Electrical Wiring Prices

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"How much should it cost to replace a faulty MCB "

Mike

"An incredibly helpful page and set of comments. I\'ve read each right through. THANK YOU. I\'m a consumer, having a new kitchen/diner wired and socketed (!). Part of a build, so inevitably no effort to survey from electrician nor quote beforehand, despite my detailed lighting plan on the day. (my fault , I wasn\'t there, as he failed to arrive on the arranged day). I would so appreciate any thoughts on the the bill for the work, in a space of 32 Sq m New extension. To my plan of 11 sockets, 16 downlighters, 6 fire resistant down lighters (removed my own and replaced with his - why?) wiring for 3 pendants wiring for 5 pendants wiring for track lighting on kitchen units wiring for led strip for wall lights x 2 wiring for in unit and under unit kitchen lights 2 downlights, extractor in utility usual spurs for cooker, etc.. Extractor fan Came to 1500 GBP - and I\'m not sure if this is the final price. Have no basis to check this, 1/2 the work is already done, (2nd fix coming up) and the electrician is brooking no discussion. Any thoughts out there much appreciated. "

PM

"Looking for a 3-bed, 3 recep, 2 bath, boxroom, garage, porch & small lean-to sun porch complete rewire of old farmhouse in Yorks as part of general renovations. Very useful page, thanks, esp to D.Met and SEE1 (last comment) "

RT

"Dora you can give all the talk you want but your just trying to justify over pricing because you've swallowed a regs book, why would an RCD start tripping after 6 months?"

Bodge it and scarper

"In response to those doubting J met etc. Time and costs have nothing to do with the 17th, if anything they've made life easier, prior to the new reulations all pipework and every circuit, eg, lighting, shower, underfloor heating etc in a bathroom had to be interconnected by a seperate bonding conductor, now the use of 17 edition consumer units with all circuits RCD protected has meant that this is, in most cases not required. To change a consumer unit safely has always been a time consuming job if done properly. As mentioned the existing installation should be tested thoroughly, let's face it, you won't be changing a board on a 3 year old wiring system will you? Terminations become loose over time, regulations require larger bonding conductors, the increased use of insulation has a HUGE effect on cables when factored into the necessary calculations. Added to that you get the have a go hero scenario, most electricians will have found some howlers such as showers connected to the lighting circuit and a bigger fuse used to overcome the tripping problem. Other common faults will be socket circuits with too high a fuse rating such as the old kitchen fitters' trick of adding 6 double sockets from one socket. At college I heard of a young labourer for a bricklayer who died as the customer had connected his socket wrongly, the lad filled the kettle and died instantly as the customer had added the socket and terminated the live into the earth. I even found a house once that had almost every circuit interconnected at some point above the kitchen ceiling where the customer had done his own kitchen. This job took 6 days to put right. The same fella had also changed all of his sockets for brass ones and in every single case the live and neutral were in the wrong terminals, these cheap sockets were single pole ones so when the socket was switched off there was still a 230volt supply to the appliances. My approach is without fail to do a full (and thorough) test on the property, ranging from a few hours for a flat with 3 or 4 circuits to a day, possibly more for a 3-4 bedroom house. I'll quote this and charge it before I even consider changing the board as in a majority of cases there is a fair amount of work, sometimes a full rewire needed before the board can safely be changed. It has also been mentioned that this is something that most people will need at most 3 times in their lifetime and could very well stop that lifetime ending very very suddenly!! Some of us do a good and thorough job and would like to be paid according to the amount of attention we pay to safety, people will pay fortunes for lawyers, dentists, cosmetic surgeons etc without a second thought. Their lives may one day be saved by the sparkie who charged an extra 100 quid.....15 years ago!"

SEEI Electrical installation

"In your consumer unit section it might be an idea to change your RCD description to residual current device as that's what the abbreviation means."

SEEI Electrical installation

"With the price of copper rising at the rate it currently is I look at these prices and find them to be laughable at best.. I'm just pricing up a full rewire on a detached 4bed and materials alone are going to be excess of 1,000.00 this is without lights as the customer is purchasing those. I speak from experience to as I am an electrical design engineer with 10year installation works prior to entering the office.."

Leo

"liam is the man when it comes to rewiring a house,fair price and does a great job.i would recomend him to anyone out there..."

