Reasonable cost for a boiler swap (labour only)

[Sothy]

Hi guys

I have the pleasure of being the owner of a Range Powermax 155x. Its on its way out, I have to reset it every other day and as I sometimes work away I don't want to leave my wife and kids to rely on this thing.

I am looking to get it exchanged - having read these forums (and spoken to my brother in law who works at a plumbers merchant) I can get a boiler from him, looking at an Ideal Vogue 30kw but I have had a few plumbers in to cost the replacement. Both have said it should take a day (or a little over) but I have been priced £800-900 for this... for 1 day!

Now is that reasonable? The boiler is in a cupboard upstairs, gravity fed by another tank. From what I can tell all the pipework is in the right area along with power, so it should be a pretty standard swap with perhaps some boarding out to strengthen the supporting wall (the current one sits on the floor) and running a few flue extensions through the loft to the exterior wall (loft is boarded with power and light so easy access).

I understand people need to make a living and there will be various sundries used in the swap but what would you guys think is a fair price?

Cheers

oh and by the way I live in Yorkshire so not London rates...

 

[gassafe]

Price seems reasonable / on the cheap side to me...

Does this price include a powerflush of your existing system? The last powermax I took out was proper filthy water, I think the powermax thermal store acts as a sludge bucket!

theres more too it than just a boiler... You will have flue extensions, bends, scale inhibitor, magnet filter, cleaning & inhibitor chemicals, room thermostat & programmers?.... Fittings, board to secure wall..... I could go on ; p

 

[Sothy]

Thanks for the reply - I can get all the physical things from the brother in law, so im really thinking its the copper pipe, fixings and time that i'm paying the plumber for, as I know all those extra's can soon add up to hundreds...

 

[Ermintrude]

£900 labour only

 

[Meady]

It's alrite you saying you will supply the boiler but there is more than just that to supply and are you going to get all of the right parts. Where abouts are you located as you may get someone off here.

 

[Ray Stafford]

Hi Sothy.

It depends on what you want to buy.

If you provide absolutely everything (I mean down to the last clip) then you should expect to pay between £40 and £75 per hour for a gas registered engineer, truly labour only, depending on where you are in the country.

However, what you need to understand is that you are only paying for those hours. If something goes wrong later, don't expect him to come back unless you are paying for more hours. Don't expect him to come to look at the job in advance, unless you are paying for those hours too. Don't expect him to advise on anything other than safety. If you want consultancy - guess what? You can pay for that separately.

If what you want to buy is a) the opinion of an expert up front, then b) the job to be done professionally, and then c) the installer to stand by his installation later, if there are any problems (which may or may not be caused by his work) - if THAT is what you want to buy, then with respect, I think you are getting a bargain.

 

[Killy Bing]

Please remember we are a different breed to most people, we constantly train, re train and have to attend more courses to retain competency.
we are also running businesses.

as such we are also taking responsibility of the install and your safety to boot.

I would bite their hand off.
i quoted for a similar replacement and priced 900 feeling generous!

Fair bit of work involved too.

remember pay peanuts and you get monkeys.

also to note, if anything goes wring with the boiler then thats down to you, if the installer doesn't supply it then its not his responsibility, its yours.

Happy hunting

 

[Sothy]

Ok thanks for the replies - I understand that you get what you pay for, and also that you need to make a living and run a business and don't have a problem with that in the slightest.

It does raise a point though, if the boiler is installed safety (GSR etc) and everything is sourced from the plumber, at what point does a boiler failure stop being the responsibility of the plumber and move over to the manufacturer warranty?

 

[gassafe]

The price quoted ain't london rates...

Might even be a 2 man job with that heavy beast coming out...

Is there somewhere for condense & safety relief discharge?

 

[Sothy]

The price quoted ain't london rates...

Might even be a 2 man job with that heavy beast coming out...

Is there somewhere for condense & safety relief discharge?

I believe there was, one of the people quoted did mention that but it went a little over my head as he was really confirming to himself when looking it over.

 

[Barry98]

I'd get your brother to get one his customers in for you , I'm in Yorkshire and before I even got the tools off the van is have you signing our paper T & C's for example what happens if the boiler doesn't work ? Are you going to pay - nope what happens if it runs into 3 days because the system is so sludges are you going to pay extra then the one day your aiming for - nope.

id get three quotes and go what your happy with . Personally I'd say it's a tad low but you may get a one man band who needs the work

 

[woodsy]

I'm in Yorkshire and to be honest if and it is an if, the job is being done correctly, then a) it will probably take longer than a day , b) as said by an other it will probably require a second person to remove the old boiler, and lastly c) if they are vat registered then bite their hands off.

 

[SafeGasInstall]

£150 is reasonable price......

OP give me a call I will sort it out for you

 

[Barry98]

£150 is reasonable price

Lmao.

