hourly rate for multitrader in Kent

[sakis]

hi, I am trying to work out my hourly rate as there are few months that I am part-time self-employed and I not sure that I am approaching it correctly. I am an experienced plumber, bathroom fitter, and handyman but not experienced on the costing system in the UK. My first question is should I have a different rate depends on the type of job (handyman vs plumbing) I do or to have a universal rate? How do I quote for a full bathroom refurbishment if I do everything myself? A different rate for the time I spend for the plumbing and different for the bathroom fitting, etc?

Moreover, what is a reasonable rate for Kent? I checked online plumbers charge from anything from £50-100/hour not sure about handymen. What is a reasonable price for the above trades in kent? Do you charge a different hourly rate if a job will take a couple of hours and different if it takes a couple of days? And the last question, if I am doing jobs in London should raise my rate to get closer to London prices?

 

[Brambles]

At the end of the day, you need to look at all jobs on a : Labour, plant, materials and overheads (van, phone, insurance, consumables, tool replacement), interest cost and contingency ( for the jobs that don’t go well

After a period of looking at jobs in that way, you will see what your composite rate is to break even, then add on your profit.

I cannot give you a definitive answer on rates, only you can determine that - but as a guide it is not unusual for sole traders to underestimate their overheads.

With respect to London, the costs that always hit us hard are parking charges and the additional time to go off and collect that forgotten or needed part from the local merchants.

Don’t undertake work at a loss - it is never appreciated, either by your partner or the customer

 

[Murdoch]

You won’t get much work trying to charge £100 per hour ......

 

[Scott_D]

Will anyone have a bathroom done on an hourly rate?

 

[OffshoreGas]

hi, I am trying to work out my hourly rate as there are few months that I am part-time self-employed and I not sure that I am approaching it correctly. I am an experienced plumber, bathroom fitter, and handyman but not experienced on the costing system in the UK. My first question is should I have a different rate depends on the type of job (handyman vs plumbing) I do or to have a universal rate? How do I quote for a full bathroom refurbishment if I do everything myself? A different rate for the time I spend for the plumbing and different for the bathroom fitting, etc?

Moreover, what is a reasonable rate for Kent? I checked online plumbers charge from anything from £50-100/hour not sure about handymen. What is a reasonable price for the above trades in kent? Do you charge a different hourly rate if a job will take a couple of hours and different if it takes a couple of days? And the last question, if I am doing jobs in London should raise my rate to get closer to London prices?

You won’t really know until you start quoting for work. You could get a ball park by contacting some local guys doing similar work. The clients you market yourself at has a massive impact on what you can charge.

As others have said I’d expect a bathroom to be a fixed price job. You obviously need an hourly rate to work out what that will be.

 

[king of pipes]

I work on a day rate for bathroom installs like you i do most of the work myself, recently i have had a few health issues so dropped it so i could work shorter days start later finish earlier obviously it took longer and my customer was understanding but i only made wages there wasnt much if any profit in it . Boiler repairs and gas work i charge a hourly rate , as a self employed person you really need to make £200+ a day this is not always achievable and may seem alot to some and not enough to others but you must remember theres alot of expenses to come out of that, work out whats achievable in your area and set your rate slightly above you can always come down pricing is a minefield if you get it wrong i only give estimates now and explain to customers my reasonings behind this it works for me and i am still in business for 9 years now . Good luck kop

 

[OffshoreGas]

A better option is normally to start out with what you actually want to earn. Then you need to work out what percentage of your time will be engaged in productive work. Taking in to account holidays, quoting, training, invoicing, travel between jobs, jobs cancelled at short notice you may only end up charging for 50 - 70% of your time. It costs me about £15/hr to employ a person, if you're on your own this might be a bit higher £20/hr, if your not doing gas it may be a bit lower.

Assume you want to make £40k, and manage to find productive work for 60% of the time:

£40K / (52 * 5 * 0.6) = £256/day or £32/hr (assuming 8hr day)

Add on your £20/hr for costs you need to charge £52/hr + VAT.

This covers costs and wages, realistically you need to be making a small profit to cover things like warranty claims, job over runs, accidental damage, van break downs, new tools etc.

£60/hr + VAT probably isn't a million miles off as a starting point, for big jobs where you know you'll have a couple of weeks of regular work you could choose to knock 30% off this rate.

 

[oz-plumber]

Work out a rate that you would be happy with.
Add 20% and see how you fare.

 

[Scott_D]

What is your rate now?

 

[SimonG]

In bathrooms, I plumb, I install, I plaster, I tile, I build stud walls, I do joinery, I do flooring.
I leave the electrics to the electrician.

A bathroom is an estimate.

Materials plus 30%
Labour. No of days i think it will take and generally add a day x daily rate.
Then i add a couple of hundred for stuff not covered in above normally referenced as the f!@$ factor on the spread sheet.

I take a deposit of the materials plus the 30% two weeks before starting.
An interim labour payment at the end of week 1 with the balance immediately on completion.

As most of the bathrooms I do take two weeks or just over, this system works for me.

But I dont value my time differently for different activities.