Expensive Tradesman.

D

Dermot

Registered User
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I have a friend who lives in a country town. In order to get work he has for the past 3 years to do contract work abroad for 7 months. He is not particularly paid for this work. He always gets the electricity cut off before he leaves and gets it reconnected on his return. He gets a neighbour to check that all is ok. He was telling me today that as the electricity is off for more than 6 months that the ESB require him from an electrician that all is in order and a cert to that effect before they will reconnect. The same electrician has done this on the last 3 occasions at 200 euro provided there is nothing wrong. In an out in 15 mins. The electrician is local to the area and when asked could he do it for less just stated "thats the minimum". I just think it is a bit steep in 2012. I expect that there will be differing views.
 
what? I thought you just pull a switch? where in the country is this? Its probably a certificate of worthines, does he get a blue form to keep? the electrician has to have insurance etc. The esb are worried the wiring may detiorarate, = risk of fire. if he told no one and just pulled the switch or main fuse no fee but still a zero bil and standing charge. its a grey area. 7 months is a long time but houses are left idle for longer.

you could ring a few electraians or better still ring esb and they may have names.

200 may seem dear but look at out td's, doctors = for me 45 for 2 mins x 7 +1 = 337= 15 mins
 
I only wished to deal with the price which I think is expensive given that two electricians had to emigrate because of no work. I understand what you are saying but there are an enormous amount of people out there who were not earning anything like this per day and they had to take large cuts in order to keep their jobs
 
That is what the man wants to do. I was only making the point about the electricians minimum charge for the 15 min call to a property that he knows and lives within a mile of. he always gives the electrician a weeks notice to do the job.
 
Dermot said:
That is what the man wants to do. I was only making the point about the electricians minimum charge for the 15 min call to a property that he knows and lives within a mile of. he always gives the electrician a weeks notice to do the job.
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Electrician has to travel to the property and back so its going to be more than 15 minutes. As a business he has to cover his time at it is possible that he does not always have another job to go to after that and will therefore try and earn his daily costs. He also has to pay for his insurance, transport, tools, certs etc etc.

If he has an issue with the cost he should shop around
 
it is possible that he does not always have another job to go to after that and will therefore try and earn his daily costs.
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Are you serious? Does this actually happen?

I seriously doubt that if he has nother 10 jobs lined up for the day he will charge just €20 each.

In relation to the OP, we have a property which is often vacant for anything from 5 to 8 months & we just switch of the meter, I'm sure there is a standing charge, but it is worth it for the convinence of bein able to arrive at the property & be able to switch on the lights.

If he does feel it neccesary to cut it off, I'd 2nd vandrivers idea to get it switched back on before the 6 months is up & then no need for an electrician
 
I wish to reiterate the point that I was only commenting on the €200 charge each time for the certification of the electricity for the last 3 years. This is nothing to do with myself and I appreciate the comments an suggestions made by the posters. I just thought that the charge was excessive given that it was a 15 minute call, electrician lives very local, gets a weeks notice to do the job and
if there is any other work to be done it will be extra. I took the advice re pricing another electrician in the area today and I got the same price "€200 is the going rate for that, sorry can't do any better. This is in the midlands. The country is doing better than I thought.
 
That is far too expensive... the local plumber in Louth would charge around 50 euro callout.
 
sam h said:
Are you serious? Does this actually happen?

I seriously doubt that if he has nother 10 jobs lined up for the day he will charge just €20 each.
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The possibility of having 10 jobs carried out in a day is highly unlikly.
 
200 euro is day light robbery- at a maximum the call out fee should be 50-65 euro period. To charge 200 the electrician would have to be doing some maintenance work and be there for half a day.
 
The electrician has clearly outlined he has a minimum charge and his service has been used on 3 occassions, his cost is therefore accepted by the person who keeps employing him. Its very general to state what he should be charging when we know nothing of his business setup and costs. Remembering that you can pay €50 to visit your doctor, etc etc
 
I'm looking at an ESB bill here and the standing charge is 23.14 for 2 months and pso levy is 3.22.
That's 26.36 plus vat = 29.92.
Six months would be €90.
Maybe there's an insurance reason for disconnecting. ?
 
SarahMc The 200 euro is separate from the ESB fee. I would do everything different to what my friend done which would be very similar to the advice given on the forum. I just thought that the charge was outrageous. Thanks to everyone
 
it takes 3 hours to test a house properly , the electrician has to complete test record sheets , issue a cert which has to be paid for, the cert goes to RECI , they notify ESB . After the ESB have reconnected the electrician has to go back again to take post connection readings .

He has to cover Pl liability insurance , milage , postage , time
Euro 200.00 is too cheap
 
I suggest your frind pays his ESB bill and prepays so it is not disconnected while he is away. If he wants to turn it off , turn off the electricity in the house turn off the main switch at the fuseboard. It would be a lot cheaper & a lot less hastle than paying an electrician to recertify it every time and a reconnection fee to the ESB
 
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