What to charge / Builders · Checked 29 September 2026
What to charge as a builder in 2026
Checkatrade’s April 2026 table puts the average builder at £300 a day or £38 an hour. HaMuch’s national averages come in lower, at £206 a day and £29 an hour for small jobs. Below you will find bricklayer and labourer rates, day rates for twelve UK cities, prices for common structural jobs, how CIS affects your cash flow, and a calculator to work out your own rate.
Rates
Typical builder rates in the UK
| Rate | Typical range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| A day, Checkatrade 2026 average | £300 [1] | From its April 2026 table of trade rates. |
| An hour, Checkatrade 2026 average | £38 [1] | Same table. |
| A day, HaMuch average | £206 [2] | From £133 to £275 depending on the builder and area. HaMuch says a larger building firm will probably add VAT. |
| An hour for small jobs, HaMuch average | £29 [2] | From £16 to £46. |
| A day for a bricklayer | £240 to £320 [1] | Checkatrade’s April 2026 table. |
| A day for a labourer | £112 to £280 [1] | Or £14 to £35 an hour, from the same table. |
| A day for labour in a priced job | £220 to £300 [3] | Average £260, plus VAT, from Checkatrade’s April 2026 chimney removal costing. |
Where you work changes the rate
- London, HaMuch: £270 a day or £44 an hour. [2]
- Edinburgh and Glasgow, HaMuch: £267 a day (£37 an hour) and £255 a day (£34 an hour). [2]
- Sheffield, Leeds, Manchester and Liverpool, HaMuch: £257, £237, £230 and £220 a day. [2]
- Bristol, Nottingham and Birmingham, HaMuch: £255, £240 and £225 a day. [2]
- Cardiff and Belfast, HaMuch: £214 a day (£33 an hour) and £154 a day (£22 an hour). [2]
Job prices
What common builder jobs cost
What customers are typically quoted, from published UK price guides. Use them as a check on your own quotes, not a fixed price list.
| Job | Typical price | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Remove a load-bearing wall for a single doorway, about 1m | £1,085 [4] | Average, plus VAT |
| Remove a load-bearing wall for a double doorway, about 2m | £1,525 [4] | Average, plus VAT |
| Remove a load-bearing wall for open plan, around 4m | £2,700 [4] | Average, plus VAT |
| RSJ steel beam | £140 to £325 per metre [4] | Material only, average £232.50, plus VAT |
| Remove a chimney breast, stack left in place | £1,750 to £3,250 [3][2] | Checkatrade: average £2,500, plus VAT. HaMuch gives £700, so check exactly what each covers before comparing |
| Remove a chimney stack | £260 to £340 per metre [3] | Average £300, plus VAT |
| Repoint a chimney | £300 to £1,000 [5] | Average £750. £300 for a small chimney on a low roof, £1,000 mid-roof on a semi with scaffolding over the ridge |
| Repoint or repair brickwork | £305 [2] | HaMuch average. Size and VAT not stated |
| Build a retaining wall | £280 [2] | HaMuch average. Size and VAT not stated |
| Screed a 17m² living room | £204 [2] | Traditional screed, HaMuch average |
| Small single-storey extension, 20m² | £40,000 to £56,000 [6] | Standard build, average £48,000, excluding VAT. Checkatrade, updated September 2025 |
Checkatrade’s wall removal, steel and chimney figures are given before VAT. HaMuch does not say what its job prices include, so use them as a rough check rather than a price list.
Your numbers
Work out your own hourly rate
Start from what you want to earn, add what the business costs to run, and divide by the hours you can actually charge for. Travel, quoting, paperwork and chasing payments are not chargeable hours, so be honest about them.
The starting numbers are examples, not a recommendation. Change them to match your year. The result is before income tax and National Insurance, and before VAT if you are registered.
