Quoting for job not time?

[HforHotel]

Why are builders quoting me £70 per socket? Shouldn’t it be cheaper than that based on the day rate of an electrician.

We’ve got 35 sockets to add. How long would this take for them to install? Thanks

Surface cabling or cut in?_

In the wall

Would you prefer the sparky turns up and takes his own sweet time stretching the job out? No thanks.
£70 per socket is the very approximate finger in the air figure and used quite widely.

How many are being changed? I always ask for quotes based on completed works, not saying that all tradespeople would purposefully take longer over a job paid hourly, but I prefer it without the temptation. Sure you can end up paying a bit more, but you know exactly where you stand, and can ask for a breakdown to see if the hours seem reasonable.

Yeah, you don't want to give a financial incentive to trades to take a long time. You'll never get rid of them.

If this is part of a quote for wider building work, the builder will just plug in a fixed amount for each socket you put in your spec. This is far easier than trying to work out how long it will take to fit each individual socket.

Lots of jobbing builders sub contract electrics. If you think this aspect of a quote looks high, you could choose your own electrical contractor. Most builders are likely to be fine with this.

Based on £70 a socket, I’m looking at £2,450. That must be more than a month’s salary for an electrician. Surely it couldn’t take a month to do those 35 sockets??!

So maybe I ask an electrician how long it will take to install, then ask for their day rate to get the fixed quote.

Lol I very much doubt that’s a months salary for an electrician - and that’s not how it works either.

Pretty sure most electricians are on waaaaay more than £110 ish a day... so it’s more like 7 days?

Do they know there's 35 when quoting? Or are you asking how much for one? Because there are no economies of scale with one socket. It has to be worth their while to leave their home, come to yours, do their work, complete the admin, invoice, chase invoices, drive back to base, etc.

Who is supplying the socket?

And yes, more like 10-15 days earnings, depending on where you live. I'm in a cheep place, and reckon on 200/day for trades people.

@ScarfLadysBag yes, they know it’s for 35 sockets, it’s part of a big renovation, so it’s just one part of the electrics.

I think the cost issue is that the general contractor is whacking on a massive premium for every bit of the project. I’ll find my own trades I think and project manage everything. Thanks all

It sounds as though you haven't asked for a quote for the full job. A lot will depend upon the state of the building and access. Considering he has to chop out a socket box, cut achase I the wall, pull the rail from somewhere and then do a test on each cuircuit modified it doesnt sound too bad to me. Plus materials obviously.
If you think that's bad wait till the plasterer quotes:)

Who’s supplying the sockets?

Does that include the sockets? They can really range in price.