Mo

"Really useful information. My elderly mother was under the impression that it would cost her £10,000 for a partial rewire! Naturally she is not going to accept this quote now and I have sought alternative quotes on her behalf."

Linda

"this has been very helpful. never having had anything like this done before, had o idea of cost. thanks. "

EVO. WILSON

"Dollar adjustments please. A lot of us are from the "colonies""

Dora C. Hale

"Unfortunately with the 17th edition there is no longer a small cheap job any more. I price jobs to do them properly to current regulations, test and certify them. So to anyone who thinks you are being ripped off, get the job done cheaper elsewhere and give me a call 6 months later when your RCD keeps tripping and I will quote you double to put all the work right your cowboy installer has fitted just to save you a couple of quid to start with. Remember, electricity is dangerous, so before anyone criticizes how much electricians charge, does anyone else take the responsibility of other peoples lives doing their job. U cant kill anyone sitting in front of a computer all day!!!"

johnny bravo

"very useful - i thought a quote for £3,300 for 3 bed detached plus garage was expensive until i saw that the price range in just under average. Thanks "

Do

"jesus! id need to put my own prices up lol"

rory the charity spark

"HI...I DONT THINK THERE OUT..IVE RUN MY BUSINESS FOR TWO YEARS AND ID SAY MY PRICES ARE AS GOOD IF NOT BETTER THAN THOSE SHOWN AND THATS WITH FULL CERTIFICATION BACKED BY NICEIC..CERTAINLY I CANT SEE MYSELF EVER BEING OVER THE RANGE SO ID SAY ANYONE WHO IS EITHER HAS BIGGER OVERHEADS OR JUST GREEDY...I DO NORFOLK AND CAMBRIDGE AREAS AND SURROUNDING SO ANYONE NEED ADVICE CONTACT ME AT WELLSIANA@YAHOO.CO.UK"

L H B

"Thank you. Having an idea of how much may be charged gives me an idea of what I can afford and more confidence in getting and considering estimates. "

J Bartlett

"How about 1 bedroom rewiring cost?
Admin - Thanks for spotting the missing data. I will look into it."

MThomas

"Hi, D Met is spot on. It does cost to run a business wether 1 man band or a company with employed electricians (which adds problems when employing people such as employees not turning up, not doing the work right along with employee NI, employees insurance, training the list goes on. Comparing what you earn per hour/day/week etc is not comparable as jammyguy thinks, if you think we make a fortune why aren't we all driving around in ferraris and living in mansions? Thinking an electrician or contractor should be charging what you earn or if you think electricians are expensive you've not thought it through. D met was being conservative in his costings and he missed out marketing and advertising which can cost a fortune and bring nothing in (I got into a radio Ad contract that cost me nearly 4K over 6 months and I got not even a call from it). Since we make such a fortune, I'm sure you'd like to make that sort of money so we'll be seeing you on the next training course so you can start your own business Jammy? just to set yourself up in a franchised electrical business you'd be looking at about £30,000 plus you'd pay the franchise each month for running that business, now you have an idea of our costs. After that you'd be looking at possibly around 5 years to get a return on investment. Hope this clears some things up!"

Paul

"ok maybe you would allow 2days to change a consumer unit , but it would be realistic to complete this job in 1 day . "

Shaun , Electrician

"very helpful"

em lawler

"wow, never imagined finding this much information, thanks. We are just in the process of getting some quotes for a 3 bed semi, 1st one came out at £2800 approx which sounds about right. Admin: But get the other quotes in still!"

Helena

"Very useful site for myself with a 3 bed house needing rewiring with no idea of what job entails or prices"

frances

"So for a one man band the first figure should be about right?
Plus two days?
It's hard to say objectively whether the amount of power cuts are increasing or decreasing. Most power outages are caused by failures in the 'national grid' (including the sources)."

