UK Tradesman Price Guide (2026)
The national benchmarks behind every city page on this site: what plumbers, electricians, carpenters, painters and plasterers charge across the UK in 2026, how common jobs price, how quotes are built, and how far each region sits above or below the average.
By the TradePrices UK editorial team · Updated $1
Key numbers at a glance
| Trade (UK, 2026) | Hourly | Day rate |
|---|---|---|
| Plumber (national average about £50/hr) | £40–£60 | £320–£480 |
National rate ranges by trade
| Trade | Typical hourly (UK) | Typical day rate (UK) | A common job, typically priced |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plumber | £40–£65 | £310–£520 | Bathroom fit-out, supply and install: £4,000–£8,000 |
| Electrician | £30–£55 | £290–£540 | Full rewire, 3-bed house: £4,500–£8,000 |
| Carpenter | £20–£35 | £230–£370 | Hang an internal door: £60–£110 |
| Painter & decorator | £20–£30 | £170–£320 | Repaint an average bedroom, labour: £200–£400 |
| Plasterer | £20–£30 | £210–£380 | Reskim a medium room: £450–£700 |
The anchor benchmark: the average UK plumber bills about £50 an hour and £400 a day, with emergency callouts around £110 (per Checkatrade's plumber cost guide). Electricians' published rates cluster around £30–£50 hourly with realistic skilled day rates reaching £500 outside London; carpenters, painters and plasterers fill the £20–£32 hourly band with day rates from the high £100s to the mid £300s. These are hedged, labour-only figures — materials, fixtures and VAT sit on top, and city premiums move everything (see prices by city).
Common job prices, nationally
| Job | Typical UK price (2026) | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Emergency plumber callout | £100–£150 | Callout fee, then hourly |
| Bathroom fit-out | £4,000–£8,000 (averages around £4,500–£6,500) | Supply and install |
| Bathroom fit-out | £1,500–£2,500 | Labour only |
| Full rewire, 3-bed house | £4,500–£8,000 | Labour and cable, 5–10 days |
| Reskim a medium room | £450–£700 | Walls and ceiling, labour |
| Repaint an average bedroom | £200–£400 | Labour, standard emulsion |
| Hang an internal door | £60–£110 | Labour including adjustments |
| Paint a small one-bed flat | £2,200–£2,750 | Labour, multiple rooms |
Bathrooms and rewires dominate household spending because they bundle trades: a full bathroom is plumbing plus tiling plus electrics plus plastering, and a rewire is electrician hours plus days of chasing and making good that a plasterer bills separately. Budget both as projects, not as single trades.
How a quote is built
Four components hide inside every number. Labour — hourly for repairs, day rate for open-ended work, fixed price for defined jobs. Materials — quoted at cost plus a margin, or supplied by you (agree this before delivery day; some trades won't warrant customer-supplied materials). Travel and callout — rural and cross-city jobs carry it explicitly. VAT — 20% if the trader is registered; registration is compulsory only above the £90,000 turnover threshold (per GOV.UK), so two identical quotes can differ by a fifth. Comparing quotes honestly means normalising all four.
Regional premiums and discounts
London runs 35–50%% above the national figures above. The South East commuter belt — Brighton, Reading, Oxford, Cambridge, St Albans — adds 25–35%%. Heritage cities such as Bristol, Bath and Canterbury carry 20–30%% premiums for conservation-scarce skills. Manchester, Edinburgh, Cardiff, York, Chester, Exeter, Southampton and Portsmouth sit 5–25%% up. Birmingham, Leeds, Sheffield, Nottingham, Leicester, Norwich and Aberdeen track the average. Glasgow, Dundee, Swansea, Liverpool, Newcastle and Belfast run 10–20%% below. The by-city hub prices all thirty.
Skills, certification and why they cost
Gas work is legally gated: engineers must sit on the Gas Safe Register, and the register's site verifies licence numbers free. Electrical notifiable work should be certified through a competent-person scheme such as NICEIC (SELECT or NICEIC in Scotland). A registered, insured trader costs more per hour than an unregistered one and is usually cheaper per problem — certification, insurance and accountability are what you are buying at the top of every range on this page.
Paying less without buying trouble
The reliable levers: three itemised written quotes, bundling small jobs into single day rates, booking exterior and decorating work in the quieter winter months, agreeing the materials split before work starts, and staging payments against completed stages rather than large deposits. The unreliable levers — cash discounts that waive paperwork, and quotes far below every published range — transfer risk to you, not cost away from the job.
FAQ
What is the average hourly rate for a tradesman in the UK in 2026?
Across the five core trades, roughly £20–£60 an hour: plumbers £40–£60, electricians £30–£50, carpenters £22–£32, painters £20–£30 and plasterers £20–£28. City premiums of up to 50% sit on top in London.
What is a good day rate for a tradesman in the UK?
Most skilled trades bill £180–£500 a day depending on trade and region. Electricians and plumbers top the band; painters and plasterers sit lower. London day rates can exceed these ceilings by a third or more.
How is a tradesman quote built?
Labour (hourly, day rate or fixed price), materials and fixtures, travel or callout, and VAT if the trader is registered. Comparing quotes only works when all four elements are stated the same way.
Why do quotes for the same job vary by 25% or more?
Different assumptions on access, making good and materials quality, different certification overheads, and VAT status. The cheapest quote usually excludes something the others price honestly.
How much does VAT add to a tradesman bill?
20% if the trader is registered. Registration is compulsory only above the £90,000 turnover threshold (per GOV.UK), so many sole traders quote VAT-free — always ask which you are comparing.
Which jobs are usually fixed price rather than day rate?
Bathroom fit-outs, rewires, reskims and standard door or radiator swaps. Day rates suit open-ended work such as first-fix carpentry, multi-room decorating and renovation making-good.