Cost Of plumber

eamon11

Hello Folks, I have a plumber neighbour and I need a lot of odd jobs done around the place. He says it's hard to price it. There is maybe 5 days work in it. I want to be fair to him but have not a clue what 5 days work is worth for a good plumber(labour only) I don't want him working cheap for me, so what would be a fair sum to offer him? It will be cash only. Thanks a lot

scwazrh

Leinster area €300 / day for a plumber , cash obviously a bit cheaper but if it’s more handyman jobs for a friend I would of thought €160 / €170 ish

eamon11

thanks scwazrh, it's Galway area.

johneym

I'd say about 150 a day

The Continental Op

Sounds like its going to be a cash job anyway because who with the current restrictions is out doing "odd jobs"?

Stihl waters

5 days for a Plumber should work out about 800 to 1000 euro mates rates

eamon11

thanks lads, He is the type of lad who might never give me a price at all. I think I will just pay him 900 for the 5 days or 180 per day as ye say, if that's reasonable.

Tom44

If he's actually self employed, think of this system, it how I calculate my income.
And paying other's.

Of what you pay,
1/3 to me.
1/3 to the tax man ( personal tax & Vat)
1/3 to cover running costs, overheads, insurance and rainy day fund.

We don't get paid if we're quite, or out sick for a day or two or longer with a broken leg.



Luckily I've no friends or neighbor's or anybody wanting to break my legs

eamon11

thanks for reply but no idea what your talking about...keep it simple please, if you have a figure in mind please be more direct.

Sleeper12

eamon11 wrote:

thanks for reply but no idea what your talking about...keep it simple please, if you have a figure in mind please be more direct.

Tom is pointing out that if you want to be fair to the neighbour /friend then you should realise that he will only get around a third of what you pay him if he is self employed. You are his employer for the five days. Part of what you pay him goes towards public holiday pay and holiday pay etc.

Tom44

Simple

Any money a self employed person gets, he or she, only gets to keep 1/3 of it (roughly)

The rest goes on tax and running costs, if their legit.
That's why we can't compete with the black economy.


And sorry,
I often trow a bit of light hearted joke after my posts, to offset the mundane replying, we're a friendly group of helpful professionals here, that likes banter too.
Tom

johneym

pay him what you think he is worth

eamon11

Hi Tom, thanks for the reply. I really understood all that but cannot understand why you felt the need to post it. If you have a figure in mind, post it. No need to be stating obvious "normal" facts as these facts are all wrong anyway in this case. A plumber is a person and people are all different. You assume too much. He does not have liability insurance, he works normally for cash only, he goes to mass also in his little van as its his only transport so he has very little "overheads" I'm sure a tiny bit goes to the tax man somewhere, but from what I hear its cash only all the time. He also told me all this last time he was here. And regarding sick or accident leave, correct me if I am wrong, but even "plumbers" are entitled to sick leave now.
So again, forgetting "norms" "ideals" or your idea of what a plumber is or isn't, what should I pay him? Perhaps, reading between the lines, you would have me pay him 350 per day and insist on a receipt? At any rate he is a very nice guy and I do want to compensate him correctly. Another neighbour told me he had him for 2 days, couldn't get a price off him so gave him 200 euro. Even I, who know nothing about pricing, thought this was scandalous. Thanks for your time.

the_pen_turner

eamon11 wrote: »

Hi Tom, thanks for the reply. I really understood all that but cannot understand why you felt the need to post it. If you have a figure in mind, post it. No need to be stating obvious "normal" facts as these facts are all wrong anyway in this case. A plumber is a person and people are all different. You assume too much. He does not have liability insurance, he works normally for cash only, he goes to mass also in his little van as its his only transport so he has very little "overheads" I'm sure a tiny bit goes to the tax man somewhere, but from what I hear its cash only all the time. He also told me all this last time he was here. And regarding sick or accident leave, correct me if I am wrong, but even "plumbers" are entitled to sick leave now.
So again, forgetting "norms" "ideals" or your idea of what a plumber is or isn't, what should I pay him? Perhaps, reading between the lines, you would have me pay him 350 per day and insist on a receipt? At any rate he is a very nice guy and I do want to compensate him correctly. Another neighbour told me he had him for 2 days, couldn't get a price off him so gave him 200 euro. Even I, who know nothing about pricing, thought this was scandalous. Thanks for your time.

