It seems most jobs are bid jobs but does anyone ever charge by the hour only?

In this area $75 to $90 one man and truck just to get to the front door on service call then $35 to $45 for each additional 1/2 hour. I think this is a little low due to the increasing costs of doing business in this area. I just had work done on the truck and he had a kid working on it his charge was $125 an hour and I had to bring the truck to him. Wife called for service on the stove last week and they were here 10 minutes and the bill was $140.00 no parts.

I always advise my young apprentices to look west to the US goldfields after their training.
Typically, a qualified electrician would be paid around $ 15.00, a self-employed lad might command $ 22.00 per hour.
Call out fees here in the North of Ireland do not enjoy the acceptance of elsewhere but usually the charge would be $ 45.00 plus the hourly rate after the first hour.

A guy wants me to upgrade his service to a 200A but I'm not sure how much to charge him so I thought about just charging by the hour.

DUGMAZE,
I would not wory about the price of the job, make sure you have good insurance in case the job goes bad. When a service installation causes damage it usually runs into the thousands or total loss, so good insurance will help limit your losses. Your insurance company will usually requires a contract with the owner.

[This message has been edited by LK (edited 08-30-2003).]

Lyledunn,
Is $15 what you get or what you charge? I sure hope it's not what you charge!

A Swedish electrican might charge $45/hour but just get $15 himself. The rest goes to VAT, taxes, more taxes, insurances, pension fund and so on.

C-H:

Well..at least he'll get the pension back when he retires..

I thought the taxes went for things like health benefits, etc.

Even though some taxes go towards worthy (IMO) programs, it still stings when you see that big bad bite out of your paycheck....gotta be honest here. .