 

[SimonG]

To the op, have a look at the thread on here, Logic + fitted, but...........

Then decide if you want as cheap as chips or a decent install.

 

[jtsplumbing]

I'd give GasSafeInstall a ring, looks like he will travel from London to Yorkshire & back fit your boiler for £150. Take him up on it B4 he changes his mind.

 

[Sothy]

To the op, have a look at the thread on here, Logic + fitted, but...........

Then decide if you want as cheap as chips or a decent install.

Yes did see that thanks!

 

[Sothy]

I'd give GasSafeInstall a ring, looks like he will travel from London to Yorkshire & back fit your boiler for £150. Take him up on it B4 he changes his mind.

Yes im sure I read somewhere on the internets that anything said on said internets is legal and binding

 

[IDCHAPPY]

Ok thanks for the replies - I understand that you get what you pay for, and also that you need to make a living and run a business and don't have a problem with that in the slightest.

It does raise a point though, if the boiler is installed safety (GSR etc) and everything is sourced from the plumber, at what point does a boiler failure stop being the responsibility of the plumber and move over to the manufacturer warranty?

All parts would be under manufacturers warranty for the life of the guarantee, installers usually would supply a 1 year warranty.

 

[Centralheatking]

Jobs like this ALWAYS take more than one full day & the fitter WILL supply bits from his van
or will you get everything absolutely spot on - flux gas solder I think not

anybody who prices a job like this will allow 2 days - REASON where do I go after 1.5 days
no where - you cant call the next customer at 13.00 and say Im on my way CHK

 

[Ermintrude]

Reason fitting co supplies boiler is because when it dosnt work and you call mfr, mfr might say oh it's the stat get installer to check.... If you pay me £900 for 12h I ain't coming back for any less than £150 even if it's not the boiler..... I did my job I decommissioned old appliance and installed new one as per mfrs instructions and current standards.

If I supplied boiler however and did job for say £3500. You paid me for a fully functional central heating and domestic hot water boiler so you have me over a barrel.

 

[Nostrum]

Any decent business will attend a boiler they have fitted prior to calling the manufacturers out under warranty to double check it's not an installation fault (and believe me the manufacturers like to use that as an excuse to walk)

I don't offer this service free of charge to a customer who supplied their own boiler as the relatively small amount of profit made on supplying goods covers this (along with the grief of ordering the goods, picking up, fuel etc) unless its was clearly an installation fault on arrival.

I know people like to watch the pennies but you won't find many plumbers with second homes in hot countries and lavish life styles because of their earnings. Mostly, they charge a reasonable rate (that is wage's plus profit, to keep tax man and bank manager happy) and some of that will come from mark up on materials.

It's a common misconception that what a tradesmen charges goes straight in his back pocket for spending the week after. I think most would be surprised how much the expenses add up too on a monthly basis just to cover the basics. That all need's to be covered without fail every month before you can earn a wage, and if your lucky a profit after all of that.

Out of the same money you need to find work, quote which no one will pay for these days, organise and order materials, insurance's, van running costs, replacing tools, calibrating tools, uniform costs, stationary, registration to governing bodies, re-qualifying every 5 years (4 figure sum), then spending the time doing the jobs, offering a warranty, invoicing, chasing payments, bank charges, downtime, accountancy charges, keeping paperwork in order, sick 'pay', holiday 'pay' etc

You get the point. Every job owes its fair share to that list and the price reflects.

So when you think £40 an hour sounds a lot, straight away divide it by 2 as for every 1 hour on the tools, there is at least another hour spent not earning but running the business. Then take out your overheads and you'll be left with a pretty average wage.



Anyway must dash, the private jets leaving in about 20 minutes for St Lucia and I haven't even packed my suitcase yet.

 

[E4gas]

£150 is reasonable price......

OP give me a call I will sort it out for you

thats got to be a wind up ,,,

did you get that Edgware job ,, I passed on to you ..

 

[Irish]

Anyway must dash, the private jets leaving in about 20 minutes for St Lucia and I haven't even packed my suitcase yet![/QUOTE]


Nostrum you fallen on hard times??? I've got a wardrobe full at home and one in at St Lucia ! I changed a powermax after New Years for an electrician I've met on a few jobs at mate rate for £1k, so if I were you fella I'd bite his hand off

 

[A1P]

Thanks for the reply - I can get all the physical things from the brother in law, so im really thinking its the copper pipe, fixings and time that i'm paying the plumber for, as I know all those extra's can soon add up to hundreds...

As indicated it is not an altogether straightforward job.Firstly ,what sort of cleaning of the system have you been quoted for ,if any?If the system is seriously sludged up,a proper power flush is £250/300 and takes the best part of a day.It could well be more than a day for the swap and require assistance in removing the old boiler.Are you supplying everything except copper pipe? I would just like to be clear what you are getting for your money.There is the old 'we haven't seen it 'to bear in mind also.