Electrician day rate and hourly rate UK: 2026 guide

A self-employed electrician in the UK typically charges £300 to £500 a day, or £40 to £70 an hour, according to Checkatrade's cost table last updated in October 2026. London and the South East sit higher. Those are what homeowners pay, not what you should charge: your own rate comes from your costs, your tax and the days you can bill.

Below are the published ranges by source and region, the JIB rates for employed electricians, and a worked example for a domestic electrician with a van, NICEIC certification and a calibrated tester. Rates and fees were checked on 1 November 2026.

Key Takeaways

• Checkatrade puts UK electricians at £300 to £500 a day and £40 to £70 an hour (October 2026); Fantastic Services gives £300 to £450 a day for London and the South East.
• The JIB rate for an employed Approved Electrician is £20.08 an hour at its national rate and £22.48 in London from 5 January 2026, with the employer paying for the van, tools and quiet days.
• A sole trader in England, Wales or Northern Ireland who wants £38,000 take-home, with £13,340 of costs over 200 billable days, needs about £301 a day, or £37.67 an hour, in 2026/27.
• NICEIC's Domestic Installer certification costs £690 a year (inc VAT) from the second year on: count it, with calibration and insurance, in your costs.
• Quote most jobs as a fixed price built from your day rate, and add materials and any VAT on top.

What electricians charge in 2026

Published day rates for UK electricians cluster between about £300 and £500, with hourly rates of £40 to £70. The figures below come from consumer cost guides, which describe what homeowners pay, plus one training provider's survey of electricians.

The sources measure different things. Housekeep's hourly rates include VAT, so £50 inc VAT is about £41.67 before VAT, and Logic4training asked electricians rather than customers. Treat each row as a range to compare against, not a price to copy.

Regional differences

London costs more. Fantastic Services puts a London and South East day at £300 to £450 against £220 to £400 elsewhere, and Housekeep says London prices usually top out about 20 to 25% above the rest of the UK. The JIB's London rate for an Approved Electrician is about 12% above its national rate. None of these sources splits out other regions, so check local electricians' websites too.

Domestic and commercial work

The ranges above are for domestic work priced to homeowners. On commercial and industrial sites, contractors employ electricians at JIB grades or take on self-employed electricians as labour-only subcontractors at a day rate agreed with the contractor. We found no dated public source for subcontract day rates, so the JIB rates below are the benchmark for that side of the industry.

JIB rates for employed electricians

The Joint Industry Board (JIB) sets hourly rates for electricians employed by its member firms. Its 2026 to 2028 determination sets these rates from Monday 5 January 2026 (JIB Industrial Determination, June 2025):

The JIB's rates don't apply in Scotland, where the Scottish Joint Industry Board (SJIB) regulates wages in the industry and publishes its own rates, also from 5 January 2026.

These are gross hourly wages for employees, not prices to customers. The employer pays for the van, tools, insurance, scheme fees, holiday pay and the days with no work. A self-employed electrician pays all of that from the day rate, which is why a sustainable self-employed hourly rate is nearly double the JIB figure in the worked example below.

How to work out your own electrician day rate

Your day rate is your take-home target plus your business costs plus tax and National Insurance, divided by the days you can bill. The day rate guide and calculator explains each step; here it is with an electrician's costs.

A worked example

These are assumed figures for a sole trader in England doing domestic work, at 2026/27 tax rates:

1. Take-home target: £38,000.
2. Business costs: £13,340 a year, listed below.
3. Tax and National Insurance: £8,935, using the income tax bands for England, Wales and Northern Ireland (the calculator also handles Scotland's). A profit of £46,935 pays £6,873 income tax and £2,062 Class 4 National Insurance, which leaves £38,000 (income tax rates and self-employed National Insurance rates on GOV.UK).
4. Turnover needed: £38,000 + £13,340 + £8,935 = £60,275.
5. Billable days: 200, after holiday, bank holidays, sickness, quoting, admin and travel.
6. Day rate: £60,275 ÷ 200 = £301.38. Round up to £305.
7. Hourly equivalent: £301.38 ÷ 8 = £37.67.

The costs are illustrative except NICEIC certification. Replace each line with your own from the last twelve months of bank statements.

