Day rate vs price work: which makes more as a UK tradesman
Every tradesperson eventually asks it: am I better off on a day rate, or pricing the job? The lad on £220 a day feels safe. The one pricing work reckons he's leaving money on the table. Both can be right — it depends on the job, and on how fast you work.
Here's the honest breakdown of which makes more, and when.
The two ways to get paid
- Day rate: you charge for your time — £X a day, however long the job takes. The customer (or main contractor) carries the risk of it running over.
- Price work: you agree a fixed price for the finished job. You carry the risk. Finish early and the effective day rate rockets; run over and it tanks.
That single line — who carries the risk of overrun — is the whole decision.
Day rate: when it wins
Day rate suits you when the job is unpredictable or you can't see the end of it.
Good for:
- Jobs with unknowns — old properties, "just start pulling it apart and see."
- Working for another trade or a main contractor as extra pairs of hands.
- Snagging, maintenance, remedial work where scope is vague.
- When you're new and don't yet trust your own time estimates.
The catch: your income is capped at hours in the day. You can't earn more than your rate times the days, no matter how sharp you are. And there's a ceiling on the rate itself — push it too high and the customer starts watching the clock.
Price work: when it wins
Price work rewards speed and experience. If you can do a bathroom in six days that a slower fitter takes nine, price work pays you for that skill; day rate doesn't.
Good for:
- Well-defined jobs you've done a hundred times and can time accurately.
- Anything where you're faster than average — you keep the upside.
- Domestic customers, who almost always want a fixed price anyway.
The catch: you eat every overrun. Under-price or hit a nasty surprise and you're working for nothing. This is why pricing the job properly — with a contingency and a clear scope — matters so much on price work.
A worked example
Take a standard bathroom refit. Say your honest day rate is £250.
| Day rate | Price work | |
|---|---|---|
| Job priced at | — | 7 days × £250 = £1,750 labour |
| You finish in 6 days | 6 × £250 = £1,500 | £1,750 (you keep the extra day) |
| You finish in 7 days | 7 × £250 = £1,750 | £1,750 (level) |
| You finish in 9 days (soil pipe nightmare) | 9 × £250 = £2,250 | £1,750 (you eat 2 days) |
On the fast job, price work pays £250 more for the same work. On the disaster job, day rate pays £500 more. Price work is a bet on your own speed and your ability to price in the surprises.
So which makes more?
- If you're fast, experienced, and price with a proper contingency: price work makes more. You get paid for skill and speed, and domestic customers prefer it anyway.
- If the job is genuinely unpredictable, or you're still learning your timings: day rate makes more — because it protects you from the overrun you can't yet see coming.
Most established sole traders end up mostly price work with a day rate in their back pocket for the vague stuff.
The hybrid: price the job, protect the unknowns
You don't have to pick one for the whole job. The strongest position on a domestic refit:
- Fixed price for everything you can see and scope.
- Provisional sum or day rate for the specific unknown you can't ("if the concealed pipework's shot, that's charged at £250/day plus materials").
The customer gets the fixed price they want on the bulk of it; you don't gamble on the one thing you can't survey. Spell out both on the quote so there's no argument later.
Know your real day rate first
Whichever route, it all rests on knowing your true day rate — the one that covers your van, tools, insurance, pension, holidays, sick days, and the unpaid hours quoting at 9pm. Most people set it too low because they only count the days they're on the tools, not the days they're not.
Work that number out honestly, because it's the floor under every price-work quote too. If you're just starting out and haven't set it yet, the first 90 days guide walks through pricing yourself properly.
Whether you price by the job or the day, QuoteSnap turns your numbers into a clean, branded quote in about a minute — so the fast quote that wins the work takes minutes, not your evening. Try it free for 14 days.