£2700 quote for replacing boiler and moving up the wall 2 feet

[Alicewinn]

Is that reasonable? It's a Vaillant ecoFIT Pure 825 (25kW) combination

Google the boiler model and that will give you an idea of retail (to you) price. The plumber will get trade price so at a discount. Then how many/much pipework will be changed needed.
Get at least three quotes if you can to get a better idea. Choose the most reliable for price.
Sounds a high price but labour charges can be big.

The cost for the boiler looks to be about £1350 , plumber will get 10% off so £1200. So £1500 to fit it . Sounds steep to me even if there is 2 of them

How many days does he expect the job to take? That will allow you to gauge whether he’s being reasonable.

Also, whereabouts are you?

We’re in the south west. Nov 2022 we had a new boiler, it was moved to a different room and the pipe work for the whole house was streamlined. Took about a week and he charged us about £3300 which I thought was very reasonable.

It cost me £2.5k to replace my ancient Vaillant boiler with a slightly cheaper Ideal one last year. Didn't move the location. Heating engineer I’ve used lots in the past. I’m in London.

Ours included tidying up crappy pipe work and cost 2200

I googled the model, it's £925. He expects the work to take 1 day.
I'm in Hampshire. I think he's taking the piss, what a shame I really liked him.

Absolutely brilliant post by @hannahcolobus you are not just paying for a boiler and labour rate. You cannot break down a quote into just that. If you really like this gas engineer then ask more questions about what the job entails.

If he is moving it up the wall he will probably need to drill out for a new flue, extend or even change the pipework depending on the state of your current pipework, fit a magnaclean etc. There are plenty of videos on youtube by gas engineers showing them fitting new boilers, not all jobs are equal in terms of ease. Maybe watch some of those before judging his quote.

As @OrangeStringer and @hannahcolobus mention there’s more work than first seems.

There should also be a flush of the central heating system before fitting the new boiler and filter.

If that was an all in quote, not estimate, I’d say it’s not that bad.

We paid about £3k to have a new Valient and change location (within the same room).

I'd say that's cheap.

You're also paying for his qualifications, training and expertise in gas and signing off the work.

They're moving a '£925 boiler' up the wall by a few feet. How big a job is that as the labour charge seems 'punchy'. I suggested getting more than one quote, which will give a better idea of the cost to the owner.

Google install new boiler, just one example here:
"How much does it cost to install a combi boiler?
The cost of installing any boiler, including a combi boiler, will depend on the type of installation. Combi boiler installation costs around £500 to £1,000 and takes around a full day to complete."

https://www.boxt.co.uk/boilers/guides/how-much-does-a-new-boiler-cost

That seems cheap to me. We paid £3000 to install and move ours and we are in Scotland. Most of our quotes were £3500 to £4000. Honestly bite his hand off.

I paid £2500 10 years ago in another house.

They will charge what the local market dictates they can ultimately.

I know two heating engineers in different parts of the UK. Neither is London but the difference in their labour rate is astonishing (same quals and comparable experience).

You need 3 quotes to get an idea of your area. I know my smaller BTL house costs more to have any work than my own house as it’s a different area.

I would say that is higher end but not ridiculously so. I don’t think you’ll find anyone willing to do it for much less than £1900.

It cost me £3300 last year. Ideal boiler, moved along the wall by about a foot, power flush at the same time. Old boiler was broken so I hadn't bothered with the usual 3 quotes but I did get a quick one from Boxt online to check I wasn't paying massively too much.

If the quote wasn't broken down in any way how else can you estimate how much you are being charged for the work done - yes baring in mind you're employing someone trained in the job, not a shop worker?

Edit: and this is what I actually said
"Google the boiler model and that will give you an idea of retail (to you) price. The plumber will get trade price so at a discount. Then how many/much pipework will be changed needed.
Get at least three quotes if you can to get a better idea. Choose the most reliable for price.
Sounds a high price but labour charges can be big."

Sounds about right to me, based on what I paid 5 years ago. I think they flushed through the system while they were doing it.

The boiler is £950 plus VAT.

He'll do it in a day surely? Ot possibly two? If so that's expensive and not only reflective of his skills.

The price of boiler plus VAT, I doubt if the engineer is working on his own, price also reflects the cost of visiting premises, time taken to see what needs doing, also working out price. My DH is a retired plumber, you would be surprised at the amount of people who want quotes, but not really have a clue what they want and then don’t bother even acknowledging the quote or thanking him and letting him know they want to go ahead or not. You are also paying towards the cost of engineer being a member of Gas Safe, also if he’s VAT registered then that’s 20%.

This!

That price sounds reasonable to me. Moving the boiler is a lot of extra work with changes to pipes and exterior works.

Not to mention tools, anything associated with the electrical part of the installation, possibly condensate pipe fitting and possibly condensate pump. Decent inhibitor for the heating circuit is not cheap either if you drain that and replace during the fitting process. There is also disposal of any waste and the boiler itself.

On top of that there is the fact that when you replace the boiler the end user then magically assumes you are somehow responsible for the entire system including the radiators and hot water cylinder, so there may be additional problems sorting out radiators that have "suddenly" gone cold or leaking pipes, so very often you have to factor in maybe 50% of the costs of a return visit.

I think £2700 is more than reasonable for the job described. You might get cheaper. You also might get someone who doesn't bother to register the install and is not bothered in fixing any issues after they are paid.

I've just been roughly quoted £2000 for a Worcester boiler which includes a 5 year guarantee or £2500 for one with a 10 year guarantee. It would go in the same place as original boiler and I live in a tiny house, so not sure what level of boiler plumber was quoting for (I was only asking out of interest). I'd always "guesstimated" a new boiler would be around the 2k mark from speaking to neighbours, so thought this was reasonable, obviously if I went ahead I'd research prices thoroughly.

And how much would it cost you to learn how and to equip yourself to DIY?

Sounds a reasonable price to me.