How to Price a Job as a Tradesperson in 2026
One of the biggest mistakes tradespeople make isn't bad workmanship — it's bad pricing. Undercharging is one of the most common reasons trade businesses struggle, and it usually comes down to one thing: not having a clear system for working out what a job actually costs.
Why Tradespeople Undercharge
Most tradespeople who undercharge aren't bad at business — they're pricing from the gut. They think about what the materials cost, add a rough daily rate, and hope it covers everything else. It usually doesn't.
What gets forgotten
- Travel time and fuel
- Time spent quoting, chasing payments, and doing admin
- Tool wear and replacement
- Insurance, certifications, and professional memberships
- Slow periods when there's no work coming in
- Tax and National Insurance
Once you account for all of that, your real hourly cost is usually much higher than you think.
6 Steps to Pricing a Job Properly
Know your minimum hourly rate
Before you can price any job, you need to know what it costs just to keep your business running — your break-even rate. Add up your annual business costs and divide by your billable hours per year.
Example — annual costs
| Van (finance, fuel, insurance, tax) | £6,000–£10,000 |
| Tools and equipment | £1,000–£3,000 |
| Insurance (liability, tools, van) | £1,500–£3,000 |
| Phone, software, marketing | £500–£1,500 |
| Training and certifications | £500–£1,000 |
Most tradespeople work around 200 days a year and bill roughly 6 hours per day — about 1,200 billable hours. If your total annual costs are £15,000, your break-even rate is £12.50/hour. Add your desired profit on top — typically £25–£45/hour depending on trade and location — and your minimum charge rate becomes clear.
Price materials at cost plus markup
Always price materials at cost plus a markup — not at cost price alone. You're sourcing, collecting, transporting, and managing materials. That takes time and effort. A standard markup is 15–25% on top of what you paid.
Example
| Materials cost | £200 |
| 20% markup | £40 |
| Charged to customer | £240 |
Never pass materials through at trade price. You're not a merchant — you're providing a service that includes procurement.
Estimate the time accurately
This is where most pricing goes wrong. Tradespeople tend to be optimistic about how long a job will take — and then get caught out.
- Add a contingency buffer of 10–20% to your estimate — especially on older properties
- Include prep and clean-up time — these aren't free
- Factor in travel if the job is more than 15–20 minutes away
- Look at past similar jobs — if you use job management software, your history tells you exactly how long things actually take
Choose your pricing model
There's no single right answer — here's when each works best:
Hourly rate
Best for: small jobs and call-outs
Simple and fair — but some customers feel uneasy not knowing the final cost
Day rate
Best for: longer jobs, unclear materials
Typical UK rates in 2026: £200–£450/day depending on trade and region
Fixed price
Best for: surveyed jobs with clear scope
Gives customers certainty — rewards efficiency, but the risk is yours if it overruns
Build your quote properly
Once you know your costs, a professional quote should include:
- A clear description of the work being done
- Materials listed with quantities
- Labour costs — you don't need to show your hourly rate, just the total
- VAT if you're registered
- Payment terms and how long the quote is valid for
If you're still sending prices in a text message, customers are comparing you to someone who sent a branded document — and making a judgment call based on that alone.
Don't race to the bottom
If a customer pushes back on your price, resist the urge to immediately drop it. Try these first:
- Explain your value — your experience, guarantees, and reliability have a real cost
- Offer a reduced scope — can you do part of the job now and phase the rest?
- Hold firm — customers who only want the cheapest price are often the hardest to work with
The jobs you want are from customers who value quality. Winning work by being cheapest is a race you don't want to win.
A Simple Pricing Formula
Starting point for any job
Job Price = (Hourly Rate × Hours) + (Materials × 1.2) + Contingency Buffer
Example at £40/hour
| Labour: £40 × 6 hours | £240 |
| Materials cost | £150 |
| 20% materials markup | £30 |
| 15% contingency on labour | £36 |
| Total quote | £456 + VAT |
Jobber lets you save your labour rates and common materials as line items, so building a quote takes minutes not half an hour. Your job history also shows which jobs are most profitable — so you can win more of them.
Try Jobber Free for 14 Days →The Bottom Line
Pricing properly isn't about charging more than the job is worth — it's about charging what it's actually worth. Know your costs, add a fair profit, price your materials correctly, and don't let customers pressure you into undercutting yourself.
Once your pricing is right, make sure your quotes are converting. Read our guide on how to write a quote that wins jobs to make sure the presentation matches the price.
TradeStack HQ helps UK tradespeople find the best tools to run smarter businesses. Some links on this page are affiliate links — we may earn a commission if you sign up, at no extra cost to you.