More Confused

"To Confused Extract from my ramble, The costs above are a quick guide, not exhaustive and quickly escalate as more people are added to the system. The electrical industry in this country is in decline because the good qualified people are leaving and companies are going bust. As I said to Jon in an email try turning off your power and see how much happens in life. I can tell you it,s not very much, Our industry was a world leader, I,ll leave you with- this when did you last have a power cut and is it becoming more frequent or less. Is power quality improving or not, many will think who cares, you may not yet but you will do. The electrical industry is not not a half brained gathering of minds, but we are certainly treated like one. We can earn more money fitting kitchens and changing tap washers. however both are somewhat useless without electrical power behind them. "

D Met

"First of all thank you for all the comments! Even the negative ones are much appreciated
Many of the prices submitted predate the 17th edition which is generally more expensive in labour and materials. Click on the link for more details such as location (which effects it) and what config consumer unit was installed.
I will try and make time to do a separate page on consumer units pricing and hence explain why it has gone up so much in price over the last few years splitting out older prices from new. I don't have much time though.
I'd be interested to hear from any electricians about whether they feel these extra 'safety' checks/features are really saving that many lives. Is the saving of one life worth the extra cost to everyone else? Sounds harsh but these decisions are made all the time. The opinion of my electrician contact is its mostly just extra cost for the consumer. What sort of risk assessment was carried out before 16th edition was ditched in favour of 17th edition? Whilst consumers shouldn't mess about with electricity have the increased regulations gone too far?"

Jon

"My reply to confused
I always allow two days for a consumer unit replacement. Each electrical installation in different and it is impossible to know what test results will reveal or the ammount of extra time required to repair any apparent faults. For example a full ring main test involves testing the end to end continuity of live neutral and earth. If the test results are not within tolerence the ring main will need to be investigated. The fault could be due to a simple loose connection at one or more of the 13a sockets or a faulty cable. But quite often each 13a socket will need to be removed,the wires cleaned and the socket reconnected. There are a number of other ring main checks that have to be done to check that the ring is not bridged, etc. Each circuit has numerous checks that must be done and some involve checking every light fitting, 13a socket, cooker, water heater, shower, etc, etc. All have to be in tolerence. When a consumer unit is replaced it is often necessary to replace the main earth cable to the MET and equipotential bonding to water pipe, gas pipe and other metal structure within the building. The consumer unit will need to be configured to suit the installation and to comply with the 17th edition of BS7671 2008 and offer the necessary RCD protection. I could go on with other technical criteria that has taken me over forty years experience to aquire. But this should not necessary. While this reply is not exhaustive it does give you some idea of the time needed to do all this.
A good quality 17th edition consumer unit along with the MCB's, possibley RCBO's would retail at £150.0 - £200.00 depending on the configuration needed. The earth cable would be in addition to this and again is dependent on the particular installation, so at this point I can't give you a price. Earth clamps retail at £1.50 each. d met was about right with the £25.00 an hour labour which works out for two days at £400.00 add to this the cost of the consumer unit and cable and the total cost would be £550 - £600. You may well comment that you can purchase a consumer unit cheaper than this. But as d met pointed out these items have to ordered, collected along with all the other items that require specialist knowledge to select. The overheads involved in running a small business make this a realistic price!!
I do hope this relieves your confusion. I make no apology for the overall costing of my consumer unit replacement. Some sparks would say that this is too cheap!! If it gets to the point that customers are not prepared to pay this very reasonable price for a skilled man with years of experience. Then yes! I will stack shelfs at Tesco's."

Mervyn Bright Spark

"Are these prices taken in acont 17 edition "

l oconnor

"d metcalf complains about a price of £341 and yet spends half a page working it out and comes up with a figure that is less than that (plus mumble, mumble some extras). In such a detailed breakdown why wasn't the cost fully explained?"

confused

"I totally agree with the comments made by d metcalfe. Customers very often don't live in the real world when it comes down to cost. When comments are made about being "ripped off" and electricians "lining their pockets" with "huge profit margins" it makes my blood boil. I am a domestic installer registered with the NICEIC and confirm what d metcalfe has pointed out so well, that the overheads involved in running a small business are astronomic! The reality is with the present economic down turn customers will try to save money. The result is that sparks who are prepared to cut corners will very often steal work from those who are not and more often than not get away with it. One day they will not and it will be the customers house that will burn down! If it's an unregistered cowboy outfit they certainly won't have any liability insurance. I beg customers not to take chances with electrical safety. With a small ammount of knowledge it is possible to wire up electrics. But it takes full comprehensive knowledge to wire up electrics safely and this comes at a price. "

