Hager 6+6 OK for domestic CU?

[supersparks]

what a prat.

every trade everyware marks up materials/adds their overheads onto it.

dont forget with the red tape and other things we have to conform to if it was all added onto labour and none onto materials we would need to be charging about 35 - 55 quid an hour!

there are alot of overheads now, if ou don't like it go and talk to mr prescot but watchout for the left hook

 

[Deluks]

what a prat.

Yeh, cheers mate. Thanks for your input.

 

[Softus]

Now this concerns me, 'mark-up on the materials' ? Isn't that just a polite way of saying overcharging?

if the spark supplies it and installs it he is totally liable if something is not right, if you buy it you are liable, not him.

No problem, at the end of the day, if I am the paying customer and are prepared to take responsibility for that then why should he be concerned?

You're taking some harsh comments here Deluks, but you are sticking your chin out a bit. ban-all-sheds put it bluntly, but also succinctly and correctly.

You ask why the installer should be concerned. Well, leaving aside those who do overcharge, which is by no means all of us, you might benefit from putting yourself in the position of the tradesman, viz:

1. Safety is paramount.

2. Most customers, presumably including you, expect defects to be rectified (no pun intended) at no cost to them.

3. Parts and materials need to be collected, paid for, stocked and managed.

4. If a tradesman gains a discount by virtue of quantity, or rapport, or just by being a good negotiator, then it is his choice as to whether or not the discount is passed on to his customer.

All honest tradesmen keep some of the discount, some of the time - it's a reasonable way to run a profitable business, and no less respectable a way of making a profit than charging for labour.

If you employ the services of a business, whether or not that business is a sole trader, you do so under their terms. If you don't like the terms then you go somewhere else - it's a free market in that respect. However, there are not only laws and regulations to follow, and profits to make, but safety to consider. A competent and right-minded installer will never install a CU that you've purchased from eBay, because we have not only your safety in mind but ours too. If you find someone who's willing to install it, then my advice is not to use him.

Sorry if this isn't what you wanted to hear, and the existence of the forum goes a long way to prove that this isn't a closed shop that jealously guards its knowledge, but you have to know where the line is, and that when you cross that line then you're risking your life in the pursuit of a bargain.