Homeowners send us competing quotes more often than you would think, usually with a note asking why the numbers are so far apart. The honest answer is that the two documents are rarely describing the same job.
Count the outlets, then count them again
A rewire priced on room count and a rewire priced on device count will never agree. Ask each quote how many outlets, switches and light points it includes. A three-bedroom house might be specified at 48 devices by one firm and 71 by another, and that difference alone is thousands of dollars of labour and materials.
Making good is a real line item
Cable has to get through walls. Someone has to patch the chases, refit the skirting and repaint. If one quote includes making good to a paintable finish and the other stops at bare plaster, you are comparing a finished job to an unfinished one.
The panel, the earthing, the permit
Three items quietly swing the total. A new consumer unit with the right protective devices. Bonding and earthing brought up to current standard, which older houses almost always need. And the permit and inspection fee, which some firms bury and others omit entirely because they were not planning to pull one. That last one is not a saving.
How to read them side by side
Put the two quotes in two columns and mark every line that appears in one and not the other. In our experience the cheaper quote is usually accurate for what it describes, and simply describes less. Once the columns match, the remaining gap is small, and that is the number worth negotiating on.
Send us a photo
Open the panel door, photograph the label, and we will tell you the make, the age, and whether it needs replacing.