Mervyn Bright Spark

"Just been quoted (July 08) £6900 for full rewire of old cottage - 3 beds, 2 x vestibules, kitchen, 3 public rooms, 2 bathrooms. This includes 8 spots in lounge; sockets in two rooms which will operate lamps from light switches; suitable bathroom-quality downlighters; 7 wall lights; new consumer unit resited from original position; gatepost wiring; 2 x outside lights; 1 x outside socket; trunking in 2 rooms to each house 8 x sockets + 2 x phone sockets; 22 additional double sockets; loft lights x 2. Most of the light fittings are not included in the price, just the wiring. The house is occupied/furnished and has mostly solid walls which will be channelled and replastered by the electrician. Location: Lincolnshire"

LP

"Three cheers for d met,now can we vote you for P.M. for putting the case across on behalf of 200,000 + sparks across the land. This is the real world,customers and employers take note,One man bands are still cheaper than electrical companys WE ARE NOT CHEAP LABOUR ! "

sparks sp

"Jon I am quite happy to give you a rundown of electrical contracting costs here they are
This may well be the “average” for a one man band
Part P enrolment requirement. - Van purchase cost + (interest or loss of). Van Insurance. - Road License. - Van Maintenance / Servicing. - Public liability. - 3 phase installation insurance. - Telephone system / mobile. - Stationary costs. - Waste disposal licence & collection costs. - Office equipment and computer software. - Office lighting and power. - Tools and equipment. – Accounting. – Clothing.
Let’s say the cost of the above is approx £ 11’000 per year
Divide this by 240 working days throughout the year, equates to £45.83 per day and the van hasn’t even used any fuel leaving the drive yet. 240 days is 48 of 5 day weeks, allowing 4 weeks holiday with no time off for sickness, training, assessment, meetings or any other miscellaneous time, where not able to work. Now lets leave the drive and burn some fuel (just to get to the job) Van fuel lets say £30.00 per week ( as if )? £1440.00
Now calculate the 8 hour days it’s easy, total 12’440 equates to £ 51.83 per day and thus 6.48 per hour, Now I would like to earn £25,000 per year before tax , which equates to £104.16 per day and thus 13.02 per hour
We are now already at £19.50 per working hour for a very average wage, working and charging for every hour in the day every week of the year with your four weeks off.
I can tell you no electrician in this country is that efficient, so now lets factor in unpaid time and expense’s for obtaining materials, consultations, quoting, paperwork, faulty equipment to be removed, shipped and replaced, incorrect information and 3rd party mistakes, jobs overrunning due to unforeseen circumstances. Lets be generous and say 33% down time. The hourly rate is now £ 25.93 and we are still flat out all day every day.
Now let’s look at the job of changing a board, To do this correctly you first need to test and inspect the existing system, how else could you correctly re-design the overload and earth leakage protection and ensure its safe for use. The board has then to be laid out in a manner appropriate to the findings of the test and scope of the existing system. This work if carried out in a systematic way would take a full day. (8 hours)
Supply isolation by Regional Electrical Company £ 25.00 if your very lucky (I know some will think “no way I’d cut the seal myself”, maybe but illegal. And many don’t re-seal. Quality distribution board, MCB’s, Blanks, Meter tails, Double pole connection block. Earthing conductor for main and bonding, Earth clamps & lugs, Warning notices other , Lets say all in on the best deal we get it for £100.00
Now I make that a great deal on a conservative £ 332.00 ( still to notify extra costs)
Don’t forget I’ve not had a day off sick yet the 33% is just for the paper chase and general working down time, (if you think this is to high refer to industry statistics).
If however in the real world in which I live, the job of changing the board is because the board and its associated distribution is old (it is highly unlikely to be so perfect, as to not require any further works or alterations to ensure compliance. This is where the cheap job with time running out starts to get trimmed at the edges, Because that test result which is a bit weird and should be investigated is now and unforeseen cost, but sod it I’ll just assume it’s ok and fit the board exactly the same as it came out, after all it’s been ok for years.
This is the part of the job where the quality electricians excel over the rest, the system is degrading over time and it may of been ok to now, but that’s no guarantee that it will be fine next year.
The fact that I have not shaved my price within a whisker of all the charity workers means I can finish the job properly and be confident that the job is as good as can be left.
I ask you this, why do people insure their houses? Just in case something happens, because it often does!
The electrical supply is maybe one of the few things that can kill you almost instantly and recognised as an ignition source of many very destructive fires, yet people will happily save one hundred or so pounds on a job that they may get done 3 times in their life, by getting it done by the inexperienced or unskilled.
I for one am more than happy for people to scrutinise the work we carry out, but it infuriates me to see sites like this which is so open to stupidity and abuse, giving costing so far wide of the required mark that it gives people the feeling they are being ripped off by the people who are trying to raise the standards not lower them. The quality Sparks working in London must wince at the prices on here.
The costs above are a quick guide, not exhaustive and quickly escalate as more people are added to the system.
One final point Jon, not understanding costs and the destructive force of constant inflation is why we have a 3 year trade cycle in this country. First year money in pocket, everyone happy customer got cheap job contractor saw return on capital. Second year after first accounts didn’t make as much as expected got to raise costs, customers not so happy. Third year taxman now knocking at the door for his cash, contractor doesn’t have it as it’s all spent running the business, can no longer add to mortgage in a credit crunch, Oh poop, if only I had realised earlier that I could of earned more money stacking shelves at the supermarket!
I could go on, I’ve seen it all before many times over the years only this time the credit crunch is going to break the cycle of equity release to fund the self employed.
"

