A practical 2026 pricing strategy guide for UK electrical contractors. Calculate your true hourly cost, set a fair-margin rate, decide between hourly / fixed / per-point, and defend your price against pressure. This guide is for electrical business owners setting their hourly rate, day rate and job pricing.
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Written and reviewed by Andrew Moore, founder of Elec-Mate, against BS 7671:2018+A4:2026, IET Guidance Note 3 and the IET On-Site Guide.
1,000+
UK electricians
“Replaced three separate apps with Elec-Mate. Certs, quotes, and scheduling all in one place.”
Daniel Palmer — DP Electrical
List every monthly cost: vehicle (£200-400 including fuel + insurance + depreciation), scheme fees (£40-50/month), insurance (£40-100/month), tools (£50-100/month average across the year), accountant (£50-150/month), training / CPD (£20-50/month), phone + internet (£30/month), pension (£200-400 ideally). Total typical: £700-1,300/month BEFORE you take any wages. Divide by chargeable hours (typically 30-35/week × 4 weeks = 120-140/month) to get your hourly floor.
Every key change in the 2026 amendment on one page. AFDDs, TN-C-S protection, new schedule columns, model forms. Pinned on your van dash.
A defensible 2026 charge-out rate for a UK self-employed electrician is £55-80/hour (excluding VAT). Below £55 you are subsidising the customer; above £80 you need either premium positioning (specialist work, exceptional reviews) or commercial / large-job pipeline. Most successful self-employed electricians charge £60-75/hour and bill 30-35 chargeable hours/week.
Fixed-price: standard work where you know the scope (EICR, CU swap, EV charger, rewire). Hourly: unknown scope (fault-finding, callouts, undefined remedial). Per-point: large jobs where complexity scales with outlet count (rewires, commercial fit-out). NEVER quote hourly for known-scope work — customers will haggle the hours; you absorb the variance.
A "point" is one outlet, switch, light fitting or accessory — anything you terminate. Industry standard UK rate 2026: £35-60 per point depending on region and complexity. A typical 3-bed rewire with 50-65 points = £1,750-3,900 labour + materials. Per-point quoting protects you from scope creep ("can you also add a socket here?") because every added point is priced.
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Day rate (£250-340/day for self-employed Approved Electrician) only works for sub-contract work where another contractor manages the customer relationship and absorbs scope risk. NEVER quote day rate to a homeowner — you absorb all the risk, the customer pays the cheapest day-rate, you lose money. Day rate sub-contract is fine as a way to fill quiet weeks; not as the basis of your business.
When customers haggle, the answer is not to discount. The answer is to explain what they’re paying for: scheme membership, insurance, calibrated test kit, certificate liability, BS 7671 compliance, warranty. "I’m the cheapest because…" is always a red flag for the customer — explain why your price is what it is, not why it should be lower. If they walk on price, they were never your customer.
Elec-Mate is built for UK electrical contractors — sole-traders through to multi-electrician firms. The Business AI tier gives you AI-powered quoting, certification, customer management, and team workflow. The Employer tier adds apprentice management, OJT tracking and JIB grading workflows.
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A focused action plan based on the guide above.
Get familiar with every section before acting. Skim first, then read carefully — the details matter.
Most readers will have one specific area to act on first (registration, insurance, hiring, pricing). Pick one and focus there.
Inertia is the biggest barrier. Whether it’s phoning your accountant, getting an insurance quote, or applying to a scheme — do one concrete thing this week.
Elec-Mate’s business dashboard lets you track scheme status, insurance renewal dates, apprentice progress, and quoting performance — all in one place.
Most business operations decisions need a 90-day review. Did the action work? Adjust and try the next thing.
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