# Plumbing & heating – what to charge in 2026 (UK)
This guide is for UK plumbers and heating engineers (not gas‑only) working mostly in domestic work. It gives realistic 2026 day rates, common job prices, and how other plumbers handle materials and margins.
Quick rule of thumb: in 2026, most competent self‑employed plumbers outside London sit somewhere around £250–£350/day, higher in London and on specialist work.
1. Day rates – 2026
These are labour‑only bands, pre‑VAT, based on current 2026 UK cost guides and rate round‑ups.
Newly qualified / first year self‑employed
You're slower and still building a customer base, but you still need a proper rate.
- London & South East: £220–£260/day
- Midlands: £180–£220/day
- North of England: £170–£210/day
- Scotland / Wales / rural: £160–£210/day
Experienced (around 3–5 years running your own work)
Regular domestic work, repeat customers, more efficient.
- London & South East: £280–£350/day
- Midlands: £230–£280/day
- North of England: £220–£270/day
- Scotland / Wales / rural: £210–£260/day
Highly experienced / specialist
High‑end bathrooms, complex systems, fault‑finding, strong reputation.
- London & South East: £350–£450+/day
- Midlands: £280–£350/day
- North of England: £260–£330/day
- Scotland / Wales / rural: £250–£320/day
Checkatrade's 2026 plumber guide puts typical day rates around £350/day, with many plumbers between £300 and £400/day depending on area. These ranges sit squarely in that.
2. Common plumbing jobs and what they usually cost (2026)
Typical domestic prices in 2026 including labour and standard materials (unless noted).
Leak repair / small fix
- Typical price: £75–£150 for a simple local leak fix.
- Includes: Call‑out, finding the leak, small repair (washer, joint, short pipe), testing.
- Price goes up if: Access is awkward (under floors, boxed in), more pipe needs replacing, ceilings need opening, or it's out‑of‑hours.
Unblock toilet / sink / basic internal blockage
- Typical price: £75–£150.
- Includes: Attendance, manual rodding, clearing straightforward blockages, basic seals.
- Price goes up if: Jetting or camera survey needed, multiple runs blocked, roof/loft access needed.
Fit a new radiator on existing system
- Typical price: £150–£180 labour per radiator, plus cost of rad and valves.
- Includes: Hanging, connecting to existing pipework, bleeding, basic balancing.
- Price goes up if: New pipe runs, moving rad to a different wall/room, lifting and refitting floors.
Replace hot water cylinder (vented like‑for‑like)
- Typical price: £360–£450 labour, cylinder extra.
- Includes: Drain down, removal, install new cylinder, reconnect, lagging, testing.
- Price goes up if: Tight airing cupboard, rotten old fittings, extra valves or re‑pipe needed.
Bathroom plumbing (customer supplies suite)
- Typical price: £2,700–£4,000 for plumbing first fix and second fix.
- Includes: Hot/cold feeds, wastes, first fix, second fix to bath/shower/basin/WC, testing. No tiling or decorating.
- Price goes up if: Full re‑pipe, moving soil stack, floor strengthening, tricky access (flats, narrow stairs), high‑end spec.
Ensuite plumbing
- Typical price: £2,400–£3,000.
- Includes: Hot/cold and waste runs, first and second fix to shower, basin, WC.
- Price goes up if: Long runs back to soil stack, pumps needed, structural work for trays.
Full‑house plumbing (new build / full refurb)
From Checkatrade's 2026 plumbing installation guide:
- 2‑bed house: £13,000–£16,000
- 3‑bed house: £17,000–£21,000
- 4‑bed house: £19,000–£24,000
Usually includes: Hot and cold pipework, wastes, all bathroom/ensuite/cloakroom feeds and wastes, kitchen/utility feeds. Sanitaryware may be supplied by client or plumber depending on agreement.
Price goes up if: Multiple bathrooms, complex layouts, high‑end fittings, awkward plant locations.
Cloakroom WC install (customer supplies suite)
- Typical price: £1,200–£1,800.
- Includes: New feeds, waste, fitting WC and basin, testing.
- Price goes up if: Far from existing soil, need for macerator, breaking through thick walls or floors.
Hourly work / general call‑outs
- Non‑emergency: £40–£60 per hour, usually with a minimum first hour.