Before you set a price
Costs your rate has to cover
- CIS if you work for contractors: the contractor must deduct 20% from your payments and pass it to HMRC, or 30% if you are not registered for the scheme. It counts towards your tax and National Insurance, but you do not have that money to spend in the meantime. [7]
- Structural engineer: about £200 a visit, often needed before a load-bearing wall comes out. Pass it on or include it in the price. [4]
- Steel: an RSJ costs £140 to £325 a metre before labour, so check current prices before you fix a quote. [4]
- VAT: registration is required once taxable turnover over any rolling 12 months passes £90,000. A couple of large jobs with materials can take you there, and from then on 20% goes on top of your prices. [8][9]
What the job pays elsewhere
- BATJIC rates from 10 August 2026: £16.76 an hour for an Advanced Craft (NVQ3) worker, £653.64 for a 39-hour week. Intermediate Craft (NVQ2) is £14.45 an hour and an adult General Operative £13.12. [10]
- Employed bricklayer pay: £25,000 at the start, up to £45,000 once experienced (National Careers Service). [11]
- Employed construction labourer pay: £23,000 to £35,000 a year, from the same National Careers Service data. [12]
If you employ people
BATJIC rates for 2026/27
BATJIC is the Building and Allied Trades Joint Industrial Council. Its Working Rule Agreement sets wage rates, holidays and other terms for operatives employed by building firms. The Federation of Master Builders (FMB) describes it as a voluntary wages and payment scheme designed for SME construction firms: members can adopt it in full or use it as a benchmark, and they do not have to follow it. [10]
The rates below apply from Monday 10 August 2026 to Wednesday 31 March 2027, for a 39-hour week. They are wages for employed operatives and do not set what a self-employed builder charges a customer. The FMB says a new sheet will follow by 1 April 2027 to reflect minimum wage changes. [13]
| Grade | 39-hour week | An hour |
|---|---|---|
| Advanced Craft (S/NVQ3) | £653.64 | £16.76 [13] |
| Intermediate Craft (S/NVQ2) | £563.55 | £14.45 [13] |
| Adult General Operative | £511.68 | £13.12 [13] |
| Apprentice aged 16 | £321.98 | £8.26 [13] |
| Apprentice aged 17 | £359.42 | £9.22 [13] |
| Apprentice aged 18, without NVQ level 2 | £451.45 | £11.58 [13] |
| Apprentice aged 18, with NVQ level 2 | £477.57 | £12.25 [13] |
An employee costs you more than the wage. The FMB’s prime cost of daywork sheet adds holiday pay, employer’s National Insurance, the CITB levy, pension and death benefit, and puts the hourly cost at £22.15 for Advanced Craft, £19.03 for Intermediate Craft and £17.23 for a General Operative. Overheads, materials and supervision come on top. [13]
Holiday under BATJIC is 23 days plus bank holidays, usually 31 days in all. Travel allowances, sick pay and the rates for entrants aged 19 and over are on the FMB’s BATJIC wages and holidays page and in its information sheet for August 2026 to March 2027. [10][13]
Pricing well
How to price your work as a builder
Use a day rate for the unknown, a fixed price for the defined
Repairs, strip-outs and anything where you cannot see what is behind the wall suit a day rate, with an estimate of the days. Work with a clear drawing and specification suits a fixed price. Say on the quote which one it is, because customers often read an estimate as a promise.
Take staged payments on anything over a few days
Agree a schedule before you start: a deposit to cover materials you order, then payments at stages the customer can see, such as foundations in, walls up to plate, roof on and completion. On a £40,000 extension, never let the money you are owed run ahead of what you can afford to lose.
Put the quote in writing, including what is not in it
List the work, the materials, who pays for skips, scaffolding, the structural engineer and building control, whether VAT is included, and how long the price holds. Most disputes on building jobs start with something both sides assumed.
Agree every variation before you do it
When the customer asks for an extra window or a different floor, price it and get a yes in writing, even by text, before you start. Add it to a running list of variations so the final bill has no surprises on either side.
