Kitchen Fitter Day Rate UK 2026: What to Charge
What should a self-employed kitchen fitter charge per day in the UK? Published guides put the typical kitchen fitter day rate at around £150 to £350. This page shows where those figures come from, what official ONS data shows about employee pay, and a calculator to work out the day rate you need to charge to cover your overheads and the days you can’t bill.
Some links on this page are affiliate links, we may earn a commission if you sign up, at no extra cost to you.
Published UK guides put a kitchen fitter’s day rate at around £150 to £350 in 2026. Official ONS figures for the closest occupation, “Construction and building trades n.e.c.”, show a median of £17.65 an hour, about £141 for an 8-hour day. A self-employed kitchen fitter charges more than that because the rate has to cover a van, tools, insurance, holidays and unbilled days. On our worked example, matching that median pay needs about £260 a day over 200 billable days.
Kitchen Fitter Day Rates: What Published Guides Say
These are the figures quoted by named UK sources, with the date each was last updated. They are averages across very different jobs and areas, so treat them as a sense-check rather than a price list.
| Source | What it quotes | Updated |
|---|---|---|
| Checkatrade tradesperson costs | £250 to £350 a day | April 2026 |
| BestBuilders kitchen fitter guide | £150 to £250 a day | August 2026 |
Official ONS Pay Data: The Closest Occupation
The Office for National Statistics’ Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (2025, provisional) records the pay of full-time employees in the occupation “Construction and building trades n.e.c.” (SOC 5319). This is what an employer pays, not what a self-employed kitchen fitter charges, but it is the most reliable benchmark for what the work is worth as a wage.
| Full-time employees, 2025 | Lower quarter | Median | Upper quarter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hourly pay (gross) | £14.43 | £17.65 | £21.93 |
| Day equivalent (8 hours) | £115 | £141 | £175 |
| Annual pay (gross) | £28,235 | £34,822 | £44,552 |
Source: ONS, ASHE Table 14, 2025 provisional, full-time employees, gross pay. Day equivalent is hourly pay multiplied by 8 and is our calculation. “Not published” means ONS judged the estimate not reliable enough to release.
ONS has no separate kitchen fitter occupation; fitters are counted within this broader construction trades group, so treat it as a rough guide.
Work Out Your Own Kitchen Fitter Day Rate
A sustainable day rate is the income you want, plus the cost of running the business, spread over the days you can actually bill, with a margin for risk and profit. The calculator starts with the ONS median pay as the income target. Change any figure to match your own business.
On the starting figures (£34,822 income, £12,000 overheads, 10% margin), the day rate you need depends heavily on how many days you can bill:
| Billable days a year | Day rate needed | Hourly (8-hour day) |
|---|---|---|
| 180 days | £289 | £36.13 |
| 200 days | £260 | £32.52 |
| 220 days | £236 | £29.56 |
The overheads figure is a planning assumption, not a measured average; yours could be far higher once a newer van or specialist kit is included. For the full method, see our day rate calculator, and to see what you keep after tax, try the self-employed take-home pay calculator.
What Affects a Kitchen Fitter’s Day Rate
- Full fit or carcass-only: Fitting the whole kitchen, including worktops and appliances, supports more than carcass-only work.
- Plumbing, electrics and tiling: Fitters who can complete the whole scope charge more than those who need other trades.
- Per kitchen or by the day: Many fitters price per kitchen or per unit; your day rate is what that price is built from.
- Worktop type: Solid wood and stone worktops take more skill and time.
- Where you work: London and the South East pay the most.
Day Rate or Fixed Price?
Many kitchen fitters quote fixed prices for defined jobs and keep a day rate for open-ended work, extra work and subcontracting. Your day rate still matters either way: it is the number you price every fixed quote from. Read our guide on fixed price vs day rate, and how to quote kitchen and bathroom fitting jobs in the UK.
Tradify lets you save your day rate and unit prices, then quote, take deposits and stage-invoice kitchen jobs from your phone. 14-day free trial, no card needed.
Try Tradify Free for 14 Days →Frequently Asked Questions
Published UK guides put a kitchen fitter’s day rate at around £150 to £350 in 2026: Checkatrade tradesperson costs quotes £250 to £350 a day, and BestBuilders kitchen fitter guide quotes £150 to £250 a day. Rates vary with location, qualifications and the type of work.
ONS data for 2025 shows full-time employed kitchen fitters earned a median of £17.65 an hour and £34,822 a year. The middle half earned between £14.43 and £21.93 an hour. ONS has no separate kitchen fitter occupation; fitters are counted within this broader construction trades group, so treat it as a rough guide.
A day rate has to cover everything an employer would normally pay for: the van, tools, insurance, holidays, sick days, pension and the days spent quoting, travelling and doing admin. Spread over the days you can actually bill, that pushes the rate well above an hourly wage.
Add the income you want to your yearly business costs, add a margin for risk and profit, then divide by the number of days you can realistically bill. With £34,822 income, £12,000 overheads, a 10% margin and 200 billable days, that is about £260 a day.
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. Published figures are quoted from the named sources on the dates shown; ONS figures are for full-time employees and are not charge-out rates. Checked October 2026. See how we test and check.