- Emergency / out‑of‑hours: £75–£150 per hour, often with a £100–£120 call‑out fee on top.
These are the numbers homeowners are seeing when they Google "plumber cost 2026", so you're not sending them into a different universe.
3. What plumbers actually earn (2026 picture)
ONS gives you the employee baseline; trade data fills in the self‑employed reality.
- ONS ASHE data for "Plumbers and heating and ventilating engineers" shows median employee earnings in the low‑to‑mid £30,000s per year.
- Self‑employed plumbers in 2026: A busy one‑person plumber charging realistic day rates will often aim for personal drawings of around £45,000–£60,000 per year before tax.
Whether you actually hit that depends on:
- Your true day rate vs your costs (see 14.2)
- How many days you realistically bill
- How much gets chewed up by under‑quoted jobs and late payments
If you're sat at £200/day with no deposits and slow payers, you will not see £60k, no matter how hard you graft.
4. What's usually NOT included in plumbing quotes
These are the classic "I thought that was included" items. Call them out in your quotes.
Making good and decorating Replastering, skimming, repainting, retiling after chases or moved pipes. Unless your quote says otherwise, assume it's not included.
Waste and disposal Skips, tipping fees, bulk removal of old suites, cylinders, boilers and rads. Minor waste may be built in; big/heavy items should be a separate line.
Electrical work Boiler wiring, new fused spurs, extra sockets, wiring controls and pumps. Usually a separate electrician unless you're qualified to do both.
Upgrades you're forced to do by regs Main bonding upgrades, extra isolation, filters/scale protection, rectifying dangerous existing work. Often priced as extras once you've seen the system.
Permissions and third‑party costs Building Control fees, scaffold, specialist roof access for flues, parking permits in cities.
These live nicely in your standard "What's not included (unless we've written it into the quote)" box.
5. Day rate vs fixed price vs price work
Domestic plumbing (what most readers care about)
Most domestic plumbing in 2026 is fixed price per job: bathrooms, ensuites, cylinder swaps, system installs, small repairs.
You may build that number off a day rate in your own head, but the customer sees a single figure.
Day‑rate work is mainly for:
- Fault‑finding
- Open‑ended remedial jobs
- Very small, "bitty" tasks where quoting every tiny job would waste more time than you save.
Site and commercial plumbing
On larger jobs/new‑builds you'll see more:
- Day rates for site labour, snagging, supervision.
- Price work per fixture, per radiator, per metre of pipe, or per plot, with rates agreed up front.
Simple line: domestic plumbing = mostly fixed price, with day rate and price work more common on site and commercial packages.
6. Materials and markup for plumbers (2026)
This is where a lot of plumbers either quietly survive or quietly go under.
- On everyday plumbing/heating materials (pipe, fittings, clips, sealants, consumables), markups around 10–20% on your cost are very common.
- On big‑ticket and high‑risk kit (boilers, cylinders, specialist valves, pumps), markups closer to 20–30% are normal, especially when you're handling warranty, ordering, storage and delivery.
- With a decent trade account in 2026, you're often buying at 10–20% below the shelf price a DIY customer would pay at a merchants or shed, sometimes more on volume lines.
Plain‑English way to explain it to a customer:
"I put a small margin on materials to cover the time and risk of sourcing, collecting and dealing with any problems. You still benefit from my trade discounts – you'd usually pay more walking in off the street."
What to do next
- Read: 14.2 – How to price your first job without underselling yourself
- Read: 14.8 – Materials: who supplies, who pays, where's the margin?
- Read: 14.3 – When to raise your prices
- Download: Payment schedule and deposit terms template
- Use: Late Payment Calculator – to see what slow payers are really costing you over a year
Sources (UK, 2026‑relevant)
- ONS – Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) "Plumbers and heating and ventilating engineers" – employee earnings baseline.
- Checkatrade – 2026 "Plumber Costs", "Plumbing installation costs", "Plumber call‑out charges", and "How much do tradespeople cost?" – day rates and job cost ranges.
- Independent plumber rate pages and trade articles – typical 2026 day‑rate aims and earnings for self‑employed plumbers.
- Self‑build and merchant guides – trade vs retail pricing and discounts at builders' merchants.
- Contractor pricing resources – common materials markup ranges in residential construction.
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