did the job, so the apprentice also worked alongside him on my house for the original $85/hour.
The total job came to roughly $3100 which included the full rewire, new RCDs, half hour new power points and light switches, connection of new light fittings, new ceiling fans. I was very impressed with the service and the price. Most fixed quotes were around $5-6k.
I will be calling him for all future electrical jobs, and though he will continue to charge by the hour his estimates are reasonably close to the finished charge and I have observed him working hard, fast and efficient in that time and he deserves every $ he charges.
I have happily referred him to others.
Cheers,
EmmaYeah I think $85 may even be a little on the low side for a good tradie. If you think that a massage costs more than that per hour I think it;s easily justified.
Also, for some jobs many tradies will only give you an hourly figure because there could be a high chance that things will be a little more pear shaped when they look deeper.
Good to hear you had a good experience here.
JacM wrote:Keep in mind that tradies have rather physical jobs, which takes a toll on the body. As such they will have to retire from the profession far earlier than someone with desk job. With that in mind, it makes sense that they need to charge accordingly.
.I'm not really sure how that line of reasoning stands up to justifying hourly rates. Experience and knowledge (IP) has a cost associated with it.
Good to hear it worked out, esp in WA
wisepearl wrote:just thought i'd update this… seeing as job was finished some time ago. ended up going with my sparky mentioned above, as i found him so decent to talk to, and the time he took to walk through the house to get a thorough understanding of the job and his ideas gave me confidence in him. He hired in apprentice between when he quoted and when he did the job, so the apprentice also worked alongside him on my house for the original $85/hour. The total job came to roughly $3100 which included the full rewire, new RCDs, half hour new power points and light switches, connection of new light fittings, new ceiling fans. I was very impressed with the service and the price. Most fixed quotes were around $5-6k. I will be calling him for all future electrical jobs, and though he will continue to charge by the hour his estimates are reasonably close to the finished charge and I have observed him working hard, fast and efficient in that time and he deserves every $ he charges. I have happily referred him to others. Cheers, EmmaHi Emma.
It comes down to a combination of being happy with the work, having trust in the person and being happy with the price. It's great to see these things all coming together for you. I would be very happy with the price. Well done.
A
ajacks wrote:JacM wrote:Keep in mind that tradies have rather physical jobs, which takes a toll on the body. As such they will have to retire from the profession far earlier than someone with desk job. With that in mind, it makes sense that they need to charge accordingly.
.I'm not really sure how that line of reasoning stands up to justifying hourly rates. Experience and knowledge (IP) has a cost associated with it.
There is always more than one factor that dictates a rate. You and i have pointed out some of them others include scarcity, danger level, remoteness of job.
Jacqui Middleton | Middleton Buyers Advocates
http://www.middletonbuyersadvocates.com.au
Email Me | Phone MeVIC Buyers' Agents for investors, home buyers & SMSFs.
The cost may vary depending on the task. I have seen an Australian website with quite sensible write ups about the varying costs of hiring an electrician. Although this might be an old review, I hope you can gain some insights from here. Thanks
http://www.serviceseeking.com.au/news-and-ideas/pricing-guides/210-electrician-costs-compare-save
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