The old rule of thumb is a worker must make for the company the same income
he is making for himself. Of course there are all types of variations added
to this including supply and demand and "the going rate".

If the electrician earns $50.00 per hour, he must generate $50.00 for the
company. Benefits will vary but can run from 35% to 50% for some unionized
jobs. this will add $25.00. So far it costs $125.00. Then there is the
overhead of the company such as insurance, vehicles, taxes office/warehouse
space, etc. etc., including accountants, office staff, and even your
quotation. He has to make a quotation as he may not have the right tools
and/or supplies on hand, nor the timeframe available without looking at the
job. Plus he will have to go to the supplier to get the needed items, even
if he has them in stock in the office, they have to be replaced. This all
costs money. $175.00 may seem high, it may also be the "going rate" in your
area, but it is surprising how fast it adds up when you are running a
business.

You may be able to strike a "flat rate" type of deal when you have worked up
a relationship with a company, where they trust your assessment of the job
enough to send a man out on your say-so, but as a first-time customer, they
will not be eager unless they have no work on hand.

"ET1742" wrote in message
. ..
I am trying to get an idea of what is a "normal" hourly rate for an
electrician. My reason for asking is that I would like to find an
electrician that I can use who would bill me "time and materials" -- that
is, "X" amount per hour plus the cost of materials. That way, when I have
electrical work that needs to be done, I can skip all of the back and forth
let-me-give-you-an-estimate for each and every job. I can have the company
send someone out and know they can just do the work and bill me by the hour
plus materials.

For example, if an electrical contracting company said our charge is $120
for the first hour, then $80 for each hour after that, plus the cost of
materials, I would be fine with that.

Today, I needed a simple job done -- replace a 30-foot length of 220V 10/3
wire that runs from the main panel box to the cut-off box outside for the
AC condenser unit. It is all easily accessible in a high ceiling basement
and the line needs to go through a plain cinder block wall. The line
needs to be replaced because the outside insulation on the portion that is
on the outside of the house is coming off almost completely leaving the
black and white insulated wires exposed to the elements. I thought the
person coming out would just do the work and bill me for his time and
materials. Instead, he insisted on preparing a whole work order which I
agreed to, and then he will come back tomorrow and do the work. The cost
is $395 based on two hours of work at $175/hour (his time estimate), plus
materials.

I agreed to have it done simply because I need it done, and because it is
for a house I own that others live in so I want it done by a licensed
electrician rather than do it myself.

But that started me wondering -- if I have a lot of other electrical work
that I want done (which I do) in two other houses that I own, do I want to
be paying $175 and hour for an electrician? I don't know what the company
is paying it's worker, but I'm guessing less than $50 per hour. Throw
another $25 per hour on for benefits, down time, or whatever and that
still leaves the company making $100 an hour to cover it's overhead,
insurance, etc.

I am definitely not cheap, so it's not about me wanting to nickel and dime
anyone. But isn't $175 an hour for an electrician over the top?

I live in New Jersey.