d met

"d metcalfe: Could you perhaps elaborate and explain why they're doing charity work? Like give an example of what you charge and breakdown the price for us?
d metcalfe: Got your feedback (shown above) but could send me your contact details as I would be interested in doing a seperate page on this with your co-operation if you are interested? webmaster@whatprice.co.uk "

Jon

"Any qualified electrician who does the work for the average prices you have quoted, needs to go back to school and begin their maths classes all over again. Some of the prices I come across as an NIC contractor makes my blood boil because either the people giving them are either cutting corners, not understanding the regs, plain stupid, mad as a hatter or on a mission to do charity work, £341.00 for a new board that must be one little piece of junk installed, dear god give me strength."

d metcalfe

"Sparks sp: The links in the table take you to the actual prices we have received. You will see they do contain locations. The averages/ranges are for brevity. Electrical work, more than any, is really hard to ball-park price, but specific examples are useful for people to compare their prospective job with. Whatprice isn't about avoiding expensive or using cheap electricians, but rather about stopping people paying £5k for a job when they should have paid £2.5k. my close family are electricians and plumbers, you are professional, you do work hard. We really aren't trying to have a go at any trade here. Honest!"

Admin

"This one for jammyguy. Find a polish worker to do your wiring. If a solictor says to you I charge £230 an hour do you haggle with him to bring the price down. NO! Because we sparks are regulated, we pay registration fees, insurance fees, exam fees submit fees who pays me at 10pm to notify building control .Oh and petrol for a wasted quote. We are skilled. Thankfully I don't you will ever ring for any professional for like your handle I think you get by with most things in life!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

sparks sp

"well done mate for this guide. it really helped me. i'm gonna clear the entire house including carpets and get a quote accordingly! To all the electricians who complain, we know what your saying but your profit margins are huge! materials cost £500 for a 3 bed rewire yet you charge £3000 for a weeks work! thats £2500 between 2 of you so that £1250 in a week. in my opinion you need to start looking at how much the average person earns before thinkin of lining your pockets!! Thankyou WHAT PRICE!!!"

jammyguy

"In these days of accountability registered electrical trade persons have more costs than average builders/plumbers. ie exams every two 2yrs ,register every year(NICEIC), changes in law (part P)you have to build in business profit. London prices are different from other regional areas (C charge)you must indicate regional area,or else its does the industry no good at all estimate your prices are out by 20/40% we are not cheap labour!"

sparks sp

"These are prices that people have paid for work. If you think they are low it may be down to circumstances or the area of the country. The devil is in the detail and the detail is linked off this page. If you have specific examples of prices then please submit them"

Admin

"hi there just wanted to let you know the text on resetting RCD's is misleading as the button is to test the device. To reset you simply switch the device to the on position or off then back on in the case of MEM RCD's."

monty electrical installations

"I think that you should add that the prices submitted for new wiring and re wires are for the very basic services. I am also surprised that your estimated costs for rewires are lower than for new: All that furniture to move, carpets and flooring to lift people to work around..logistical nightmare! As someone working in the industry, I would comment that the estimated costs itemised are extremely low. Your consumer will be disappointed when given the final bill."

P Holgate

"All prices are submitted by the public, we merely reprint them. If your prices are different then please take the time to fill in our feedback forms, and the website will update accordingly"

Admin

"your prices are way out mate.. leaving these costs on the net is making life difficult for us trying to earn a living... get in the real world ...."

Paul