Nixers - how much to pay?

paulydicanio

Hi guys, just looking for some input as to what would be acceptable to pay a my brother and a good friend of mine, who both went to a lot of effort to rewire my house in recent months. What was supposed to take a couple of weekends to complete turned into a monster of a job that took many more days to finish than planned, involving a considerably larger amount of time and work than first thought. Some family have told me I shouldn't be looking to pay them much money, as "they are family/pals" and they would be uncomfortable taking a chunk of cash as a thank you, and that rather I should give a nice gift instead.
Just wondering if that would be acceptable, or should I give the cash of e400/e500 each? Would it be insulting to get a thank you like that from a brother/mate or considered fair enough for all the work done?

Dr. Kenneth Noisewater

Could either of them be doing with the cash? If not, I'd say no to that, if I did a job like that as a favour for a mate I would be pissed if he tried to give me money. Take them out for dinner and drinks or a round of golf or somehing like that as a thank you maybe, that'd be more my style anyway.

The_Conductor

While I disagree with nixers on a point of principal- 400-500 a piece for what sounds like re-wiring the house, is the bargain of the century, if its done properly and to standard. I hope one or both of your friends are properly qualified electricians- you do know that certification rules changed recently- just because you're a dab hand with cabling and wiring, doesn't mean you're not breaking the law.

With jobs like you're describing- often the extent of the job only becomes apparent, as you tackle it- what may have seemed a relatively easy job at the outset, can rapidly turn into a major undertaking, when the extent of what is necessary becomes clear.

The 400-500 quid each- while a nice gesture- is a complete bargain for you- providing its properly certified work........ I'm guessing you're going to quietly ignore the tax implications etc........?

Mrs OBumble

Just looked up a few dictionaries, and the most common definitions agreed with my previous sense of the word, viz:

nixer. 2nd job done illegally or without reporting for tax purposes

On that basis, I'm not willing to have the topic disucssed further on teh Work and Jobs - which is intrinsically about paid employemnt, and where we cannot give advice to do illegal things.

I'm going to move it to the DIY / electrical forum , where they may be willing to give you some advice about what you need to do to manage your risks: you need to consider how you will answer questions from your insurance company if there is a fire.

tomdempsey200

prob illegal if they're not registered

completion cert?

2011

Since the 1st of October 2013 it will be illegal for a non-Registered Electrical Contractor to carry out most electrical work in domestic premises. This would most certianly apply to a house rewire :eek:

See link:
http://www.cer.ie/docs/000161/cer13147-restricted-electrical-works-decision-paper.pdf


Apart from the fact that this is now a criminal offence I am sure that your insurance company would take a very dim view of the fact that despite the fact that your home was rewired you have no certification for same.