ᐅ Electrical Billing – What Is the Standard Approach?

This craftsman lobby here is really something else. Sky-high prices are justified, and you’re expected to accept every ridiculous demand. Such a crappy electrical outlet won’t cost you more than $6 later on. The guy has already installed the wiring; it’s no big deal to turn a single outlet into a double one. His apprentice or helper would do that... but yes, craftsmen are treated like gods here. I really don’t understand that. A surcharge of $30 compared to a single outlet is still okay, but more than that…

Milo3 schrieb:

This tradesperson lobby is really something else. Sky-high prices are justified, and you’re expected to accept every unreasonable demand. A simple outlet like that won’t cost you more than 6€ later on. The guy has already installed the wiring; it’s no big deal to replace a single outlet with a double one. His apprentice or helper can do it... but yes, tradespeople are treated like gods here. I really don’t get it. A 30€ upcharge compared to a single outlet is still okay, but more than that...

Come on, people, you can do it yourselves! Or find another electrician. No one is going to come out on top!

And none of us really know the internal pricing arrangements. If the general contractor is squeezing the electrician on prices, then it’s clear that the electrician won’t be willing to offer any discounts or fair markups for the general contractor’s clients.

Honestly, if I were the electrician, I’d do the same.

HilfeHilfe schrieb:

Honestly, I would do it that way too if I were Elli.

The question here, however, was how you, as an experienced builder, view this.

Especially since the theoretical concept of the "oppressed subcontractor" basically allows for justifying anything morally.

No, the question was this one:

drno1234 schrieb:

Does the electrician actually use a common calculation method, or is this fraud?

The experienced homeowner... do they even exist? Or is it someone who has gained so much experience through the many houses they have built, someone who runs their own company and generates profits with "economical" calculation methods.

Be that as it may: I keep noticing that homeowners often do not want to see a craftsman as an entrepreneur.

Dr Hix schrieb:

The question here was how you see this as an experienced client

Especially since the theoretical concept of the "subcontractor under pressure" basically justifies everything morally.

Live and let live. I chose a general contractor who provided a list of companies beforehand and always emphasized that he had worked with them for many years. The additional costs were acceptable.

ypg schrieb:

No, the question was this one:
Does the electrician actually use a common calculation method, or is this a case of fraud?

Now let’s consider together which audience this question was likely addressed to:

a) Electricians who regularly share their cost calculations openly in this forum
b) Homeowners who have dealt with one or more electricians at least once in their lives and can review their past invoices or quotes

This has nothing to do with the assumption,

ypg schrieb:

that the homeowner does not want to see the tradesperson as a business owner

but rather with transparency and business practices.
It may well be that in this case we are dealing with a really unfortunate tradesperson being exploited by their general contractor (GC). But is that the original poster’s problem? Does the electrician really need to act that way in today’s market environment? Especially since the solution to this dilemma is so obvious that you already presented it to the OP just 20 minutes after their initial post.

Anyone who, as a “business owner,” calculates their prices in such a way that they rely on extracting disproportionately high fees from uninformed laypersons trapped by a GC contract is, in my opinion, not only acting quite unethically but also risks going bankrupt very quickly once two or three homeowners in a row start questioning their pricing policies and react accordingly.