How to Price Electrical Jobs UK — The 2026 Pricing Guide

There are four main pricing methods used by UK electricians. Each has advantages and disadvantages, and most successful electricians use a combination depending on the type of work.

Day Rate

Charging a daily rate (typically £250-£450 per day in 2026 depending on region and experience) is simple and ensures you are paid for your time. Day rates work well for commercial work, ongoing contracts, and jobs where the scope is unclear upfront. However, domestic customers generally dislike day rates because they have no idea what the final bill will be. Day rates also penalise efficiency — the faster you work, the less you earn.

Fixed Price

Fixed-price quoting is the standard for domestic work and most one-off commercial jobs. You assess the job, calculate your costs (materials + labour + overheads + profit), and quote a single price for the complete job. The customer knows exactly what they will pay, which makes them more likely to accept the quote. The risk is yours — if the job takes longer than expected or you encounter unforeseen problems, you absorb the extra cost. This is why accurate estimation is critical.

Per-Point Pricing

Per-point pricing charges a fixed amount for each electrical point (socket, light, switch, spur). This is common for rewires and first-fix new builds. Typical per-point rates in 2026 are £80-£120 for a socket, £60-£100 for a light point, and £50-£80 for a switch — but these vary significantly by region and include the cable run back to the board. Per-point pricing is easy for both you and the customer to understand, but it can be unprofitable if cable runs are unusually long or access is difficult.

Cost-Plus

Cost-plus pricing (also called "time and materials" or "T&M") charges the customer for actual materials used plus your hourly rate plus an agreed markup or management fee. This works well for jobs where the scope genuinely cannot be determined in advance — fault finding, remedial work after a fire or flood, or complex commercial refurbishments. It removes your risk but requires careful record keeping and client trust. Always agree a budget ceiling with cost-plus work.

Most new electricians make the same mistake: they decide they want to earn £30-£40 per hour and use that as their rate. This ignores overheads, which are the real costs of running a business. Your hourly rate must cover everything, not just your take-home pay.

Here is how to calculate your true hourly rate:

Step 1: Calculate Your Annual Overheads

Add up every business cost for the year:

• Van (lease, insurance, fuel, maintenance, MOT): £6,000-£12,000
• Tools and equipment (replacement and calibration): £1,000-£3,000
• Insurance (public liability, professional indemnity, employers if applicable): £800-£2,000
• Competent person scheme registration (NAPIT, NICEIC, etc.): £400-£800
• Software and subscriptions (certification app, accounting, etc.): £500-£1,500
• Accountant fees: £500-£1,500
• Phone and data: £500-£800
• Workwear and PPE: £200-£500
• Training and CPD: £300-£1,000
• Marketing and website: £500-£2,000
• Office/storage costs: £0-£3,000

A typical sole trader electrician's annual overheads are £12,000-£25,000 per year.

Step 2: Calculate Your Available Billable Hours

You do not bill for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, 52 weeks a year. Subtract holidays (5-6 weeks), sickness (1-2 weeks), admin time (quoting, invoicing, purchasing, travelling between jobs), and quiet periods. A realistic figure for a busy sole trader is 1,200-1,500 billable hours per year.

Step 3: Do the Maths

(Target salary + Annual overheads + Tax and NI provision) / Billable hours = Required hourly rate.

Example: (£45,000 salary + £18,000 overheads + £12,000 tax/NI) / 1,400 hours = £53.57 per hour. That is your minimum rate — charge less and you are losing money.

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Material markup is not "ripping the customer off." It is compensation for your time and expertise in selecting the right materials, sourcing them from wholesalers, collecting or arranging delivery, storing them securely, and guaranteeing them as part of your installation warranty.

The standard material markup in the UK electrical trade is 15-25% on trade prices. If you buy a consumer unit for £200 trade, you charge the customer £230-£250. If you buy cable for £80, you charge £92-£100. Some electricians mark up higher on small sundries (screws, grommets, earth sleeving, cable clips) because the time spent sourcing these items is disproportionate to their cost.

There are two approaches to showing materials on a quote:

• Itemised — list every material with a price. Some customers appreciate the transparency, but it also invites price-checking and pushback. If the customer can buy the same consumer unit on Amazon for £20 less than your price, they will ask why.
• Bundled — quote a single price for the complete job including all materials. This is simpler and avoids material price negotiations. Most experienced electricians prefer this approach for domestic work.

Elec-Mate's AI Cost Engineer lets you choose either approach. The AI generates a full itemised breakdown with trade prices and your chosen markup for your records, and you decide whether the customer sees the itemised version or a bundled price.

