Electrician cost

[tetra]

Hi, how much should I be expected to be charged for a home electrician?

Domestic work - install and replace lights, fans, and power points.

I am providing the hardware- how much should labour be per hour, and materials such as electrical wire, fan controllers, light switches, power points?

[thatirwinfella]

don't bother buying the items to be installed unless you have done so already, the electrician will be able to get them much much cheaper than you.

there are too many variables in question, a lot of it will depend on access... a ceiling fan in the bottom storey of a double story house is a lot harder than one where there is clear roof access. same with lights. if there is access to the walls [usually by lifting the tin or removing tiles, or from underneath] then powerpoints aren't usually a problem. the cost of individual [and basic] items isn't overly dear if you get them at trade price.

get quotes, three is a good number to get.

[Flasher]

Depending on the contractor, some have a per unit cost. For example $80 for each fan, $50 per GPO etc. If you are providing the hardware generally fan controllers come with the fans. Oh and i would'nt worry too much about cable, that's one of the cheapest parts, unless you start going into 4mm²+ generaly labour can be 40-60 per hr. for a tradie. An extra $20-$30 per hr. if an apprentice is also present.

These are just rough indications. It always pays to check your local newspaper for local tradies, they can be a hell of a lot cheaper than others.

[tetra]

Ok thanks, prob wasnt clear, I already had the work done. Prob should have got quotes first. The invoice amount I recieved really surprised me (double expected) thought I might be getting ripped.

Labour charged was $70 per hour (8 hours). Fan controllers did come with the fans, but was offered a combo fan / light switch which I accepted - no mention of price (I thought a few dollars) - $45 each. Double power points $18.50 each. I was very surprised by these materials prices vs retail prices. Several other materials, cable etc..did seem alright.

All of the above 10% gst added. The electrician was a major contractor employee and efficient. I gave some minor assistance feeding / catching wires, etc.

[davo_scuba]

Nice to see there are no surprises there, i think that getting the gear yourself is a cheaper way to do it if you know what you will need, got a friend who gets alot of stuff off ebay.It always annoys me how they can charge what they want and get a good discount on the product when they purchase it too.we normaly get alot of electrial gear through work and can get up to 50% of asking price.By the way i am seriously thinking of trying to become an electrician I like the idea of going round charging what you want .

[spartan]

labour charges OK....material = rip off!

A double GPO - HPM Excel - $9. HPM Standard double GPO $7.

I think even at bunnies you'd only pay about $12 for a double GPO.

[China]

At those prices I'm gonna get an electricion from Queensland you guys must be laughing

[maxpower]

In my experience here in Melbourne plumbers and sparkies seem to charge around $100-150 per hour.

[wattlewemake]

labour charges OK....material = rip off!

A double GPO - HPM Excel - $9. HPM Standard double GPO $7.

I think even at bunnies you'd only pay about $12 for a double GPO.

Spartan,

I think you are being a bit rough there. First of all do you expect the sparky to buy all the gear to fit out a vehicle with parts that may sit in the vehicle for a long time and just be expected to cover those costs? Dont you think that maybe if he has to buy several thousand dollars of stock so that the gear is on hand when he starts the job that maybe he is entitled to pass some of those costs onto you?
I mean in a retail shop most retailers mark up thier stock that they buy from the wholesaler by as much as 200%. I wouldnt expect to see that sort of mark up for a tradesman but 10-20% wouldnt be seen as extreme for the cost of carrying stock.

And before you ask no I am not a contractor, I just know what it costs to run a business. And a bit of advice HPM is the bottom of the rung in terms of electrical gear. Otherwise known as POS. Majority of contractors use Clipsal for the ease of fitting and knowing that you dont get many call backs due to failure. Bit dearer but you get what you pay for.

My 2cents worth.

Shane.

[nev25]

In my experience here in Melbourne plumbers and sparkies seem to charge around $100-150 per hour.


I'm moving to Melbourne
I charge 60 an Hour plus GST and still get people wingeing

[johnc]

I find it hard to believe the $150 rate, we have just completed office renovations and the electricians bill ranged from $28 per hour for a second year apprentice to $60 for a tradesman. GST on top of that, and this is a larger firm recognised as charging at the high end of local rates.

John.

[dennford]

I find it hard to believe the $150 rate, we have just completed office renovations and the electricians bill ranged from $28 per hour for a second year apprentice to $60 for a tradesman. GST on top of that, and this is a larger firm recognised as charging at the high end of local rates.

John.

Not at all surprised.

I had a quote from a sparkie here in Perth some ten years ago to wire up a 3phase bore pump (I had everything exept the switch), he quoted $600.
I then got a second quote of $90.

On top of the $600 quote, sparky number one then tried to convince me that it was also his job to run the 12 volt reticulation wiring for an extra grand or so

Allways shop around.

Denn

[rat52]

It's not always easy to get three quotes.

SWMBO rang 4 elect contractors in the local paper and only one turned up.

Is $1300.00 too much to shift the meters from inside (old in the passage way) to outside.

As we intend to do an addition out back and install air con he suggested we connect 3 phase for an extra $350.00

Does this sound reasonable.

