Is $770 Reasonable? (for Installing Two Outdoor and Two Indoor Power Points and Installing a Few Festoon Lights)

Bargainhunter83 on 15/01/2020 - 12:41
Last edited 15/01/2020 - 13:06 by 1 other user

Hi Guys.

I recently got quotes for installing two outdoor and two indoor power points and installing a few festoon lights.

The quote I got from a certified electrician is $770.

I have ZERO idea about how much Sparky's charge.

Do you think it's a reasonable quote for Melbourne?

Detail: two Power points are on an outdoor brick wall and two in the bedroom which is an inside wall. He said more drilling may be needed to get through the horizontal beam.

Festoon lights are ones bght from Aldi. There are 4 sets of 5 meters each.

Electrical & Electronics

Comments

  • [Deactivated] on 15/01/2020 - 12:42

    If youre happy to pay it then its reasonable

  • Forskin on 15/01/2020 - 12:46
    +1

    ask him for the cash price

    • Bargainhunter83 on 15/01/2020 - 12:48

      I don't want to get cash work done as I want the invoice and Safety Certificates.

      • Forskin on 15/01/2020 - 12:52
        +5

        then it's a perfectly reasonable price for 4 power points and light installations.

  • garetz on 15/01/2020 - 12:50
    +1

    Very expensive, get multiple quotes.

  • GG57 on 15/01/2020 - 12:51

    Seems reasonable to me, but no-one except OP knows the exact work quoted for.
    If not sure, get another quote for comparison.

  • Skramit on 15/01/2020 - 12:55
    +1

    Seems a tad steep but not ridiculous.

    He might be pricing it deliberately high as it's a small job he may not necessarily need. Common for tradies to have fatter margins for small jobs like this.

    For comparison I recently paid a sparky $687 for:

    • Rerun speaker wires x 2 for wall mounted TV and install wall plates for speaker wire (30 mins)
    • Replace two outdoor lights (including supply the new hardware) (20 mins)
    • Readjust pendant light height on ceiling. (5 mins)
    • Locate and troubleshoot splitter box from arial (in roof) and fix 6 coax cables for my free to air tv that wasn't working. (1 hour)
    • GG57 on 15/01/2020 - 13:04
      +1

      Probably worth acknowledging the time the tradesperson took to get to your place, and the vehicle and other expenses incurred.

    • Bargainhunter83 on 15/01/2020 - 13:07

      Oh cool. Thank you for the details.

  • Gronk on 15/01/2020 - 12:57
    +5

    I can put you in touch with a qualified sparky who will quote you double that if you need some perspective :D

  • bataleon on 15/01/2020 - 13:10

    It all depends on how far away the nearest existing power points are for him to tap in to mate. It can be a real pita sometimes to run cables down wall cavities, through noggins etc.

  • Ocker on 15/01/2020 - 13:23
    +1

    Beware of postcode quoting, viz. more expensive the property market in a suburb then the more tradies try to get away with

    • HighAndDry on 15/01/2020 - 17:30
      -1

      Not even completely invalid - as a premium for covering risk. You work on a $400k house and mess up, might only be a few thousand to fix. Make thw exact same mistake on a $1.4M house, and you could be looking at many times more in damages.

      Makes sense to charge more, to cover the higher risk.

      • Ocker on 15/01/2020 - 18:50

        Perhaps if you lived in an upper market suburb such as we do then you get plenty of examples of what I said - not just sparkies.
        To with, we were quoted $1,525 by a local arborist to have a largish tree cut down and removed. Identical job done by a large specialist company from the outer suburban area was done for $750

        • HighAndDry on 16/01/2020 - 09:20

          You can't compare a small arborist based in an expensive suburb with a larger company based out of a cheaper area.

          Efficiencies of scale and lower fixed costs like rent would make the latter cheaper already.

  • Wilkshire13 on 15/01/2020 - 13:34
    +1

    Seems fairly reasonable. This is the invoice I got for works done in Melbourne this time last year.

    Electrical installation of the following items listed below

    • Outside lighting, installation and wiring of 9 outdoor wall lights, some with new switch lines and switch positions.
    • Light switch installation, garage.
    • weatherproof GPO x 3, Front door, back garage door and out back entertaining area.
    • Change over single GPO to double GPO x 2 in garage
    • Installation of 2 flood light in back side area, with new switch line installed to back door.
    • Installation of new sensor flood light at front of garage in existing position.

    Pricing

    • Lighting - LED spot light with sensor installed, twin with sensor supplied and installed Qty. x1 @ $145.00 = $145.00
    • Lighting - Flood lighting install, standard para flood supplied and installed Qty. x2 @ $110.00 = $220.00
    • Lighting - switch line and new switch Qty. x4 @ $80.00 = $320.00
    • Lighting - wall light install per unit Qty. x9 @ $65.00 = $585.00
    • Power point change over Qty. x2 @ $20.00 = $40.00
    • Weatherproof GPO install Qty. x3 @ $145.00 =$435.00
    • Certificate of electrical safety Qty. x1 @ $15.90 = $15.90

    Total
    $1,760.90

  • akyeeeahdude on 15/01/2020 - 13:42
    +3

    Overall for a job of this size - For supplying and installing external power points, $120 including GST is reasonable ($240).

    Supplying and installing internal powerpoints where drilling through the noggin (horizontal beam) is required, $120 inc gst is also reasonable ($240). $80 inc gst if no drilling of the noggin is required - installing them inside on an external wall.

    Installing four festoon lights - depending on the cable run required, $50 - $60 per light.

    Quote seems pretty fair to be honest. I wouldn't say it's unreasonable at all especially as it includes GST and is a legitimate job. If you were getting more work done, then the per job price I quoted comes down slightly.

  • [Deactivated] on 15/01/2020 - 13:49

    Depends.

    Are they running a new cable?

    If they're just pulling out an existing 3.5 and adding sockets/light, that's $15 in mats (a bit more for outdoor) and 15 minutes each.

    • Bargainhunter83 on 15/01/2020 - 13:50

      They would have to run a new cable.

      • [Deactivated] on 15/01/2020 - 13:52
        +1

        Reasonable then. They'll have to supply a breaker, run a new cable which may involve a fair bit of drilling/cutting. It's probably a solid 3-4 hours of work if things run reasonably smoothly. Add a bit for travel and buffer plus materials, I can see it being in the 700s.

    • timthetoolman on 15/01/2020 - 15:17

      What's a 3.5?

      • [Deactivated] on 15/01/2020 - 15:27

        Typo. Meant to be a 2.5mm It's pretty standard for straight and short runs to 10a outlets.

  • saintpotter on 15/01/2020 - 13:57

    Get 4 quotes then you will know what is reasonable…unless there is some cartel conduct or price fixing going on in that industry.

    • Skramit on 15/01/2020 - 14:50
      +1

      This is a fair point too. Always get a couple of quotes. Not just for the price comparison, but other tradies may have other solutions or other/better ways of doing it. (For new power points that's unlikely but still a good principal to follow in general)

  • [Deactivated] on 16/01/2020 - 10:37

    Yeah get 6 quotes then screw the highest price down to the lowest, and they won't bother, or take the lowest and get a monkeys job. Works well.

  • Bargainhunter83 on 16/01/2020 - 15:56
    +2

    Thank you everyone..i got a few quotes. All were around the same price. So chose the most recommended electrician. @770$

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