plumbers invoice

[Fred]

Hello, I have posted about this plumber before as I am still having problems with my central heating system, but his invoice for a few small jobs must be the reason why so many people want to become plumbers these days

1 emergency call out to fit a new washer on the pipe connecting the dishwasher (time of actual work 10 minutes)

all in one outing

1 thermostatic valve fitted to a radiator 1 tap swapped at the kitchen sink 1 replaced stoptap and ball valve total time of this outing 90 minutes max

he first wanted to also charge for work ot the central heating system that I insist was warranty related. With my stubborn resistance he lowered the invoice. This guy used to be the "family" plumber, hence I did not insist on quotes for all of the above thinking that I full well knew ball park figures for these jobs.

Anybody wishing to take a guess...

280 pounds all inclusive.

Say the callout cost me 100 quid - money quickly made for him but never mind. The rest are small jobs imho, certainly not worth 180 pounds, even in a decent, fairly expensive part of the North. Is there a comeback for me or just a bitter pill to swallow?

Fred

[Al Reynolds]

"Fred" wrote: It sounds a lot to me, but I would have got a quote first. I wouldn't be surprised if £50/hour + bits came to £180.

You could try phoning Consumer Direct and see what they think. Their number is on:

[Dave Plowman (News)]

How many pairs of hands has he? ;-)

[Christian McArdle]

Do you get into minicabs without checking the price first too?

Christian.

[Grunff]

Quite - I'd say if your plumber can do all that in an hour and a half, then good for him. I think the rate is fine for the job, but I'd have expected the job to take twice as long.

[AlexW]

Happens a lot, done it myself, especially friday / satturday nights!

Alex.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Yup. Now obviously I'm not a pro, but allowing for getting the parts, I'd say a day would be nearer the mark with all that draining down and re-filling etc.

[Jim Alexander]

No its the reason why its worth learning a bit of DIY.

Why on earth would you want to make an emergency call-out for your dishwasher. Learn how to isolate your appliances.

Being?

It's not a plumber's invoice at all, its an emergency plumbers invoice. Don't use emergency call-outs for routine work.

Jim A

[Doctor Evil]

That is plainly clear, so will you keep quiet.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

As usual, no advice or information to the OP. And since you claim to be a pro, I'd have thought this right up your street.

But of course no such information in the boiler maker's catalogues. Or on a website.

[Doctor Evil]

Just keep quiet. You don't know.

[WJJ]

Sounds very reasonable to me.

[keith_765]

£280 for 90 mins, does that include colleting the fitting, his transport costs, public liability insurance, income tax, accountant fees, wear and tear on tools, holidays, work wear, telephone charges. I don't think he get much left to put in his pocket.

[Fred]

Opinions much appreciated. I will learn some more diy when I have a moment, but I am always amazed that a reasonably qualified plumber in a good market should basically earn triple the salary of a nurse or a midwife. That is basically why I am constantly suspicious.

Oh, the one information missing in my original post was that the system was already drained due to warranty work to the CH. That is what brings down the time spent to fit a TSV from a few hours to a few minutes imho.

My ballpark figures came from a plumber in Sheffield. He worked incredibly hard and always charged fair prices, which he quoted upon seeing the work before I had a chance to ask. My mistake to take him for granted elsewhere in the country I suppose.

Fred

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Was the TRV of an identical type? If not, they're not necessarily a simple swap. And he'd also have to include the cost of getting/supplying it, unless you did this yourself.

[Mark]

Simply market forces at work, some years ago my thick son-in-law was earning £400 a day working as a contractor in I.T. now he's out of a job, but now you cant get a decent tradesman for any price. Do Schools/collage's now teach any practical skills? Nope but they're still turning out the computer literate.

[Martin Angove]

It isn't the same thing at all. A nurse (or a teacher or a fireman or a policeman) gets to take home a large chunk of their before-tax "salary". You can assume that someone whose after-tax salary works out to about £120 a day (long-serving teacher for example) has £120 in their pocket at the end of this day with which to buy the shopping.

I, on the other hand, working as an electrician end up *charging* around £150 a day for labour (depends on various things, obviously). That money doesn't come to me at all, neither before nor after tax. That money belongs to my ltd company and the *first* thing that company must do with the money is to pay bills; insurances, membership of professional bodies, telephone, tools, taxes, bank charges etc. etc. (see similar list elsewhere in the thread). Only after all that has been taken care of can I work out how much "profit" the company has made, and how much of that I can afford to pay myself, while leaving some to the company for future investment, in a van perhaps as I currently work out of my own car.

And of course, I don't work every day so although I may have a cheque for £150 in the bank account from work I did on Monday, if I don't work Tuesday then the rate is effectively halved. If I take a week holiday... well, you can see what happens.

So from the £150 a day I charge a customer, at the moment (business has been slow the last few months) I am lucky if I actually receive £20 a (working) day in my pocket.

That isn't the long-term plan of course. Long term I aim to pay myself the equivalent of £40 or £50 a day, but to do this I worked out (a while ago, so the figures are probably different now) that I need to work the equivalent of 18 days a month at £150 a day. For those in "normal" jobs this is only the eqivalent of a normal five days by four weeks month with two days in hand for holidays.

Compare this £40 with my wife who, as a teacher with sought-after special needs skills, gets £180 (before tax) per day as a supply teacher.

Hwyl!

M.

[Jim Reaper]

I had a plumber that tried to charge me 170 for a stench pipe. Needless to say I told him to take it back and I got one down at the builders yard for a fraction of that.

[Ed Sirett]

Quite so.