just make it clear that they will be charged for any wasted time due to them getting the wrong materials, faulty stuff to be removed & new to be refitted etc
9 bedroom house to rewire!!
- Thread starter buzzlightyear2014
- Start date
Help Support Talk Electrician Forum:
I wouldn't really entertain doing it on a fixed price if the customer was supplying materials regardless of the size of it. Obviously they are thinking they are going to be able to save a few quid by giving you cheap tat to fit, that takes twice as long to fit as decent kit so my price would be double whatever they think it will be.
No matter what price you give you will be on a loser. If you price it properly (i.e. allow for all the buggering about with incorrect/awkward materials, customer random plans etc) then you won't get the job. If you price it to win it and get the job then it will be so low you will come out of it wondering why you bothered as you will have ended up with the equivalent of £3.50 per hour.
Walk away.
No matter what price you give you will be on a loser. If you price it properly (i.e. allow for all the buggering about with incorrect/awkward materials, customer random plans etc) then you won't get the job. If you price it to win it and get the job then it will be so low you will come out of it wondering why you bothered as you will have ended up with the equivalent of £3.50 per hour.
Walk away.
I have just done a job for a mate and he wanted to source the parts ...... So he bought the switches, sockets , downlights and lamps, I supplied everything else including the board ....
that worked out ok.
that worked out ok.
Client supplied on the job I show above ( The one that looks remarkably like Dekington Towers)
Stuff coming from Ebay ...CEF.... LED GU10 lamps & downlights from a Chinese man he knows by the Central Markets in the city. Only £4 each :C
When asked he assured us the sockets & switches would be the "normal" ones. They ended up as the flat plate ..no fixing screw in the front ones that don't fit our 25mm KO boxes too well. Wandsworth I think .
We walked in the end . Five reasons . (1) We were peed off with it . (2) He kept calling us out on a Saturday to.. "discuss progress & what to do next" so we turned phones off. He was not happy. (3) He stood a whiteboard on the job with orders on it & stuff like "All tradesmen MUST speak with each other . We had no idea who was who & when they were coming etc . (4) Because everything he told us to do was done , then countermanded by his missus ...or ..we were having new plaster chased out because she wanted another socket here , there & everywhere ...job was running backwards , we altered virtually everything we did, we were counter charging for reams of extra work so he phones us up ..on site... says he's bringing in another electrician because he can't get us on the phone when he needs to . (5) We,d rushed a job elsewhere so we could get back to his job and finish off all the upstairs work .....to find the stairway had been removed ........a new one, costing £10 million quid, made from wood imported from another galaxy was to be installed and NO ONE was to walk up it .
Stuff coming from Ebay ...CEF.... LED GU10 lamps & downlights from a Chinese man he knows by the Central Markets in the city. Only £4 each :C
When asked he assured us the sockets & switches would be the "normal" ones. They ended up as the flat plate ..no fixing screw in the front ones that don't fit our 25mm KO boxes too well. Wandsworth I think .
We walked in the end . Five reasons . (1) We were peed off with it . (2) He kept calling us out on a Saturday to.. "discuss progress & what to do next" so we turned phones off. He was not happy. (3) He stood a whiteboard on the job with orders on it & stuff like "All tradesmen MUST speak with each other . We had no idea who was who & when they were coming etc . (4) Because everything he told us to do was done , then countermanded by his missus ...or ..we were having new plaster chased out because she wanted another socket here , there & everywhere ...job was running backwards , we altered virtually everything we did, we were counter charging for reams of extra work so he phones us up ..on site... says he's bringing in another electrician because he can't get us on the phone when he needs to . (5) We,d rushed a job elsewhere so we could get back to his job and finish off all the upstairs work .....to find the stairway had been removed ........a new one, costing £10 million quid, made from wood imported from another galaxy was to be installed and NO ONE was to walk up it .
phil d
Well-known member
As others have said, be careful, a while back I was going through a bad patch, lack of work etc, this guy I knew said he'd introduce me to a mate who'd give me loads of work. The guy was great, a multi millionaire, money no object, he wanted to take me on as staff, but asked me to name my price, even better!
