What to charge / Builders · Checked 29 September 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
| 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. |
Job prices
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
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
Pricing well
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Questions
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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