Costs electricians tend to miss

Scheme fees. In England, joining a competent person scheme lets you self-certify notifiable electrical work in homes instead of getting building regulations approval for each job. NAPIT and Certsure, which runs NICEIC, are on GOV.UK's list of competent person schemes. Compare NAPIT's current fees before you choose.

NICEIC certification under its Domestic Installer scheme, aimed at Part P domestic work, costs (NICEIC Domestic Installer scheme, fees for 2026/27):

• First year: £695 (£834 inc VAT), including the application fee.
• Each later year: £575 (£690 inc VAT) by single direct debit.
• Notifying a job: £4.80 inc VAT per installation through its online system.

VAT on your costs. If you aren't VAT registered, you can't reclaim the VAT on fees, tools and calibration, so count them at the VAT-inclusive price, as the table does.

Calibration and test kit. A multifunction tester needs regular calibration, and leads and probes wear out. The £150 above is an assumption; ask your calibration lab for a price.

Two checks on the result

Dividing by 260 days gives £231.83 a day. Billed over the 200 days you'll actually work, that rate brings in £46,366, about £13,910 short of the £60,275 the business needs.

Against the market, £305 a day sits at the bottom of Checkatrade's £300 to £500 range and inside Fantastic Services' £220 to £400 outside London. A result well below your area's range suggests room to charge more; one well above means checking your costs and billable days first.

Day rate, hourly rate or a fixed quote?

Use the day rate to build prices, but quote most domestic jobs as a fixed price. Customers compare quotes on the total, and a fixed price keeps your working out of sight.

• Small jobs and fault-finding: an hourly rate with a minimum charge, so a 40-minute visit still pays for the travel. Fantastic Services lists call-outs of £60 to £120 including the first hour outside London, and £90 to £150 in London and the South East.
• Rewires, consumer unit changes and extensions: a fixed price from your labour days × day rate, plus materials with your margin.
• Commercial subcontract work: a day rate agreed with the contractor, under the Construction Industry Scheme. Contractors deduct 20% if you're registered, 30% if you're not, and nothing if you have gross payment status. The deduction comes off the payment after VAT and the materials you bought yourself are taken out (GOV.UK's guide for CIS contractors).

A three-day consumer unit change and partial rewire for the worked example comes to 3 × £305 = £915 labour, plus materials. If you're VAT registered, add VAT at the bottom. The worked example's £60,275 turnover is under the £90,000 VAT registration threshold (Register for VAT on GOV.UK), so it adds none. For the full layout, use the free job quote template for Word and Excel, and see how to quote a job step by step.

Frequently asked questions

How much does an electrician charge per hour in the UK?

Checkatrade gives £40 to £70 an hour (October 2026), and Fantastic Services gives £40 to £60 outside London and £55 to £75 in London and the South East. Emergency and out-of-hours work costs more: Housekeep gives £80 to £110 an hour inc VAT for an emergency electrician (October 2026), and Fantastic Services says evening, weekend and bank holiday call-outs can cost up to double the standard hourly rate plus a call-out fee.

What is the JIB rate for an Approved Electrician in 2026?

From 5 January 2026, £20.08 an hour at the JIB's national rate with transport provided, £21.19 with your own transport, and £22.48 and £23.73 in London (JIB Industrial Determination). These are employee wages, not self-employed rates.

Is £300 a day good for an electrician?

It sits at the bottom of Checkatrade's range. In the worked example it falls just short: £300 over 200 days brings in £60,000, against £60,275 needed. With lower costs or more billable days it would be enough.

Set your rate, then quote from it

Published ranges tell you what customers expect; your costs, tax and billable days tell you what you need. Run your own figures through the day rate calculator, put scheme fees and calibration in your costs, and re-check each April when tax rates and scheme fees change.

We make ChatQuote. It puts an assistant on your website that asks enquirers the questions you'd ask and drafts an itemised quote from your own rates for you to review. See how it works for electricians.

Day rates for other trades: plumbers and painters and decorators.

About this guide

Written by the ChatQuote team at CodeLeap Ltd, the company that makes ChatQuote. JIB rates, NICEIC fees, tax rates and the cost guides above were checked on 1 November 2026. Spotted something out of date? Email support@chatquote.app.