[dan76]

dont know if this has been said before but if you supply your own gear and it is faulty , then you pay for the sparkie to replace it. if it is his gear that is faulty he will replace it for free.
i love it when people say "but this hpm gpo has a 10 year warranty, and its only 10 dollars compared to your 12.50 double gpo ."
to which i reply " and how much does it cost to get a sparkie to take it off the wall, make the circuit safe, wait for you to duck down to the shop and get a replacement and fit it again?"
also it doesnt seem to get mentioned much but the biggest component of elec work is the testing to ensure correct operation/safety.

[Barry_White]

I think you are a bit unfair on HPM. I have at least 90 standard HPM single and double GPO's and 60 switch mechanisms in my place that have been there for 28 years and the only one that has failed is one that has a crack in it from being tightened up too hard on the wall plate.

BTW Bunnings sell standard HPM doubles by the box of 10 for $6.70 each.

Most of the electrical wholesalers have gone away from or only keep limited stock of HPM because of their marketing to places such as Bunnings, BigW and Kmart etc.

[Barry_White]

It's not always easy to get three quotes.

SWMBO rang 4 elect contractors in the local paper and only one turned up.

Is $1300.00 too much to shift the meters from inside (old in the passage way) to outside.

As we intend to do an addition out back and install air con he suggested we connect 3 phase for an extra $350.00

Does this sound reasonable.

I reckon that's very reasonable considering he will probably have to rerun and put in extra mains and to put the three phase metering in and supply a new meter box and extend all the circuits to the new meter box.

[Smurf]

I think you are a bit unfair on HPM.
One thing I will not do, not matter how hard anyone tries, is fit a Clipsal 3 pin plug to anything.

Simple job. Even a handyman can legally do it since it's plugged in. But I keep well away from those Clipsal plugs with the clear plastic cover for one very simple reason - even 5% overload and they melt to the point of being outright dangerous.

All it takes is 250V instead of 240V and a fan heater draws enough extra current to melt the plug. I've seen at least 20 of those plugs seriously melted (installed by various people including myself).

Now, if Clipsal chooses to manufacture such plugs with an obviously virtually zero tolerance to overload then that doesn't give me too much confidence about the rest of their stuff. A plug is pretty simple after all.

So I don't agree with those who rubbish the HPM gear. Sure, some of their stuff isn't so great but the competition also produces some outright rubbish.

[dan76]

just going from my experience as a tradesman, hpm is a cheaper alternative and is not as robust.
also to get this thread back on track, 70 dollars an hour incl gst for a sparkie

smurf , i think any 3 pin plug is guilty of what you state , especialy (sp?) on air cons up my way

[MrFixIt]

Hi

Overall a FAIR price.

[patty]

Alll the tradies out there especially the plumbers and the sparks have the Olympic games to thnk for the increased pay put it this way I was charging $35 per hr in 1998 then 2000 came along and work was everywhere and the rates increased because if you wanted it done that was the goin rate and it looks like it has stuck now 2008 i am earning $60 per hr i sure as hell know people in other industries have not had a hourly raste rise like what we have had and I am not complaining!

[Tabby]

About a year ago I had some serious electrical work done and all up it was approx $1,500 (incl materials & GST but excl h/w controllers and their cables).
What the sparkie did:
1) Complete change over of switchboard and install circuit breakers/safety switch stuff (same location as old box)
2) install 2 phone points
3) change 3 light fittings from fixed wiring to baton type
4) install waterproof powerpoint for continuous flow h/w system, 2 controllers and wire to switchboard
5) change 2 single power points to 2 double points
6) disconnect old electric cooker and rewire and install new electric cooker
The cost was $60 per hour.
As for the plumber, I felt ripped off. For $1,200 he drained the cravity h/w system (no rocket science here, turn the tap on until it runs dry), ran 10m pipe from gas meter, redirect the water pipes from the cavity system to the new system, install the continuous flow unit. Before you ask, no it didn't include removing the gravity system from within the roof, it's still there. What I didn't know and therefore didn't state when requesting a quote, is that the taps would probably leak once changed from cravity to main pressure, nor did the plumber mention it. So as soon as the water was connected to main pressure most of the taps leaked. Then it was another $160 for a return visit to change the washers in the taps. The price also did not include the hot water unit as his quote for the unit I wanted was $200 more than Origin Energy price.
So sparkies are pretty good with their pricing, but plumbers are a killer.

[nev25]

Tabby as I said in another post of yours I thing you got a bargain from you're sparkie
As for the plumber I think the one of the biggest expense would have been the copper pipe.
What people don't seem to realize is copper prices have gone though the roof and plumbers copper pipe and electricians cable cost have skyrocketed in the last few years
An example is some cable I use to pay around 90cents a metre for 12 months ago is now over $2 a metre
Plumbers copper pipe is the same

[glenne79]

HA HA its really funny reading this thread.
I Just had exactly the same thing happen to me.
A "friend referred an electrician. the electrician told me i would get a good price and i said go ahead with the electrical work for a bath and kitchen reno without getting a quote.
I was shocked at the invoice: He charged $70 per hour for two full days plus $700 for materials. $1900 later we are only half way through.
thanks "Friend". but really my fault for not getting quotes

Glenn