Plumber hourly rate UK
Typical day rate: the median of five UK directories, reviewed October 2026.
Work out your own hourly rateFree. No login.
One £270 day, three hourly rates
It depends which hours of the day you count as paid.
What directories print for a plumber an hour
5 named directories, read 3 October 2026. Theirs are customer prices; ours divides a day rate.
| CheckatradePage dated April 2026 | £40 to £60 |
| HaMuchPage dated 2026 | £26 to £63, average £42 |
| MyBuilderPage dated 21 August 2026 | £40 to £60 |
| MyJobQuotePage undated | £35 to £55 |
| CostEstimatorPage dated 2 September 2026 | £26 |
Together they run from £26 to £63 an hour. Our £45.00 at six paid hours sits inside that.
By experience, as MyBuilder prints it
| Apprentice | £15 to £25 an hour |
| Mid level plumber | £40 to £60 an hour |
| Plumber with more experience | £60 to £80 an hour |
Emergency and out of hours
| CheckatradePage dated March 2026 | Emergency call out £100 to £120 |
| HaMuchPage dated 2026 | Call out £75, up to £150 outside normal hours |
| MyBuilderPage dated 21 August 2026 | Call out £70 to £160 |
| MyJobQuotePage undated | Flat out of hours fee £120 to £200 |
Divide by eight and you lose £67.50 a day
Paid for six hours at the eight hour rate of £33.75: £202.50, not £270.
£13,500 a year short
Over 200 paid days.
Check your own paid hoursHalf a day is not half the cost
The day's running costs, £38.75, land whether you work two hours or six.
What a two hour callout leaves you
Hourly rate by town
Each bar is a town's modelled day rate over six paid hours. Dashed line: the typical rate.
All 31 towns
| Town | Per paid hour |
|---|---|
| London | £56.00 |
| Guildford | £53.00 |
| Oxford | £51.50 |
| Cambridge | £50.83 |
| Brighton | £49.33 |
| Bath | £47.67 |
| Reading | £47.33 |
| Bristol | £46.33 |
| Milton Keynes | £46.33 |
| Cheltenham | £45.50 |
| Edinburgh | £45.33 |
| York | £43.83 |
| Exeter | £43.67 |
| Portsmouth | £43.50 |
| Northampton | £43.17 |
| Southampton | £43.00 |
| Cardiff | £42.50 |
| Norwich | £42.50 |
| Manchester | £42.33 |
| Birmingham | £41.67 |
| Leeds | £41.50 |
| Coventry | £40.83 |
| Leicester | £40.83 |
| Glasgow | £40.67 |
| Sheffield | £40.50 |
| Derby | £39.50 |
| Liverpool | £39.33 |
| Newcastle | £39.00 |
| Nottingham | £39.00 |
| Stoke-on-Trent | £37.83 |
| Sunderland | £36.00 |
Your hourly rate, from your own day
Your day rate, your paid hours, your costs.
Work out your own hourly rateHow to work out your own hourly rate
How do I work out my hourly rate?
Divide your day rate by the hours you are actually paid for. £270 over six is £45.00.
What is the plumber hourly rate in London?
£56.00 an hour, from a modelled £336 day over six paid hours.
Where is the plumber hourly rate lowest?
Sunderland, at £36.00 an hour from a modelled £216 day.
What do UK directories say a plumber charges an hour?
5 named directories print figures from £26 to £63 an hour, read 3 October 2026. Theirs are customer prices; ours divides a day rate.
Should I quote customers by the hour?
Work the hour out for your own costing. Give the customer a price for the job.
Why six paid hours?
Travel, loading and the merchant run take the rest. The calculator lets you change it.
Typical day rate: the median of five UK directories, reviewed October 2026.
Town rates are modelled from them. Costs are the calculator's sample figures.