Had the first quote in to wire up my workshop. Anyone care to comment on whether it’s a fair price or not? I’m in Woking, Surrey.

Quote was for:
6 double sockets (surface mounted)
Conduit between sockets
Garage consumer unit
20MCB for the main house consumer unit
Armoured cable (less than 10m of 2.5mm)
No lights (i’ve already fitted)
A light switch
No digging of a trench (i’m doing it)

That lot came in at 730 quid. Guy seemed fairly competent.

Sound reasonable.
No Eicr?

I’m about to pay £720 for 5 lights, 8 double sockets, plastic conduit, using existing armoured cable, spur for external light & 2 switches. All to block built garage at bottom of garden.

First quote was for £2500 with metal conduit.

Cost doesn’t seem too bad. I’d want thicker than 2.5mm armoured cable and an appropriate MCB for a bit of future proofing (maybe 6mm). If you are have a garage consumer unit then you can easily size down locally. Should add much cost. Once the garage consumer unit is in then it is easy to add sockets. You could diy that bit if you want to save some money.

Ah interesting. I thought you weren’t allowed to add ring (?) circuits yourself?

The 2.5 should be fine – a previous owner already had some 2.5 wired to the outside, so it’d be extending that. I’m never going to be running more than 4kw at the same time (and probably not that). We’re also not going to be in the house forever (maybe a year or so), so not that bothered about future proofing for the next person.

Ah interesting. I thought you weren’t allowed to add ring (?) circuits yourself?

Impossible for anyone down the line to know what you added….

Well my worry is, that if i sell in say 8 months or something, then the workshop is clearly brand new, and i’d only have a certificate for the connection. Also I’ve noted that a lot of wire seems to have a date printed on it, and the colour has changed since they banned people doing it themselves.

I had similar done -£400 by local qualified guy in Leicestershire.

since they banned people doing it themselves.

They’ve not banned people doing it themselves. You can legally do pretty much anything DIY. There is a list of things that need sign off, and it’s different in different parts of the country. You can extend an existing circuit so if the electrician fits one socket you can add more easily and legally.

That’s not exactly true. You should have any circuit extensions fitted by a competent person and signed off also.

You should have any circuit extensions fitted by a competent person and signed off also

I suppose you could argue that you should but there is no legal requirement to (as long as it isn’t a special location)

The law changed about 5 years ago to make it easier to DIY without any sign off for quite a big list of jobs (including adding sockets)

Also the laws are different in England, Scotland and Wales so you need to check

Outbuildings are excluded from the rules that let you add a socket. And besides, this is a whole new circuit (or several in fact), supplied to an outbuilding, which is notifiable. And for good reason, the earthing and supply arrangements need to be carefully considered for an outbuilding. Yes you could DIY, but you’d have to notify building control and either produce test reports or pay to have it tested. You’d also have to follow so many regulations on the install that the only sensible solution is to pay a pro.
I am not an electrician.
I’ve been quotes about 700 for similar work, although I will first fix trunking and socket back boxes, but the spark will be supplying more and thicker SWA.

Outbuildings are excluded from the rules that let you add a socket.

Not in England (unless there is a swimming pool or sauna in there)

And besides, this is a whole new circuit (or several in fact), supplied to an outbuilding

Hence suggesting his spark do that bit and fit one socket and he DIY the rest as a possible cost saving

That’s not exactly true. You should have any circuit extensions fitted by a competent person and signed off also.

It’s not illegal to DIY though, it’s just not approved.

Well my worry is, that if i sell in say 8 months or something

The new buyer will get a buyer’s survey which will recommend a full electrical inspection regardless of what paper work you have, as the surveyor will just be covering his arse. So there is no actual benefit to having all the correct paperwork. The whole thing is a complete farce, similar to damp surveys…

Might add value if you allow for electric car charging if the workshop is up a driveway. Either ampage or spare 20a mcb in the consumer unit
I know nothing about electricity or electric cars but if you are selling soon these little things make a difference

On friday i had fitted in the garage , 2 new double sockets together,Consumer unit, replace 1 existing socket and a outside double socket fitted, £325 .. all metal conduit etc , up to spec 18th edition

if you can find a bloke/blokette willing to work on day rate, expect around £220-£250 for labour (this is in the south). Rest is materials. IF you fit the boxes and trunking, that’s a good few hours of just your time – it’s both easy and quite rewarding. I dare say you would get away with pulling the cable through as well, just make a ring up, so up and down the trunking. You may as well stick some 4mm in if you are likely to have heavy drain tools in the workshop – think about redundancy/future proofing.

Labour £230
4mm T&E = £30 for 25meters tops
1.5mm T7E is enough for lights if out of the garage CU = £20
4mm SWA = £30 for 10meters (get cheaper as you buy more) – 2.5mm is tiny for a workshop. id even argue 6mm – you need to to think about total potential draw.
surface mount boxes = £1.98 each (£12)
Sockets = £19 (pack of 5 + 1) MK DP from Screwfix
Trunking + saddles = £10 approx
light switch = £2.90
Garage consumer unit = £30
Put an RCBO in the house consumer unit 40amp(s) = £15 -though best practice is to put it on it’s own main breaker.

What the elcy bloke will have is things like tails, earthing clamps if needed these are pennies.

So £396! the rest is a few nights on the piss or bike parts.. IS your time worth £300 if you don’t set the boxes, sockets and switches?

the sparky needs to earn money and his time will be a full day as he wont get any more work that day probably, still a hefty amount though..

Caveat – not a sparky, but i have wired my entire house with a sparky – approx 7miles of cable, 50+ sockets, ethernet, coax, ~80 lights so have a very good idea of what it takes.

I got a sparky to fit the shed consumer unit and a double socket next to it. He’s a friend and said that was the minimum he should do in order to allow me to do the rest.
I can’t quite remember the reasoning for the double socket, but it was definitely his recommendation and something to do with notification.

I would go with the same approach as the guys above, do the donkey work, and ask the sparky to wire up a single socket to the garage consumer unit, it really is a doddle (and not illegal) to extend that circuit.

Re trunking – what is recommended these days? I have loads of the plastic sticky back square stuff, do regs state it should be the round metal conduit?

I can’t quite remember the reasoning for the double socket, but it was definitely his recommendation and something to do with notification.

need to do an earth fualt test using dead and live circuit to check the cables haven’t been broken. I had the same discussions with my sparky as you can easily twist cable over long runs or pinch them if you bury them in walls etc.. Surface mounting in a shed is unlikely to result in this.

Also, when signing off, they have to state how many sockets have been signed off a the time, the cable used and the readings. After that you are on your own.

Plastic trunking is fine, galvanised prefered outdoors if it’s likely to come into contact with objects. But if you do this, im not sure if you have to earth the conduit/trunking as well.. obvs not with plastic..

Also