What Day Rate Should a UK Tradesperson Charge?

Charge too little on a day rate and you’re quietly subsidising every job out of your own margin; charge too much and the quote doesn’t get accepted in the first place. For sole-trader builders, electricians and plasterers, the day rate is one of the few numbers customers actively compare between tradespeople, even when the job itself ends up priced as a fixed quote. Here’s what the three trades are actually charging across the UK right now, region by region, and how a day rate is meant to work differently from a fixed price.

What builders, electricians and plasterers are actually charging

General building work shows the widest spread of the three trades, largely because “builder” covers everything from a single labourer to a specialist bricklayer. One UK-wide pricing guide puts a general builder’s day rate at £150-£300, with bricklaying specifically running £200-£400 a day and a general labourer nearer £150-£230 [1]. A separate guide aimed at homeowners planning a side extension, last updated in March 2026, gives a more conservative £100-£150 a day for a general builder — a reminder that a single “day rate” figure depends heavily on the region and the job mix behind it [2].

Trade	Typical day rate (labour only, excl VAT)	Regional pattern
General builder [1][2]	£100-£300; bricklaying £200-£400	Lower end more common outside London and the South East
Electrician [3]	£200-£400	London +25%; most other major cities close to or below the national figure
Plasterer [4]	£180-£250	£250-£350+ in London/South East; £180-£275 across the Midlands and North

Electricians show a narrower spread than builders. Labour-only rates for a full house rewire typically run £200-£400 a day nationally, but the same job costs around 25% more in London than the UK average and roughly 16% more in Bristol, while Leeds, Birmingham and Manchester sit close to the national figure [3]. Nottingham runs about 14% below the national figure by the same measure [3].

Plastering rates follow a similar regional shape. The average day rate for a plasterer sits at £180-£250, but that climbs to £250-£350 or more in London and the South East, and runs £180-£275 across the Midlands and the North of England [4]. Hourly rates for smaller jobs run £25-£40, and most plasterers set a minimum charge of at least £50 plus materials for work too small to justify booking a full day [4].

Day rate vs fixed quote: what’s actually different

A day rate and a fixed quote answer different questions. A day rate charges for time: the customer pays for each day worked, and the final bill depends on how long the job actually takes. A fixed quote charges for an outcome: one agreed price for a defined scope of work, however long it takes to deliver.

One renovation guide, describing how professional builders price jobs, explains that day rates suit work “too small for a builder to work competitively on a measured-rates or fixed-quote basis,” while a fixed or “measured” rate — a cost per square metre covering materials, labour and plant together — works better once the scope is properly defined [5]. Day rates also make variations easier to price as a job progresses, because both sides already have an agreed daily cost to build from, rather than renegotiating a fixed sum every time the scope shifts [5].

Setting your own day rate

None of the figures above is a single “correct” rate — they’re a spread across sources that price differently, cover different scopes and survey different regions [1][2][3][4]. Use them as a sense check rather than a target. Work out what you actually need to earn once tax, insurance, tools, travel and the inevitable gaps between jobs are accounted for, then see where that number falls against the ranges here for your trade and region.

If your rate sits well outside the regional range for your trade, it’s worth understanding why before it goes on a quote. A genuinely higher specification, a relevant accreditation, or a higher cost base in your area can justify sitting above the range; an unexplained gap is usually what pushes a customer toward getting a second quote instead of booking the job with you.

What to do next

If you’re setting a day rate for the first time, or trying to work out why your quotes keep losing out to a very different number, get someone outside the business to check your rate against what’s actually being charged in your trade and area before it goes on your website. Loomwork Ai runs a short paid review for trades pricing their day rate and quotes.