Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Property/DIY

Join our Property forum for renovation, DIY, and house selling advice.

What's the current hourly rate for plumbers please?

21 replies

ODFOx · 14/06/2021 20:58

Prices have shot up and I'm clearly out of touch. How much would you expect to pay per hour if a plumber is there for a few days or if they come to do a small job? I'm in Cambs if that makes a difference. Thanks

OP posts:
ThisIsStartingToBoreMe · 14/06/2021 21:16

A day rate is usually about £120. Never known one to charge by the hour but they sometimes come out for a small job if you're lucky. I THINk for even the smallest of jobs you're looking at £80.

Is that what you were thinking?

Funnyfive · 14/06/2021 21:40

£250 a day plus vat minimum - it’s relative to where you live though! We are in the south west.

FurierTransform · 14/06/2021 21:41

A full 8hrs for £120?!
Most round here (SE) won't do anything for less than £80/HR, and that was a few years ago. It was the main reason we learned to do it ourselves. Basic domestic plumbing is actually really easy with no certification required so long as you stay away from the boiler etc - I recommend giving it a go.

ThisIsStartingToBoreMe · 14/06/2021 21:52

I'm in west midlands where it's relatively cheap so i'm not surprised at the other prices quoted.

The poster who said about learning to do basic jobs yourself is spot on. A few years ago they were doing one day courses at B and Q and they also did basic plumbing at my local college.

Phoenix76 · 14/06/2021 22:38

To add to the woes, their materials have rocketed in price, plastic is on the shortage list and this has pushed the prices up too so some will inevitably try and build some of that into their rates. I work in construction supply and you’d be surprised what’s going on, I still can’t believe it’s not in the public eye more.

turtlesanddragons · 14/06/2021 22:59

plumbers will charge more than 120 a day that's not much at all. You would usually get quoted for the job not the amount of time there.

MistyFrequencies · 14/06/2021 22:59

I'm in Ireland. My plumber charges 70 for call out which includes first hours work, 30 for each hour after that. So for an 8hr day it's 280 euro. And he's cheap around here.

Sunflowergirl1 · 15/06/2021 03:24

Well..we had a new boiler fitted....6 hours work. Boiler and materials were £1400 inc vat, total bill £2550. So his charge was £1150 for the day minus the vat so £920 for the day

Muststopeating · 15/06/2021 08:43

£300-£420 a day in NE Scotland!!! (And I've had a few quotes and a few different plumbers).

One i used recently also managed to charge me £144 (exc VAT) for blue pipe (that I could have picked up from Screwfix for £25). That was after his employee had screwed up our oil tank relocation so badly that we're very very lucky there wasn't a fire (think oil pouring into electrical sockets in the middle of the night).

He was well recommended locally too, safe to say we haven't used him for the masses of work we've done since.

My goodness the money I could have saved for £120 a day!

Comefromaway · 15/06/2021 09:33

We charge £35 plus VAT per hour with a minimum call out of £70 plus VAT.

BlueMongoose · 15/06/2021 16:03

We had two water pipes temporarily re-routed in plastic, a very fiddly job as the old copper pipes were embedded in the masonry on a tight bend where they had to be joined. Two of them came, took a couple of hours, charged well under £100. I was astonished at how little it cost, and they did an excellent, careful job. We're having them back for some major work as a result.

MooshWoosh · 15/06/2021 17:27

£75 / hr up here in the central belt of Scotland!

Chicchicchicchiclana · 15/06/2021 17:40

In London it would be more like £360 to £400 per day.

CharlieAteThePies · 16/06/2021 00:14

For smaller jobs (maybe 1-1.5 hours) my plumber charges £80 plus VAT.

For the day, he charged £350 plus VAT for him and his son. They're very good and could get a lot done in that time.

In late 2019, he quoted me £3500 plus VAT for the 2 of them to replace 1 bathroom. Excluding tiling and electrics. I put the plans on hold, as I wanted to do some other building works at the same time. Last week, he quoted me £10k to do the same bathroom, including tiling and electrics.

Totally bonkers increase!!

DogFacedWoman · 16/06/2021 00:22

The one I use charges £30/hr to diagnose issues and then charges cost for parts. If it's a routine annual service, which is usually around £90, he's usually here a couple of hours but does replace some parts and seals as well.
We've used him forever and he's a mate of a very good mate which probably helps keep costs down.

Staringouttosea · 16/06/2021 01:00

we are in the south west and currently paying an eye watering £440 a day but after having 2 other plumbers monumentally mess up 3 bathroom refurbs, he's worth every penny!

CanadianJohn · 16/06/2021 06:32

Please note I am in Canada.

Just to give you an idea, for a large plumbing job we had done recently the plumber was charged at $120 per hour (about £70) and the apprentice at half that rate).

Back in the olden days when I did estimates for a jobbing machine shop we charged the customer 2½ times the employee's pay, so if the worker was making $30 per hour we charged him out at $75 per hour.

bigfloweryblouse · 16/06/2021 06:36

Yep, about £360 to £400 per day if it's installing a boiler or any work on it. Less possibly if it doesn't involve the boiler.

Ifailed · 16/06/2021 06:48

there's a big difference between plumbing and Gas Safe work, any competent builder can do plumbing (and as PPs have pointed out, you can quickly learn how to do basic plumbing yourself).

If no gas work is involved, don't bother looking for a plumber.

cliffdonville · 16/06/2021 07:01

My DH charges £90 per hour for gas work + parts and £75 for plumbing + parts. A day rate is £450 + parts. That's average for round here - we are in London. Parts have gone up significantly recently, but we don't charge a mark up unlike others or VAT. Our closest competitor has the same hourly and day rate but adds VAT and marks up parts by 25%.

DH is fully booked until the end of August, people seem to be spending huge amounts on home improvements at the moment.

ODFOx · 16/06/2021 07:52

Thanks for all info.

OP posts:
New posts on this thread. Refresh page
Swipe left for the next trending thread