I worked on a number of rehab centre's he ran, no problem, he told me what he wanted, I designed it and installed it, great, just like being se, but without any of the worries.
Then he asked me to sort out a load of jobs on his mansion, got the access control working, no problem, got the drive lights working, no problem, then he went away for a month and asked me to deal with his wife, that was the begining of the end!
She was having a big winter gala event and wanted loads of trees lit up, I installed all the cabling, then she didn't want any posts driven in the ground, so I attached the boxes to the trees using brass screws, she moaned at this, accusing me of trying to kill the trees. She then told me to install a new kitchen in the house, it had been part done but not finished, on the day I started, these blokes turned up, they were from the company her husband had asked to do the work, she didn't want them to do it, even though they were part way through the job.I refused to do the work, after all her hubby had arranged for them to do it, and paid them, so leave them to it.
She then decided to sack me, she couldn't, she wasn't my boss! I had a slanging match with her, told her to shove it, and went home!
He came back from his trip, I resigned, he apollogised for his wife, actually calling her a silly cow! It was too much, I'd made my mind up and left, working for him was great, dealing with his wife was a nightmare. On any big job you only want to deal with one person, once you deal with more than one, it becomes a nightmare!
I worked on a number of rehab centre's he ran, no problem, he told me what he wanted, I designed it and installed it, great, just like being se, but without any of the worries.
Then he asked me to sort out a load of jobs on his mansion, got the access control working, no problem, got the drive lights working, no problem, then he went away for a month and asked me to deal with his wife, that was the begining of the end!
She was having a big winter gala event and wanted loads of trees lit up, I installed all the cabling, then she didn't want any posts driven in the ground, so I attached the boxes to the trees using brass screws, she moaned at this, accusing me of trying to kill the trees. She then told me to install a new kitchen in the house, it had been part done but not finished, on the day I started, these blokes turned up, they were from the company her husband had asked to do the work, she didn't want them to do it, even though they were part way through the job.I refused to do the work, after all her hubby had arranged for them to do it, and paid them, so leave them to it.
She then decided to sack me, she couldn't, she wasn't my boss! I had a slanging match with her, told her to shove it, and went home!
He came back from his trip, I resigned, he apollogised for his wife, actually calling her a silly cow! It was too much, I'd made my mind up and left, working for him was great, dealing with his wife was a nightmare. On any big job you only want to deal with one person, once you deal with more than one, it becomes a nightmare!
pewter
Conspiracy Theorist™
i have no problem with customer supplying parts. Often they want the bill to put through there own accounts.
I give them a mega deatailed list of what i want and where to get it. If i need anything i just text them a list and wait for delivery.
I need 4 screws, get a box of 200. need sleeving, have to have a 50M roll. Lots of left over perks on this type of job. When anything fails, pay me to come back and sort it out, if i havent supplied it, i wont replace it for free. Sometimes i prefer a customer to supply things because of this.
I give them a mega deatailed list of what i want and where to get it. If i need anything i just text them a list and wait for delivery.
I need 4 screws, get a box of 200. need sleeving, have to have a 50M roll. Lots of left over perks on this type of job. When anything fails, pay me to come back and sort it out, if i havent supplied it, i wont replace it for free. Sometimes i prefer a customer to supply things because of this.
That's what I was thinking too.
There is always wiggle room in every job, or else I make sure there is. I had a contractor (robot engineer) working for me, I wanted to supply materials, I walked into the local wholesalers one day with him, introduced him to the staff and said anything he wants let him get it and send the bill to me. Perhaps you could have a similar arrangement with this customer.
That's completely different though. I would do that (and have done it plenty of times with other contractors). I would also do that with a customer if I had a say in what it was I was buying. Generally though domestic customers say they want to supply materials because they reckon it will be cheaper and they will just supply with the cheapest old tat they can.
Naw!!! The less the customer has to do with it ..the better.
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