In July 2012 Which magazine carried out a survey to find out how much you should spend on 15 common jobs and how long they should take to complete.
Which asked Local-recommended
electricians to complete a survey about the cost and completion time for 15
standard domestic electrical jobs.
Armed with this information, you'll know what
questions to ask, roughly what price you can expect to pay and how long jobs
should take when hiring an electrician.
Electrician
prices and completion times
All of our prices include labour and
materials but exclude VAT.
Job
|
Details
|
Typical price quoted
|
Price range
|
Typical time to complete the job
|
Replace light fitting
|
Remove standard rose and replace
with new light fitting supplied by customer.
|
£37
|
£30-£50
|
0.5-1 hour
|
Perform an electrical inspection
report
|
Safety check on electrical wiring
in standard three-bed semi detached house.
|
£150
|
£120-£180
|
4–8 hours
|
Replace consumer unit
|
Supply and fit a new consumer unit
for standard three-bed semi-detached house.
|
£350
|
£300-£433
|
0.5-1 day
|
Install electric shower
|
Supply and fit an 8.5kw electric
shower.
|
£300
|
£240-£380
|
0.5-1 day
|
Install a light in loft
|
Supply and fit light in loft with
switch outside loft hatch. Assuming no light already exists.
|
£95
|
£70-£140
|
2–3 hours
|
Replace old strip lighting in
kitchen with LED downlighters
|
n/a
|
£330
|
£250-£400
|
5–8 hours
|
Install an outdoor power socket
|
Fit a double socket on an external
wall.
|
£100
|
£79-£125
|
1-3 hours
|
Install two extra double sockets in
lounge
|
Supply and fit two double sockets
(white).
|
£120
|
£100-£160
|
2–4 hours
|
Replace standard light switch with
a dimmer switch
|
n/a
|
£50
|
£35-£60
|
0.5-1 hour
|
Fit an electric cooker
|
Fit a single fan electric oven.
Assuming all power is already in place. Customer supplying oven.
|
£45
|
£35-£60
|
1 hour
|
Repair a damaged power cable on
vacuum cleaner or other similar appliance
|
n/a
|
£40
|
£30-£50
|
0.5-1 hour
|
Install an external security light
|
Supply and fit an external security
light – movement sensitive.
|
£100
|
£79-£130
|
1–3 hours (dependent on how close
light is to electrical supply and length of cable required)
|
Completely rewire average two-bed
terraced house
|
Remove old wires and fittings;
install new wiring and fittings – six rooms including kitchen and bathroom.
|
£2,500
|
£2,183-£3,000
|
5–8 days
|
Completely rewire average three-bed
semi-detached house
|
Remove old wires and fittings;
install new wiring and fittings - eight rooms including kitchen and bathroom.
|
£3,200
|
£2,838-£4,000
|
6–10 days
|
Completely rewire average four-bed
detached house
|
Remove old wires and fittings;
install new wiring and fittings - 10 rooms including kitchen and two
bathrooms.
|
£4,000
|
£3,400-£5,000
|
10–15 days
|
Electrical
jobs: trader tips
In
addition to the pricing and completion time information, the recommended
electricians who participated in the survey also shared some helpful advice.
General
Most
job prices include testing and certification.
Jobs
are more straightforward in new houses where existing wiring and fittings
already meet regulations. In older houses, work may be more costly and
time-consuming.
Job: replace light
fitting
Many
electricians will have a minimum charge (often the rate for one hour) for small
jobs like this. It could work out more cost effective to get them to do several
jobs at once.
Some electricians will charge a call-out fee for small jobs.
Some electricians will charge a call-out fee for small jobs.
Job: perform an
electrical inspection report
Time
taken will usually include an inspection of the property plus one or two hours
in the office to write up the report.
Job: replace
consumer unit
A
good trader will usually include full testing with all installations.
If any faults are found during testing it could take extra time to diagnose problems and fix them.
If any faults are found during testing it could take extra time to diagnose problems and fix them.
Job: install
electric shower
Fitting
an electric shower requires electrical and plumbing skills. Some electricians
are qualified to do plumbing work so have included this in their costs. Others
are only qualified to do the electrical installation so you would need to
employ a plumber separately.
Job: install a
light in loft
This
job is made easier if the loft is not boarded out as wiring can be accessed
more easily.
Job: install two
extra double sockets in lounge
Expect
to pay at the higher end of the range if you want wires 'chased' into walls
(hidden). Bear in mind that this will take longer and may require plastering
afterwards. Surface trunking is quicker and cheaper but won’t look as good.
Job: replace
standard light switch with dimmer switch
Minimum
charges may apply to a small job such as this. It would work out more cost
effective to have several small jobs done at once.
Job: repair a
damaged power cable on vacuum cleaner or other similar appliance
Not all
electricians undertake appliance repairs so you may need to find a specialist appliance
repairer. Call-out fees may apply as this is a small job.
Job: rewiring
It
will take much longer to rewire an occupied house than an empty one.
Rewiring
usually takes at least two people. If more staff are used, it may be done more
quickly but costs (total man hours) are likely to be the same.
Research methodology
In July 2012
we sent a survey to all Which? Local traders in the Electricians category
with a rating of three stars or more and an email address.
110 electricians responded to the
survey. Using their experience and expertise, they answered questions about the
cost of popular domestic electrical jobs, and how long they should take to
complete. Original link http://local.which.co.uk/advice/cost-price-information-electricians
