Guides · Quoting
How to price a house rewire so you don't lose money on it
A rewire is the job most likely to be under-quoted, because the obvious cost — cable and fittings — is the part you can count, and the expensive part is the part you can't see until the ceiling's open.
About a 3-minute read
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Count it off the plan, not off memory
Walk the house with the plan (or sketch one), and put every point on it: every power point, switch, light, data point, the board, the mains. The count is the quote. A point you didn't draw is a point you'll install for free.
In Knack: a room drawn from scratch, each point counted as it's placed. -
Price the point, not the part
A double power point is not “a double power point” — it's the fitting, the cable run back to the circuit, the clips, the fixing, the chase or the crawl, and the minutes. Build each kind of point up once (parts + labour) and reuse it. When the customer adds four more power points on Thursday, the price moves by four real amounts instead of a round guess.
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Separate the known from the unknown
Access, old wiring you'll find in the walls, asbestos-era linings, whether the switchboard needs replacing — these are allowances or exclusions, stated as such. Write them in the quote as their own section so they can be priced when they're known, rather than buried in a single figure that has to cover them.
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Show the customer choices, not a list
Downlight count, the board upgrade, EV-charger provisioning — present them as options the customer picks, with the base price clean. People accept a quote they feel they shaped.
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Keep your margin where you can see it
The quote the customer reads should be simple. The one you built should show cost, markup and gross profit per line, so the moment you discount the board you can see what it did to the job.
In Knack: the customer's total on one side, your margin beside it, for your eyes only. -
Get the yes in writing, against the scope
A rewire runs weeks; “I thought that included the garage” is the dispute. Accept against a written scope and a signed declaration, and the record settles it.
Where Knack fits
Knack is built around this method: points counted off the plan, each one priced from your own parts and labour, options the customer picks, your margin on your screen only, and acceptance against a written scope and a declaration. Quoting a job, start to finish, shows it screen by screen.
Try it on a job you're pricing this week.
Thirty days, every plan feature, no credit card.