what would you charge and how long would it take you?

[BenC]

a friend of mines family asked me if i could plumb a boiler in for them, i said i could but i couldnt commission it ect so they were happy with that i told them i would work for £15 an hour as i was doing it after work (from my main job).
now they had done alot of work themselfs they had done the main runs and connected most of the rads into the main runs but not made the connections on some of the rads, so basically ii had to finish the connections on 2 rads and also completly connect 2 rads into the main ring as they had ran out of pipe when they did it, also completly plumb the boiler in as the flow and return
pipes had be left just in the attict above the boiler and not brought down to the boiler. also had to bring the cold main to the boiler and run the hot out and the prv pipe.
as they had done the main runs themself i decided to airtest the system which led me to find various leaks on their pipe work which obviously i had to trace through the 4 differnet atticts in the house checking all the joints ect got them sorted after a few hours got it all working they were happy i only charged them £270 for this as it had taken 18 hours all in all. now thye got some one else into commision it this weekend and that guy has told them ive riped them off what i had done should of only taken 8 hours and he would of charged £140 to do it and that price included commsioning the boiler, now my mates parents are saying i have conned them and my mates being a right t**t towards me.

so summarise i
*basically connected 4 rads up 2 of which were half connected and the other 2 had no pipes going to them atall
*run the flow and return from the attic to the boiler below
*brought a cold main accross to the boiler
*and run the hot out from the boiler and connected to the old pipework
*connected all the flue etc up to the boiler
*run the pressure relief pipe out from the boiler to outside, had to obviously drill the hole for this
*pressure tested the system and sorted out the leaks the customer had on the pipe work they had installed themself
* filled the system up to find another leak on the boiler where the customer had fitted the bungs in the side of the boiler but only put one turn of ptfe on the threads so drained down sorted them out
* re filled the system got it all fired up for them and working fine ready to be commsioned
which took me 18hours and i charged £270 would you say that is fair
how much would you guys charge to do what i have done?

sorry for the rant but it had really ****ed me off today having my mate calling me a conn artist, im wondering if the guy who commisoned it only thought i connected the boiler up and not done all the other things i listed.

 

[oldplumber]

Sounds like both of you should be refering to gas safe rules. you for touching a boiler and installing the flue which you shouldnt be touching, the other lad for commissioning a boiler he hasnt installed, personally I think you deserve each other and the hassle your getting is self induced so in my book you reap what you sow and this has now occurred and you want our sympathy!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Why dont you call up gas safe and ask whether they consider youve been treated badly?

 

[BenC]

its an oil boiler

 

[oldplumber]

ha ha down in flames, why did you not commision it then, oftec rules never seem to be enforced in the same way as gas regs for one reason or another and then you wouldnt have been critised, ps I know nothing about oil, I do know that its best not to help friends, never get involved in half finished jobs, and never do something so that someone else follows you and criticises anything youve done. Still you know that now, and you can be hapy my little rant is now burning merrily as it falls out of the sky, and thats cheered you up a bit, have a happy xmas

ps Id have charged at least £35 an hour especially as I dont like stinking of kerosene/diesel

 

[BenC]

i should of explained it was an oil boiler, suppose your just used to doing gas boilers in your area, well not that i would ever touch gas but not many places in my area have mains gas so everyone seams to go for oil boilers. i didnt commision the boiler as im not fully qualified and im unsure on what is involved in commisioning an oil boiler

 

[oldplumber]

Id up your work price for work you know about and save up to do the oftec training so you dont get stuffed again old son.

 

[tweakyboy]

Not another working for mates, this forum has being taken over by these threads!

If I were you I would tell your mate that if it was that much of a simple job why didn't his parents finish it off or find someone cheaper, if they were happy with the job you done and were happy with the price what do they have to argue about?

 

[GQuigley67]

well tell your mate hes a t*at because I would of charged more for the fact of the hassle of fixing other peoples work, that's what seems to have took up all your time. at least you charged by the hour, if you gave them an agreed fixed price n it took you that long to do it then you would of been proper ****ed off 😛 I would of probably charged £25 at least.

also good work that you air tested the system and found the leaks!

 

[kirkgas]

[
Why dont you call up gas safe and ask whether they consider youve been treated badly?[/QUOTE]

X2 HAHA

 

[BenC]

ye i need to start advertising which im going to be doing in the newyear as im fed up of my current job.
what would you have charged for the hole job of what i have listed (not by the hour), i know its hard to tell without seeing a job, but just a rough figure.

 

[BenC]

[
Why dont you call up gas safe and ask whether they consider youve been treated badly?

X2 HAHA

have you actualy read the post?, where it states its an oil boiler

 

[plumberdarren]

I think £270 is far to be honest. how much did he charge to commision do you know ? I wouldnt worry mate working for friends and family is always a pain in the rse.

 

[GQuigley67]

well I usually give someone a fixed price before i start work so were agreeing on what I'm getting payed for and anything extra they will be charged for. for installation work that you done I'd probably charge around £250-300 and probably charge them by the hour for fixing the leaks and other bits n bobs.

 

[Dannypipe]

Under £300 for 18 hours work, and now he's bitching about you?

