Does this quote seem reasonable? (Electrical)

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kingjj

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#201950 11-Sep-2016 12:18

We had our usual electrician in a few days ago to give a quote for a few things, they have since come back at $720 ish.

We asked for the following:

New double plug to be installed in a bedroom (difficult in wall access and no under floor). We requested this be installed on the front of a built in wardrobe (running the wiring inside the wardrobe). They indicated this would be easily do-able.

Rewire a light fixture (old rubber wiring in same room as above). They indicated it was likely the next bedroom's lights also ran off the same line so they would have to rewire both rooms.

The fuse box is in the hallway directly outside the room, the wire run for the plug would be under 2 metres. We had quite a lot of work done last year which included new RCD's. The electrician said they could run the new plug off of one of the new RCD's without issue.

They have quoted for 5 hours labour ($295), Two light switches with cables ($136), Two batten holders ($28), One plug capped in wardrobe with cable ($106), Junctions ($28) and a Certificate of Compliance ($35).

I'm finding this a little higher than expected TBH, especially considering the level of work we did last year that came in at just over 2.5 this (that involved rewiring half the house, new RCDs, new lights, new power points etc). Does this seem reasonable or should I hunt out another quote? These guys do good work but we have had discussions in the past about their quotes.

timmmay

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#1627382 11-Sep-2016 13:03

Electricians always seem to cost more than you expect. Their hourly rate seems fine, and think of any time you try to do some DIY - it always takes longer than you would expect.

Also is this a quote or an estimate? They can't charge more than a quote so they will have to pad it a bit in case things don't go smoothly. If it's an estimate you could end up paying less if it's easy, more if it's difficult.

kingjj

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#1627386 11-Sep-2016 13:22

timmmay:

Electricians always seem to cost more than you expect. Their hourly rate seems fine, and think of any time you try to do some DIY - it always takes longer than you would expect.

Also is this a quote or an estimate? They can't charge more than a quote so they will have to pad it a bit in case things don't go smoothly. If it's an estimate you could end up paying less if it's easy, more if it's difficult.

One thing I've learnt over the last few years (and multiple renovations) is exactly that. However this was quite far above what I was expecting (was hoping for around $500). I understand the need to over quote but from experience with these guys it will not be any less than what they have quoted.

PhantomNVD

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#1627389 11-Sep-2016 13:24

Get three quotes and go with the 'best'?

gregmcc

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#1627395 11-Sep-2016 13:39

Looks about right to me, @$59 is quite cheap

toyonut

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#1627401 11-Sep-2016 14:07

Was going to say that too, $60ish per hour is pretty cheap and the rest looks OK. Only thing I would maybe think is if it takes shorter, do they bill you less? Guessing they would though.

If you have used them before and they do good work to a standard you are happy with, it may be worth it to go with who you know. House electrics are an area I would never try and scrimp on. The old work also seems like it was all redoing existing cables which is far simpler than running new cables into a room with no provision for them.

Try Vultr using this link and get us both some credit:

http://www.vultr.com/?ref=7033587-3B

PoHq

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#1627402 11-Sep-2016 14:10

I always find the smaller conpanies cheaper. When you go to a company with big overheads somebody has to pay for that. That somebody is in most cases the customer. I do all my own electrical work and get an electrical inspector friend to do my code of compliance. Not saying everyone should do this especially if you have no idea what you are doing.

An in between option would be you doing some "pre work" to reduce the labour cost. i.e. In your case run the cables from roof down through wardrobe etc. My friend did all his pre wiring for his new kitchen. The electrician then came and terminated it all.

Again not all companies would let you do this but just throwing it out there as an option.

Good luck.

kingjj

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#1627510 11-Sep-2016 17:41

Cheers for the thoughts. Sounds like $59 an hour is fair. In regards to charging less if they work less, in the past this has not been the case... These guys are reasonably large but very local (based around the corner from us). They do good work so I really can't complaint I guess. Seems $720 is fair. Cheers

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