as you point out you can get guys at lots of price points. but there is a huge diference between a guy doing nixers or part time and a proper fully legal and profetional tradesman.

eamon11

Tks for the reply, I agree and I am not arguing the point. Just looking for a base figure.

vurstflavor

A lot of plumbers are no good. Try him out on small job first
Let him buy the parts as if something goes wrong he will blame you

the_pen_turner

vurstflavor wrote: »

A lot of plumbers are no good. Try him out on small job first
Let him buy the parts as if something goes wrong he will blame you

i would never get a plumber on labour only. if anything goes wrong with the fittings the liability is on whoever supplied them. so if a fitting breaks the hoe owner needs to buy a new fitting, pay the plumber to fit it again and fix any damage caused. a lot of people dont realise that there is no warranty on parts not supplied by the trademan

same goes for trademen supplying materials at cost. why put all that liability on yourself for no benifit

eamon11

eamon11 wrote: »

Tks for the reply, I agree and I am not arguing the point. Just looking for a base figure.

Cash in hand, you think €150 a day is fair?

He’d be lucky to get €500 for a weeks work from me. Branded van, insured and paying his taxes, I’d gladly pay him €200 a day and would expect him to charge a good bit more in truth.

But cash in hand, €12.50 - 15.00 an hour tops, plus materials/consumables and a mug of tea here and there.

Stihl waters

JayZeus wrote: »

Cash in hand, you think €150 a day is fair?

He’d be lucky to get €500 for a weeks work from me. Branded van, insured and paying his taxes, I’d gladly pay him €200 a day and would expect him to charge a good bit more in truth.

But cash in hand, €12.50 - 15.00 an hour tops, plus materials/consumables and a mug of tea here and there.

I think you'd be lucky to get anyone to work for you at them prices, I know tradesmen in my area are 150 minimum for cash and 200 to 250 through the books

Sleeper12

Another thread gone down the road of fiddling the tax man and no insurance etc. Sounds like a cowboy plumber. He's best avoided imo. As pointed out above its a bad idea to source the materials yourself

rightjob!

vurstflavor wrote: »

A lot of plumbers are no good. Try him out on small job first
Let him buy the parts as if something goes wrong he will blame you

A lot of plumbers are very good.

mulbot

johneym wrote: »

pay him what you think he is worth

Really? Do you have same attitude when you visit a Doctor, Dentist, Solicitor etc?

Jinglejangle69

Love the way the whole issue of tax avoidance and basically breaking the law is been discussed so casually here.

Stihl waters

Sleeper12 wrote: »

Another thread gone down the road of fiddling the tax man and no insurance etc. Sounds like a cowboy plumber. He's best avoided imo. As pointed out above its a bad idea to source the materials yourself

Not necessarily, plenty good tradesmen working away for cash, you'll get a Cowboy who does things by the book as well

Dtp1979

eamon11 wrote: »

I think I will just pay him 900 for the 5 days or 180 per day as ye say, if that's reasonable.

This made me laugh out loud. On what planet does the customer decide what to pay the tradesman.

How hard can this be. Ask the man what he is going to charge you for the day. Say you need to know, end of. If he’s the kind of imbecile that can’t even give you a price then get somebody else

Stihl waters

Jinglejangle69 wrote: »

Love the way the whole issue of tax avoidance and basically breaking the law is been discussed so casually here.

You could try and pretend it doesn't happen but a large part of our economy is funded by the black market, I'm not endorsing it but it's the reality that across all professions it goes on and not just tradesmen either

golondrinas1

mulbot wrote: »

Really? Do you have same attitude when you visit a Doctor, Dentist, Solicitor etc?

Mechanic: Doctor that's an awful price for a small procedure. I only charge you a fraction of that to service your car.

Doctor: yeah but you don't go inside the engine when it's running
.

Wearb

MOD NOTE: Closing this thread as it's run its course.