Income Target
The amount you want to actually keep after income tax and National Insurance.
Working Hours
Typical working day on site.
5 weeks = 25 days.
Travel between jobs, loading/unloading, quoting time not charged to client.
Full days spent on estimates, invoicing, materials ordering — where no work is billed.
Annual Overheads
Van, fuel, insurance, tools, accountant, phone, memberships, etc. Use the Overhead Calculator to get an accurate figure.
Profit & Comparison
Why your hourly rate needs careful calculation
Most tradespeople pick an hourly rate based on what the competition charges — or worse, what they earned as an employee multiplied by a rough figure. Neither method accounts for your actual costs, your real billable hours, or what you need to take home after tax.
The right hourly rate is calculated backwards from your financial goal: start with what you want to take home, gross it up for tax, add all your overheads, divide by your genuinely billable hours, then add your profit margin.
Average tradesperson hourly rates in the UK (2025)
| Trade | Typical Hourly Rate | London | North England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plumber | £45–£75/hr | £65–£100/hr | £35–£60/hr |
| Electrician | £45–£80/hr | £65–£110/hr | £35–£65/hr |
| Gas Engineer | £55–£90/hr | £75–£120/hr | £45–£75/hr |
| Builder | £35–£55/hr | £50–£80/hr | £28–£45/hr |
| Plasterer | £30–£50/hr | £45–£70/hr | £25–£40/hr |
| Carpenter / Joiner | £30–£50/hr | £45–£70/hr | £25–£40/hr |
| Painter & Decorator | £25–£40/hr | £35–£55/hr | £20–£33/hr |
| Tiler | £30–£45/hr | £45–£65/hr | £25–£38/hr |
| Roofer | £35–£55/hr | £50–£80/hr | £28–£45/hr |
Rates are for experienced sole traders working standard hours. Emergency/out-of-hours rates are typically 50–100% higher.
How many hours a year can you actually bill?
This is where most tradespeople get their pricing badly wrong. A standard year has 2,080 working hours (260 days × 8 hours). But your real billable hours are much lower:
- 25 days holiday = 200 hours lost
- 5 sick days = 40 hours lost
- 3 training days = 24 hours lost
- 20 admin/quoting days = 160 hours lost
- 20% non-billable on-site time (travel, loading, free quoting visits) = ~325 hours lost
Total: you're actually billing around 1,325 hours per year, not 2,080. Base your rate on 2,080 and you'll earn about £9,000 less than you planned.
Setting a minimum call-out fee
Every job, no matter how small, costs you time and money before you even touch a tool:
- Travel to the job (and back)
- Parking / congestion charges
- Time to get equipment out and put it away
- Writing up the job, invoicing
A minimum call-out charge of 1 hour (or even 1.5 hours for emergency work) protects you from doing 30-minute jobs at a loss. Set it, display it clearly, and stick to it.
Out-of-hours and emergency rates
If you take emergency call-outs — evenings, weekends, bank holidays — you should charge significantly more than your standard rate. Common approaches:
- 1.5× standard rate for evenings (after 6pm) and Saturdays
- 2× standard rate for Sundays and bank holidays
- Flat emergency call-out fee (e.g. £75–£150) on top of your hourly rate for immediate response
Out-of-hours work disrupts your personal time and typically means you were already done for the day. Price it accordingly.
Frequently asked questions
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What is a typical hourly rate for a tradesperson in the UK?Typical UK rates (2025): plumbers £45–£75/hr, electricians £45–£80/hr, gas engineers £55–£90/hr, builders £35–£55/hr. London rates are 25–35% higher. Rates vary significantly by specialisation, qualifications, and local demand.
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Should I charge by the hour or use a day rate?Day rates suit longer jobs (full days on site) and make invoicing simpler. Hourly rates suit smaller jobs, emergency call-outs, and maintenance work where duration is unpredictable. Many tradespeople use both — day rate for major jobs, hourly for smaller work. Whichever you use, the underlying calculation should be the same.
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Should I charge a minimum call-out fee?Yes. Fixed costs exist for every job regardless of duration — travel, parking, setup, invoicing. A 1-hour minimum charge ensures small jobs are never loss-making. Most tradespeople set this at their standard hourly rate, some charge 1.5× for the convenience of a quick job.
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Do I charge VAT on my hourly rate?Only if you are VAT registered (turnover above £90,000 in 2024/25). If registered, your hourly rate is quoted ex-VAT and you add 20% for the customer. This calculator shows rates ex-VAT.
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How does my hourly rate relate to my day rate?Your hourly rate should be your day rate divided by the number of billable hours in your working day. If you charge £240/day for 8 hours on site, that's £30/hr. But for smaller jobs, many tradespeople charge a slightly higher effective hourly rate (i.e., £40/hr rather than £30/hr) because short jobs have proportionally higher overhead per hour.