EICR Reports the true cost?

I have been involved with some interesting debates in the past two weeks, in respect of the new EICR reports, which replaced the periodic / fixed wire reports, as of January 2012.

As an independent test and inspection engineer, with over 34 years experience, in the testing of domestic, commercial and industrial installations, it never ceases to amaze me, how often managers FM managers, directors owners and large corporations try to get this type of work done for the cheapest price possible.

So let's just take an example of, say a standard three bed house and truly break down the costs involved in carrying out the work.

1. Overheads, so people can find you, such as (advertising, telephone, broadband, e-mail etc).
2. normal running costs, vehicle, road tax, vehicle insurance, (diesel), public liability insurance, professional indemnity insurance, membership, such as (N.I.C.E.I.C, CHAS, construction line), and so many more.
3. Re-examination costs to ensure that you are conversant with the latest regulations.
4. Calibration costs, for all your test instruments, sometimes biannually, due to the amount of use.
5. Leave office to go to job, somewhere between 30 and 60 min to travel.
6. set up and go round property taking readings, results, removing sockets switches light fittings, dismantling the fuse board,taking all the necessary readings as is required along with noting any defects on average anywhere between 2 to 4 hours on site depending on the number of items found.
7. Leave job go back to office, somewhere between 30 and 60 min to travel.
8. Start filling out paperwork, old periodic 5 to 6 pages, new E.I.C.R 10 to 14 pages, depending on what you find, approximate time to complete every item now needs to be ticked, and write all comments, 2 to 3 hours.

So let's add this up, forgetting the costs involved in item 1 to 4 because customers don't ever see that let's just go with items 5 to 8, if you assume 30 min both ways which is very conservative doesn't even include parking or congestion charging. If you are in a place like London.

Your average time spent doing just that one job, from start to finish. If you do it properly, is approximately 7 to 8 hours.

As you can see, the Cowboys that do this type of work, who arrived at say 9 AM and are gone by 10:30AM, having already completed the paperwork within that time frame, can in no way be doing the job properly.

Yet their charges range, from £45-£90 to do the work, when the real cost, is anywhere between and £150.00 and £200.00, plus VAT.

Unfortunately, the public; and I don't like using this word are "ignorant" and assume that once they have the piece of paper everything is okay.

Unfortunately it has been my experience over many years of having to re-attend these jobs, only to find numerous items that were never picked up properly because it was never tested properly and to give the customer the bad news that they now have to spend even more money that they had no idea about, leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.

Because quite often I'm the one that receives the attack because they went to a cheap outfit that quite often can no longer be found.

So when you get estate agents that quote anywhere between £60 and £90 to carry out a "proper report" remember one thing, their estate agents, they add a percentage sometimes in excess of 10% to a testing contractors costs, for the privilege of finding someone for you.

You don't get a butcher, to carry out brain surgery, so why on earth do you get people who are cheap. Don't know what they're doing produce half-hearted reports and leave you in a dangerous situation, and quite often and are gone within three months.

If you run your car to the corner shop once a week for half a mile and then came back your servicing costs would be possibly two years apart Maybe!

If you run your car around the M25, at 70 mph, five days a week, your servicing would be biannual and anywhere between £300-£600, each time, yet you pay without question.

When asked to check the safety of your home, against electrical dangers, you scream and shout about paying up to, £200 plus VAT, if you live in your own property, this test, is required by your insurance once every 10 years, which is you can see amounts to £20 a year.

You will spend up to £6000 in 10 years servicing a vehicle that depreciates down to a worthless piece of junk the moment it touches the tarmac, yet when asked to spend £200, once every 10 years you scream that it is too much, and always look for the cheap option, on an asset that increases in value.

Don't you think it is time that you started the value your lives and your family's lives above the cost of the car!

For further information, please go to www.safe-electric.com and contact us, for it is far better to know there is a problem. To do something about it than live in blissful ignorance until such time as you lose the most expensive object you have in your lives and I'm not talking about your home and talking about you!