Register for CIS and price with cash flow in mind
Contractors deduct 20% from registered subcontractors and 30% from those who are not. The deduction counts towards your tax and National Insurance, but on a big job a fifth of every payment goes to HMRC before it reaches you. Allow for that when you plan buying materials.
Cost your labourer at the full rate
The BATJIC rate for an adult General Operative is £13.12 an hour, before holiday pay, employer costs and time on the road. A self-employed labourer costs £112 to £280 a day. Either way, charge the labour on at a margin, not at what it costs you.
The work you never get to quote for
A good rate only helps if the customer reaches you. Most callers who hit voicemail ring the next name on the list. If you miss three calls a week and two in five would have become a £1,085 job, that is about £5,638 of work a month going to someone else. See what a missed call costs, or how While You Work answers calls for builders while you are on a job.
Our AI receptionist for tradesmen answers the calls you miss while you are on site.
Questions
What builders ask about pricing
How much do builders charge per day in the UK?
Checkatrade’s April 2026 table gives an average of £300 a day. HaMuch’s database average is lower at £206, ranging from £133 to £275, with London at £270.
How much do builders charge per hour?
Checkatrade puts the average at £38 an hour. HaMuch gives £29 an hour for small jobs, ranging from £16 to £46, and £44 in London.
How much does a labourer cost per day in the UK?
Checkatrade’s 2026 table puts a labourer at £112 to £280 a day, or £14 to £35 an hour. If you employ one, the BATJIC rate for an adult General Operative is £13.12 an hour from 10 August 2026.
What are the BATJIC rates for 2026?
From 10 August 2026 to 31 March 2027, the BATJIC rates for a 39-hour week are £16.76 an hour for Advanced Craft (NVQ3), £14.45 for Intermediate Craft (NVQ2) and £13.12 for an adult General Operative. BATJIC is a voluntary agreement for small building firms, and the FMB publishes the rates.
How much does it cost to remove a load-bearing wall?
Checkatrade gives averages of £1,085 for a single doorway, £1,525 for a double doorway and £2,700 for a 4m open-plan opening, all plus VAT. A structural engineer is about £200 a visit on top.
How much does a small extension cost in the UK?
Checkatrade puts a standard 20m² single-storey extension at £40,000 to £56,000, with an average of £48,000, excluding VAT. Its figures were last updated in September 2025.
How much tax is deducted under CIS?
GOV.UK says contractors must deduct 20% from a registered subcontractor’s payments, or 30% if you are not registered. The money goes to HMRC and counts towards your tax and National Insurance bill.
Sources
Figures checked on 29 September 2026. Price guides change, so check the source before you rely on a figure. Where a source says whether a price includes VAT, the page says so; where it does not, treat the figure as unconfirmed on VAT.
- Checkatrade, How much do tradespeople cost in the UK in 2026?, Updated 04/26 (table: Last updated April 2026).
- HaMuch, Builder rates near you for 2026, null on page (headed 'Builder rates 2026').
- Checkatrade, Chimney removal cost, Updated 04/26.
- Checkatrade, Cost to remove a load bearing wall, Updated 03/26.
- Checkatrade, Chimney repointing cost, Updated 02/26.
- Checkatrade, House extension cost, Updated 09/25.
- GOV.UK, What you must do as a Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) subcontractor.
- GOV.UK (HMRC), How VAT works / When to register.
- GOV.UK (HMRC), VAT rates.
- Federation of Master Builders (FMB), BATJIC wages and holidays 2026/2027 (page + BATJIC Information Sheet August 2026 - March 2027 PDF), 2026-08-05 (rates effective 10 August 2026).
- National Careers Service (GOV.UK), Bricklayer job profile.
- National Careers Service (GOV.UK), Construction labourer job profile.
- Federation of Master Builders (FMB), BATJIC Information Sheet August 2026 to March 2027 (PDF), Rates effective 10 August 2026 to 31 March 2027.
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