Plus you had the presence of mind to air test the system instead of what most blokes would do and wet fill it. PLUS you traced and repaired leaks, which would have otherwise spewed water every where.

Then some idiot comes along and slags you off and says he could undercut you.

Just tell your friend that the other plumber/engineer was talking tripe. If he doesn't accept that, then he's not much of a mate.

I tend to avoid working for friends...those that I do work for pay the same as joe blogs. I'm not a running a charity, and neither are you. Mates rates, what a joke.

I used to do all of that mates rates stuff, but in this game you'll realise you're more useful than the vast majority of your mates!
I can't pay any of my bills at 'mates rates'.

 

[dontknowitall]

As far as I'm aware, an oil boiler installation requires a building inspection (or to be registered by an OFTEC technician). This is a legal requirement.

More to the point with the original post (and poster) you sound as if you're on the good value side of labour costs. Sometimes you have to learn the hard way about payments, hours worked, etc. 3 years in I am still caught out occasionally. I just put it down to experience. You have to accept that some people in this life are not as financially generous as yourself and take advantage. If you think it's Christmas and try and forget this one, life will move more easily in the future.

The above experience is hard and I wish it wouldn't happen, but life's like that sometimes.

Hope you get a few customers in the New Year that more than make up for this episode.

 

[BenC]

cheers for the comments guys, made me feel better about myself slightly, ive learnt my lesson and wont be working for mates again. cheers ben

 

[shorticus]

Under £300 for 18 hours work, and now he's bitching about you?

Plus you had the presence of mind to air test the system instead of what most blokes would do and wet fill it. PLUS you traced and repaired leaks, which would have otherwise spewed water every where.

Then some idiot comes along and slags you off and says he could undercut you.

Just tell your friend that the other plumber/engineer was talking tripe. If he doesn't accept that, then he's not much of a mate.

I tend to avoid working for friends...those that I do work for pay the same as joe blogs. I'm not a running a charity, and neither are you. Mates rates, what a joke.

I used to do all of that mates rates stuff, but in this game you'll realise you're more useful than the vast majority of your mates!
I can't pay any of my bills at 'mates rates'.

Absolutely agree. To me, 'mates rates' mean, my mate's a plumber I'm having the work done anyway so why don't I give it to my mate, afterall that's what you're supposed to do, look after your mates not take the micheal out of them.

I don't think £270 for 18 hours of grief and out of hours is fair at all, I reckon if you'd charged double they'd still got a good deal!!
ok that's my rant over whose turn next lol

 

[tiling spread]

did you use a Rothenberger test pump as im looking too get one off ebay

 

[BenC]

did you use a Rothenberger test pump as im looking too get one off ebay

no its just a cheapo monument airtester, look on ebay they have them for arond £15 just need a commpressor and tyre inflator to pump them up then. they are not ideal but do the job

 

[tiling spread]

you got link m8 as i just tryed to find one but no joy

 

[BenC]

MONUMENT 1512L PIPE DRY TESTING GAUGE KIT on eBay (end time 17-Jan-11 18:17:02 GMT)

same as this but if you look around on ebay abit there are some with starting bids of 99p and tend to go for less than a tenner

 

[plumbster3456]

ben c you have by no means ripped them off most plumbers will charge more the 300 pound for even the easiest of straight swap boiler installs.
I also think the other work you carried out minus the boiler install is worth more than you where paid tell your mate to p off and not bother you again.
If they wanted work done that cheap they should have contacted a handy man or pollish plumber from you tube not you

 

[BenC]

ben c you have by no means ripped them off most plumbers will charge more the 300 pound for even the easiest of straight swap boiler installs.
I also think the other work you carried out minus the boiler install is worth more than you where paid tell your mate to p off and not bother you again.
If they wanted work done that cheap they should have contacted a handy man or pollish plumber from you tube not you

thanks mate

 

[Avatar]

Yes i agree:
1) i would have charged at least £300 - (probably £500 when they tell that they have done the pipework themselves!)

2) I in reality would walk from a job like this. I have been doing this for years, and get another gas safe guy to fit boiler, flue and commision. The whole thing has 'nightmare job' written all over it, and that is before you consider the added nightmare of working for a friend!

I think you are crazy taking it on - but hey thats how you learn when to tell people to get stuffed isn't it??

Or like my good plumbing friend advises - give them a really high quote, an they will either decline, or at least you will be well paid for your hassle . . . .

MY QUOTE

labour
matieral
+20% on material cost
+30% 'nightmare factor'

Good luck anyhow!

 

[WaterTight]

There are various lessons in plumbing you need to learn. Mostly the hard way. That way they stick.

Anything where the customer is, has been or is planning to be involved in some of the work should ring alarm bells. To a lesser extent, any unfinished work by previous workmen who have scarpered should do the same. As has been said, either say no or work out your quote and whack 20-30% on top.

I did a bathroom where the people were planning on getting plasterers and tilers in but then decided they were too poor and decided, with f all experience, to do it themselves. Added about a day onto the job - postponements galore and more hassle than you can imagine.

I sympathise with people being hard-up and attempting things themsevles but sorting out the mess is like walking into something blind. You've no idea how bodged it is until you begin.