Search the forum,

Discuss What trade should get paid more ? in the Plumbing Jobs | The Job-board area at PlumbersForums.net

You lost me with doing 3 kitchens and every job gets a new bathroom. Also think I can see the point about the good joiner being harder to replace tbh.
 
Thing to look at is if there main work is kitchens etc a decent kitchen fitter is worth their weight in gold.

If you look at customers (especially round me) they would think nothing of spending 15k on a kitchen but would pass out if you want to charge them £60 for a boiler service and if you want to charge them 2k for a boiler swap they look at you like you just took a dump on their carpet and rubbed it in with their rampant rabbit.

I'm not saying it's right it is unfortunately supply and demand and like it or not decent plumbers are easier to find than decent kitchen fitters. were not talking carpenters now as I could get you a dozen carpenters and maybe 1 would do a job worth 10+k
 
Also if your good at your job chances are you will get someone who will buy you out of your contract and then you sign up again for them or if possible pay for it yourself and be free.
 
Thing to look at is if there main work is kitchens etc a decent kitchen fitter is worth their weight in gold.

If you look at customers (especially round me) they would think nothing of spending 15k on a kitchen but would pass out if you want to charge them £60 for a boiler service and if you want to charge them 2k for a boiler swap they look at you like you just took a dump on their carpet and rubbed it in with their rampant rabbit.

I'm not saying it's right it is unfortunately supply and demand and like it or not decent plumbers are easier to find than decent kitchen fitters. were not talking carpenters now as I could get you a dozen carpenters and maybe 1 would do a job worth 10+k


Having a new boiler on the wall doesnt give bragging rights to friends or neighbours.New kitchens , bathrooms cars etc do. Personally think that the boiler industry is falling on its feet . Muppets doing them for a grand , manufacturers long warranties and endless finance. Give me 5 ball valves to change in a day and would earn same money here .
 
... Give me 5 ball valves to change in a day and would earn same money here ...

I've been saying this for years.

What few trades people consider is that for a job over a certain size/price customers mostly get quotes. This means there is always some form of race to the bottom to keep 'winning'.

With smaller jobs, customers simply cannot f8nd anyone who can be ar5ed to turn up so they simply pay up when they find someone willing. It also means the more willing plumber becomes 'my' plumber.

In general, you DEF earn more per hour doing small jobs than big ones. £180 to 300 per hour is best Ive earned for tap jobs.
 
I'm with you both on that. I may not make 180-300 per hour but I can easily clear what I am able to charge for a days work in a morning. Leaves plenty of time for surfing.

It also gets you the bigger jobs as you said you become my plumber so as long as your not hitting with a massive bill for an install they will use you.

I also find you get less idiot customers as well for some reason.
 
Couple of points:

This guys boss is making money out of him.

So anyone self employed, who is not charging at least the rates they would charge if they sent an employee to do the works, should have a major rethink about their charge out rates.
This guy is getting paid with all the benefits + van and diesel.
Do you think his boss is giving that away for free?

Secondly: Big jobs v small jobs
Everything is beneficial and profitable if priced correctly.
Larger jobs need more allowances for everything. Labour & materials.

Start pricing jobs like you have employees doing the work for you. Start realising that you have to make profits on top of what you pay your employees including all the add ons, holidays, sick days and so on.

If you work for yourself and only charge what you would make as an employee, you may as well be empolyed by someone who is going to make money out of you
 
Couple of points:

This guys boss is making money out of him.

So anyone self employed, who is not charging at least the rates they would charge if they sent an employee to do the works, should have a major rethink about their charge out rates.
This guy is getting paid with all the benefits + van and diesel.
Do you think his boss is giving that away for free?

Secondly: Big jobs v small jobs
Everything is beneficial and profitable if priced correctly.
Larger jobs need more allowances for everything. Labour & materials.

Start pricing jobs like you have employees doing the work for you. Start realising that you have to make profits on top of what you pay your employees including all the add ons, holidays, sick days and so on.

If you work for yourself and only charge what you would make as an employee, you may as well be empolyed by someone who is going to make money out of you

You are right the problem is a lot of plumbers are like myself you can ask me to pipe a boiler, move a rad, do a bathroom, service a boiler or do repairs and I'm like yes not a problem.

Now ask me how to run a business, to work out how much my van costs to run each month etc etc and we're not taught that so it is a learning experience. I know my first year my price changed about 6-7 times until I worked out what worked and I made enough. So a lot of plumbers see that they are earning £160 a day from an install and think that's what they are getting however it turns out they are realistically earning £100 a day and better off on the books.
 
At the end of the day your boss employs you to make himself profit.

It's pretty daft of him to actually tell you he can replace you etc. but it doesn't seem unreasonable that he expects to recoup the costs of putting you through your training. If it's cost him say £12K to train you he you need to cost him £4000/year less than an already qualified technician to break even or he may as well just have employed the experienced guy from day 1.

It also comes down to the type of work your undertaking, you have to cost him less than subbing the work out to a third party. If your installing kitchens, most of the pipework will be hidden and the gas work very basic. He can probably buy this in quite cheaply from a third party.

The way to make yourself more money is to make more money for him. Make yourself indispensable, see if you can being in extra work from existing customers on site etc, show him you can do the carpentry side of work too. Offer to train in other disciplines too.

Make his life easy and make him cash and he will try and look after you.
 

Reply to What trade should get paid more ? in the Plumbing Jobs | The Job-board area at PlumbersForums.net

Creating content since 2001. Untold Media.

OFFICIAL SPONSORS

OFFICIAL SPONSORS

Back
Top
AdBlock Detected

We get it, advertisements are annoying!

Sure, ad-blocking software does a great job at blocking ads, but it also blocks useful features of our website. For the best site experience please disable your AdBlocker.

I've Disabled AdBlock