How much will it cost for a tradesperson in my home?

When it comes to renovating, repair or installation projects in your home it can be an exciting time thinking about the end result (a new modern kitchen, equipped with latest gadgets or an extra room from a loft extension) but the end result may seem far off in the distance with having to get through  the stressful part first of choosing a tradesperson you can trust and living through the chaos of your  house turned upside down while the building or decorating work is going on, even if it is a small one day project (install a new combi boiler) as opposed to a week-long project (paint the interior of your home). HaMuch has put together information to consider when weighing up your project and finding the right tradesperson to suit your budget.

Managing money and getting off on the right foot with your tradesperson

At the start of your search for a tradesperson to complete your home project, consider which trade that project will be best suited for, e.g., a new boiler = heating engineer, replacing an old toilet = plumber, updating the fuse board and wires = electrician. Once you are aware of which trade to contact, rule of thumb is to get at least 3 different quotes from 3 different tradespeople quoting up for the same job so that you can compare their price, experience and skill set.

Different trades have different guidelines and sets of pricing. Cleaners and car mechanics will quote for a service rather than an hourly or daily rate, e.g., a car MOT with an annual service is a set standard price and so is the cleaning of a 2 bed house, they would not need to have a pre-inspection but rather might question you over the phone, which will determine the end cost, e.g., car service will be dependent on make / model of car and mileage and the cleaning quote will be dependent on amount of floors and bedrooms.

Trades that are arriving and unsure how long a job may take to solve the crisis, e.g., a plumber being called out for a water leak, will have an hourly charge that they adhere to, and sometimes this may even include a minimum number of hours to be charged. Trades that do quick small jobs as well as longer jobs taking a day or more, will cap their hourly rate at a more affordable day rate, this might include a painter and decorator who can charge a few hours to remove wallpaper or daily rates to decorate a room or the entire inside of a house. Tradespeople that need to come through and inspect before they can give a quote, may or may not charge a call-out fee, so do always ask and found out before committing to them. Builders doing loft work might pop by when they in the area and have a look around and chat with you to find out details about the project you are wanting and what kind of materials you would like them to use, they do not normally charge a call-out fee for this, but an electrician coming to inspect and make a property safe before leaving would charge a call-out fee if they cannot fix the issue but rather have to return after seeing which parts are needed for the job. Any tradesperson coming to inspect during an emergency situation, even if they cannot repair the issue immediately, they would leave it safe for you (this may mean shutting a boiler off and leaving you with no heat or hot water but at least not leaving your life in danger with a gas leak) before they can return with the parts needed.

Emergency callouts, do incur higher costs because it involves getting to you on short notice and may include out of office hours, weekends, so it is not unusual for a trade such as a locksmith to have two sets of pricing for non-emergency planned lock changes or emergency work when you are locked out a property or vehicle or making a home safe after an attempted break-in.

Whatever the price quoted, the quote will often show a cost for labour and a separate cost of materials. The materials price can be flexible when there is a choice on what to use.  A builder may quote for bricks and concrete to build a garden wall which is standard pricing but having the same builder quote to build a driveway, the price can fluctuate depending on whether the drive is tarred, bricked, pebbled…

When studying the quote received, check whether VAT has been added on, you might not expect a cleaner to be VAT registered but if the cleaner is part of a bigger cleaning company they very well may be.

Quotes should always be given to you in writing via post or email, especially for large projects. A car mechanic might be transparent with pricing and have the costs of their services on their website with various extra service costs, so they might only give you a verbal quote over the phone, when you are booking in your car, with them re-iterating whatever is mentioned on the website but again it is best practise for you to double check the price to avoid any conflict at the time of paying.

When discussing pricing, it is a good idea to discuss expected payment terms and extras such as skip or scaffolding hire and parking charges if you do not have free parking in your area.

Certain projects where the tradesperson is buying the materials may require upfront deposits to cover the tradesperson for the materials they are outlaying (e.g. when having a new boiler fitted), smaller jobs (e.g. changing a door lock) will bill you at the end for the total of materials and labour and large jobs, stretching over weeks to complete (e.g., building work or painting and decorating work) might expect payment at set completion goals (e.g., re-doing a bathroom, payment might be split into 3 parts – part payment end of first week when the bathroom and all the tiles have been stripped, 2^nd payment after the 2^nd week with new tiles in place and 3^rd payment at the end on completion of the new bathroom). If you do not feel comfortable with any payment term you have been asked, you must speak up and try to compromise. Always have a record for any payment that has past hands.

Discuss payment that they will accept, cheques, cash, machines able to take card payment or BACS payment. Small hourly jobs, e.g., gardener coming to mow the lawn, might prefer cash and therefore if you have discussed this before booking a date in with the tradesperson, you will be aware to have the cash in place ready for them. Also, to cover you from any surprises, ask what their no-show cancellation policy is. Explain that it is not that you are planning on messing them around but as life sometimes can be unexpected you want to be ready for any scenario.

Once you have found a tradesperson you feel confident to employ (this can be based on their experience and skillset as well as a personality match especially if they will be in your space for days or weeks) then your final check should be to try and get references. Big expensive projects should come with previous client references and you can also Google them to find out what other people have to say about working with the tradesperson of your choice.

Defining the quality and detail of the job

Before having contacted tradespeople, it is in your best interest to first have googled similar projects to yours to learn what is involved in the project, and to arm yourself on what would be the best materials to choose. Replacing your boiler is a good time to look at your current space and give yourself more storage by replacing a hot water cylinder conventional boiler with a combi boiler and reclaiming a hallway cupboard and then there is the decision on what make of boiler to choose from as such a wide range offering different warranties.

For building or painting and decorating work mostly, discuss with the tradesperson about snagging lists and how long you have to get back to them regarding cracks and settlement. Any work involving parts, discuss who the part would be guaranteed with and who your go-to point of complaint would be with.

Discuss with the tradesperson how you would like the end result of the project and how you envision it to look, giving as much details as possible (e.g., if it’s a cleaner, discuss if you want your windows cleaned fortnightly with the house dusted and hoovered or a load of washing washed and dried before they leave for the day). Despite having your own thoughts on the end result, do be led by the tradesperson and their expertise, being flexible to listen to any advice they give you and take onboard feedback especially regarding materials e.g., if you wanted your tiling project with porcelain tiles but they tell you to only use porcelain or ceramic on the walls and stick to Vitrified tiles for the floor, be open to hearing why as do not forget this is their speciality, not yours and at the end of the day it is in the tradespersons best interest to make sure you are happy with the project with no go-backs for work needing to be remedied.

Once you have both discussed how the project should proceed and what materials would be best, discuss who will be sourcing the materials. A painter and decorator might be able to get trade rates for paint and have your fancy Farrow & Ball paint colour mixed and matched with a trade paint for a better price, while a plumber might put a mark-up on the fixtures and fittings, they are collecting to cover them for their time going to the plumbers merchant, so you might prefer to find out what to order from them and get it yourself having it ready and waiting for them on the day of the job. If ever you are sourcing the materials yourself, be sure to have asked the tradesperson the sizes that you would need.

Rough guide for how much basic trade work in your home costs;