These are typical prices for common electrical jobs across the UK in 2026. Prices vary significantly by region (London and the South East are typically 20-40% higher than the Midlands and North), complexity, property type, and access conditions.

These prices are guides only. Your prices should be based on your own hourly rate calculation, not on what others charge. If your overheads are higher (a new van on finance, for example), your prices need to be higher to maintain profitability.

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Writing a good quote is a sales skill. The cheapest quote does not always win — in fact, suspiciously cheap quotes often lose because the customer assumes you are cutting corners. Here is how to write quotes that win work at a profitable price:

• Respond quickly — the first electrician to quote often wins the job. Aim to quote within 24 hours of the site visit. AI cost estimation tools make same-day quoting realistic even for complex jobs.
• Be specific about scope — list exactly what is included and what is not. "Full rewire including 12 circuits, new 18th Edition consumer unit with SPD, all first and second fix, EIC and building control notification. Excludes making good of plaster and decoration." This prevents disputes later.
• Look professional — a branded PDF quote with your logo, company details, and clear formatting beats a text message or handwritten note. It signals professionalism and builds trust.
• Explain the value — do not just list what you will do; explain why. "We will install a Type 2 SPD (surge protection device) as required by BS 7671 Section 443 where a risk assessment identifies lightning or switching-transient risk, and strongly advisable for all domestic installations to protect electronics from voltage surges." Customers who understand the value are less likely to shop around on price.
• Include your credentials — list your competent person scheme registration, qualifications, and insurance on the quote. This differentiates you from unregistered "part-timers" who quote lower.
• Follow up — if you have not heard back within a week, send a polite follow-up. Many customers fully intend to accept your quote but simply forget to reply.

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Not every job is worth quoting. Knowing when to walk away from a job — or a customer — is an important business skill that many electricians learn the hard way. Walk away when:

• The customer is shopping purely on price — if the first and only question is "how much?", the customer will always pick the cheapest quote regardless of quality. You will be undercut by someone willing to work at a loss, and the customer will blame you if anything goes wrong anyway.
• The scope keeps changing — "while you are here, can you also..." is fine for small additions, but if the customer is constantly expanding the scope without accepting the additional cost, the job will be unprofitable.
• Access is unreasonable — a job that requires working in a filthy, infested, or structurally unsafe environment is not worth any price. Your health and safety is non-negotiable.
• The existing installation is dangerous — if you find a dangerous installation and the customer refuses to authorise the necessary remedial work, do not paper over it. Issue an at-risk notification and walk away.
• Payment history is poor — if a commercial client has a reputation for slow payment or non-payment, either insist on full payment upfront or decline the work. No amount of profit compensates for not being paid at all.

Clear payment terms protect your cash flow and set expectations with the customer. Standard payment terms for UK electrical work:

• Small jobs (under £500) — payment on completion is standard. Ask for payment before you leave site if possible. Offer card payment (a card reader or online payment link) as well as bank transfer to make it easy for the customer to pay immediately.
• Medium jobs (£500-£2,000) — take a 30-50% deposit before starting work, with the balance due on completion. The deposit covers your material costs and demonstrates the customer's commitment.
• Large jobs (over £2,000) — stage payments are standard. For a rewire, a typical structure is 30% deposit, 40% at first fix completion, and 30% on final completion. Never have more money invested in a job than you have been paid.
• Commercial work — 30-day payment terms are common but can create significant cash flow pressure. Negotiate 14-day terms if possible. Always issue invoices promptly — the payment clock starts when the invoice is received, not when the work is completed.

Always state your payment terms clearly on the quote. Include late payment charges (you are entitled to charge statutory interest of 8% plus the Bank of England base rate under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998) and make the consequences of non-payment clear.

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Most electricians know how much they charge but have no idea which jobs actually make money. A consumer unit change quoted at £800 that takes 3 hours and £250 in materials is far more profitable than a rewire quoted at £5,000 that takes 6 days and £1,800 in materials — even though the rewire has a higher turnover.

Tracking job profitability means recording actual costs (materials purchased, hours spent, travel costs) against each job and comparing them to the quoted price. Over time, this data reveals which job types are your most profitable, where you are consistently underquoting, and which customers generate the best margins.

Elec-Mate's Job Profitability Calculator tracks actual costs against quoted prices for every job, showing your true profit margin. The Cash Flow Planner forecasts incoming payments and outgoing costs so you can see potential cash flow gaps before they become crises. Combined with the quoting app and invoice builder, you have a complete financial management system built specifically for electrical contractors.

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