Customers ask for a number. You like a number because it wins the WhatsApp. Then the job grows and the number does not. Day rate feels awkward to say. It is often the honest product.
Criteria
| Question | Fixed | Day rate |
|---|---|---|
| Can you measure it from a visit or a drawing? | Yes | No |
| Do you control access, other trades, drying time? | Yes | No |
| Will they change their mind on site? | Risky | Fits |
| Is it stripping out, faults, or opening up? | Risky | Fits |
| Is it a repeatable install you have done ten times? | Fits | Optional |
Use this when
- Fixed price: new radiator on a known pipe run, hanging a door in a finished opening, a measured kitchen fit-off. You know the hours within a band you will stand behind.
- Day rate: first-fix when the carpenter is late, tracing a leak, refurb where every wall is a surprise, a customer who lives on site and “has ideas”.
A day rate is not eight hours of invoice for eight hours of presence. It is chargeable hours that day — often six on the tools after travel — times your true hourly rate. If the rate is £40 and you honestly charge six, the day is £240, not £320 of fiction and not £150 to “get in”.
| Day building block | Example |
|---|---|
| True hourly rate | £40 |
| Hours you can actually charge today | 6 |
| Day rate | £240 |
You can mix: day rate to open up, fixed price once you can see. Write the switch. Do not start “day rate” and silently freeze it when they ask what the total will be — that is a new quote.
What people miss
A cheap day to win the diary. If the day does not carry van, tax buffer, and unpaid quoting, you are buying the job.
Fixed price with no scope. “Decorate the lounge” is not a price. Walls, ceiling, woodwork, filling, number of coats — or it is a day-rate job in disguise.
They heard day rate as a cap. Say that days continue until the written scope is done, or agree a review after two days.
CIS and “cash days”. A day rate is still taxable work. Under CIS, know what is labour. Do not invent a cheaper day because someone asked for cash.
Related guides
FAQ
- Which one do customers prefer?
- A fixed number. Give it when you can stand behind it. When you cannot, a clear day rate beats a fake total.
- Can I charge a half day?
- Yes if a half day is actually half the chargeable hours plus travel. A “half day” that still costs a full van run should be a minimum call-out.
- Should materials sit inside the day rate?
- Usually no. Day rate is labour time. Materials are net plus wastage plus markup.
- What if I go faster on a fixed price?
- That is the point of a fixed price you measured. You keep the gain. They bought the job, not your clock.
