Landlord gas cert pricing?

[Ric2013]

Ridiculous that they aren't part of the check. Even I can do a tightness test (not that I'm qualified, but I've done them under supervision). Not exactly complicated, or a long process. I suppose that's what you get for £25: a visual inspection - rather makes a mockery of the whole thing.

 

[Sid Viscous]

Per number of appliances to be checked.

(though doing them twice makes sense, presumably you're checking none of the gas taps have intermittent let-by?).

And yes, always TT twice! First as a benchmark & to see if it's safe to proceed, second to check after appliances have been disconnected & reconnected, as Last Plumber said - fires out etc etc

 

[jtsplumbing]

main problem is most of the prices have been axed & cut to the bone by Tight arsed Landlords & letting agents, would say the average in the Plymouth area is £45. or less, mainly due to it being a student area and the number of available gas engineers. (The city is over run with them.) We get the same crap every year being offered £12.to £14. For CP12 work per property regardless of how meny items your checking even if it is the tenants own appliance they still want it doing. Local council will even send one of their office bods around to watch what your doing & how long it takes.

 

[Sid Viscous]

Well this goes back to a previous thread about call-out charges. I don't have a call-out charge, I do have a minimum charge and it ain't £14 pal! As for that bloke from the council, unless you're working on council property it's nothing to do with them. Our city council have their own gas guys who look after their properties.

 

[Ric2013]

You need a minimum charge, unless you're going to start charging rip-off prices on parts, overselling things that aren't needed etc etc. Unless you can get sponsorship as a charity, that is.

So your minimum charge is less than £14? I'll bear you in mind

Here in Colchester, I'm pretty sure council sub-contracts gas checks to private companies.

 

[jtsplumbing]

Sorry guys not explaining myself to today, got a stinking cold & chest infection, the £12 - £14 usely comes up almost every year from large Co taking on council contracts, The £45 is an average price in the Plymouth area for CP12 work, but people are doing it for less in the City, because it is over run with 100s of gas guys chasing the work, I was referring to doing council work, that I was doing about 5 years ago & they did at the time send one of their office guys around to time how long the jobs took, maybe not in your area but it did go on in Plymouth, No I didn't say my rate was £14, although I know of some that are charging less than that, I don't put up on here what I charge that's my business & not open for discussion, + I don't work the Plymouth area, Dartmoor and surrounding areas is my domain, You must remember the South West is not the highest paid Region to work in, when I moved back from Berkshire I had to take a big hit in earnings.

 

[jtsplumbing]

You need a minimum charge, unless you're going to start charging rip-off prices on parts, overselling things that aren't needed etc etc. Unless you can get sponsorship as a charity, that is.

So your minimum charge is less than £14? I'll bear you in mind

Here in Colchester, I'm pretty sure council sub-contracts gas checks to private companies.

Sorry chap I have no need to charge rip-off prices or over charge for parts or for unwanted items, and to suggest that I find offensive, That's more like your Essex wide boy tricks , I've been doing this job for quite a number of years and have no need to con or rip people off,

 

[jtsplumbing]

Well this goes back to a previous thread about call-out charges. I don't have a call-out charge, I do have a minimum charge and it ain't £14 pal! As for that bloke from the council, unless you're working on council property it's nothing to do with them. Our city council have their own gas guys who look after their properties.

So do they now in Plymouth, But they cant cope with the amount of CP12 work and contract it out to other Co , and they usely come from outside the region.

 

[woodsy]

main problem is most of the prices have been axed & cut to the bone by Tight arsed Landlords & letting agents, would say the average in the Plymouth area is £45. or less, mainly due to it being a student area and the number of available gas engineers. (The city is over run with them.) We get the same crap every year being offered £12.to £14. For CP12 work per property regardless of how meny items your checking even if it is the tenants own appliance they still want it doing. Local council will even send one of their office bods around to watch what your doing & how long it takes.

The problem is gas engineers taking the work on at really crap prices . If everybody charged the correct price for doing the work PROPERLY then landlords would have to pay it. The price shouldn't be dictated by the customer but the engineer.

 

[jtsplumbing]

The problem is gas engineers taking the work on at really crap prices . If everybody charged the correct price for doing the work PROPERLY then landlords would have to pay it. The price shouldn't be dictated by the customer but the engineer.

Yes that's true, but in some areas needs must, even more so when area has an excessive amount of engineers seeking work, and it doesn't stop at CP12 work, there are guys in this area doing boiler changes for less than £150. and that is what your competing against, Customer only sees the end cost, they don't care as long as they have a working boiler,

 

[Ric2013]

Sorry chap I have no need to charge rip-off prices or over charge for parts or for unwanted items, and to suggest that I find offensive, That's more like your Essex wide boy tricks , I've been doing this job for quite a number of years and have no need to con or rip people off,

Sorry if I got your back up, JTS. It was a joke aimed at Sid Viscous and not at you. I'm going to pretend I didn't read the the 'Essex wide boy' comment. My point was that if he was working at a minimum charge of £14, then he probably wasn't making money on the labour, so he would need to make it elsewhere (in any case, . It's not a case of conning or ripping people off, it's a case of making enough money to pay the bills, and, as you say, your rate isn't £14, nor, for the record, do I truly believe Sid's is £14.
Hope that clears things up? Have a good day

 

[jtsplumbing]

Sorry if I got your back up, JTS. It was a joke aimed at Sid Viscous and not at you. I'm going to pretend I didn't read the the 'Essex wide boy' comment. My point was that if he was working at a minimum charge of £14, then he probably wasn't making money on the labour, so he would need to make it elsewhere (in any case, . It's not a case of conning or ripping people off, it's a case of making enough money to pay the bills, and, as you say, your rate isn't £14, nor, for the record, do I truly believe Sid's is £14.
Hope that clears things up? Have a good day

Not a problem, but the annoying thing is I know people that are doing CP12 for very low money , and this is due to being a Uni city with countless student lets with the letting agents dictating the costs, and due to the very high number of engineers in the area they manage to keep the prices down, guys offering to do them for less just to get the work, a large area of Plymouth is over run with students, good news for shops & bars, almost every new build or property conversion in the city is done to accommodate students, where as the local citizens get overlooked & pushed out, Lucky for me I don't need to go into the city.

 

[Sid Viscous]

as you say, your rate isn't £14, nor, for the record, do I truly believe Sid's is £14.

Bloody right it's not! Nor do I oversell, nor do I put huge mark-ups on materials. I accepted the fact a long time ago that I'm not gonna get rich doing this, certainly not in this area! Honesty, integrity, good customer service & good customer relations bring their own rewards.

 

[armyash]

Haven't been online much since starting this thread. A lot of interesting replies, thanks.

£14?? That's terrible. It's true, you can be too busy and never earn money. I'll probably go in about 50 and say 75 with the main appliance serviced.

 

[PhoenixServices]

Interesting thread this.ive just moved down to the south west from Oxfordshire and find the earnings the same.

Working for a company again but in Sidmouth. Earning the same as what I was couple of years ago in Oxfordshire.

Wouldn’t charge less than £75+ vat for a landlords plus extra appliances.

 

[Sid Viscous]

Wouldn’t charge less than £75+ vat for a landlords plus extra appliances.

You wouldn't get too many in the East Mids at those prices dude

 

[WaterTight]

The problem is gas engineers taking the work on at really crap prices . If everybody charged the correct price for doing the work PROPERLY then landlords would have to pay it. The price shouldn't be dictated by the customer but the engineer.

They can't treat the working man this way! One of these days we'll form a union, and get the fair and equitable treatment we deserve! Then we'll go too far, and become corrupt and shiftless, and the Japanese will eat us alive!

 

[WaterTight]

You need a minimum charge, unless you're going to start charging rip-off prices on parts, overselling things that aren't needed etc etc.

I find the best way to make money is to do all those things at once.

 

[jtsplumbing]

Interesting thread this.ive just moved down to the south west from Oxfordshire and find the earnings the same.

Working for a company again but in Sidmouth. Earning the same as what I was couple of years ago in Oxfordshire.

Wouldn’t charge less than £75+ vat for a landlords plus extra appliances.

Think it a little different working for a Co , wages are pretty even wherever you are some areas pay above the average, and that depends on the amount labour available, Co in my area (Only a small town) charge way over what I do , but then they have different overheads than I do, I couldn't charge anywhere near what they do, £75 + in this area you would never get any work,

 

[Ric2013]

Hi JTS,

How does this work then? As if the company is charging a lot more than £75, surely that would give an independent a significant margin with which to compete? Or is is simply that the large company can give a 24h service every day of the year or some other advantage that means customers are happy to pay more?

 

[jtsplumbing]

Its the same reason that some people will use BG for boiler replacements, they think they get a better more trustworthy service, still under the misconception that the small guy will rip them off.