The customer and the job
Running Jobs and Working for Yourself · Plumbing
A fair price starts with your costs and ends with clear paperwork. Here's how to work out a plumbing price, when to quote or estimate, how VAT and cancellation rights work, and how to handle a complaint.
A good first call starts with safety. For a leak the stop tap goes off and nobody touches wet electrics. For a smell of gas the caller rings the gas emergency line for their nation (Great Britain: 0800 111 999; Northern Ireland: 0800 002 001), not a plumber.
A quote fixes the price for the work described, while an estimate is a best guess. Either way, a price is materials plus labour with a mark-up for overheads and profit, and any change is agreed before work carries on. Tax and VAT depend on the business, so HMRC's guidance is the place to check.
In England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland alike, the Consumer Rights Act 2015 expects a service to be carried out with reasonable care and skill, and the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 add cancellation rights for deals agreed in the home. Most complaints settle when the trader listens, checks and fixes what fell short.
Reviewed
Say what you will do, and what it will cost
Write down what a job includes and leaves out, say whether a price is a quote or an estimate, and agree any change before carrying on. Clear paperwork prevents most disputes and settles many of the rest.
How do you price a plumbing job?
Add up your costs, then add what the business needs on top. Materials are what you'll buy for the job. Labour is the hours multiplied by your hourly rate. Those two give you the cost. A mark-up on that cost pays for overheads, such as the van, tools and insurance, and leaves a profit. Say a job takes 3 hours at £40 an hour, with £120 of materials. The cost is £240, a 25% mark-up adds £60, and the price is £300 before any VAT. Those numbers show the sum, not a going rate.
Mark-up vs margin: what's the difference?
Mark-up is a percentage of the cost. Margin is a percentage of the final price. On a £500 cost, a 20% mark-up gives a £600 price, while a 20% margin gives £625, because £125 is 20% of £625. Neither is wrong, but mixing them up means charging less than you meant to, so be sure which one you're using.
Quote vs estimate: what's the difference?
A quote is a fixed price for the work you've described. Once the customer accepts it, you stick to that price, even if the job takes longer than you expected. An estimate is an educated guess that may change. nibusinessinfo.co.uk suggests an estimate if you think the work could grow, or a quote that spells out what it covers and what would cost extra. It also suggests giving several estimates, including the worst case, so the final bill isn't a surprise. Either way, say clearly which one you're giving.
What should a written plumbing quote include?
Put it in writing, with a breakdown. Include your business name and contact details, the work you'll do, what's left out, the total price with any VAT, what could change it, when you'll do the work, when payment is due and the date the quote runs out.
Call-out fees and hourly rates: what must you tell customers?
Under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, an invitation to purchase has to give the total price, including fees and taxes the customer can't avoid. If that can't be worked out in advance, it has to show how the price will be calculated, such as an hourly rate plus materials. The Competition and Markets Authority's guidance says adding mandatory charges after a headline price, known as drip pricing, is prohibited. So a call-out fee everyone pays isn't something to mention at the end.
What if the job changes halfway through?
Stop and tell the customer before you carry on. Show them what you've found, explain the options and agree the new price in writing, even if that's just a text or an email. A quote covers the work you described, so different work needs a fresh agreement. If you gave an estimate, the price can change, but they should hear it as soon as you know, not when they see the final bill.
Do you have to charge VAT on plumbing work?
Only if your business is VAT registered. GOV.UK says you must register once your taxable turnover for the last 12 months goes over £90,000, or if you expect it to go over that in the next 30 days. You can choose to register below that. The standard rate is 20%, and the price you give a consumer should include it, so don't add it on after they've agreed. HMRC's Notice 708/6 zero-rates installing certain energy-saving materials in homes until 31 March 2027, then it goes to 5%. Work done alongside other jobs has its own rules, so read it first.
Can a customer cancel a plumbing job?
Sometimes. The Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 give a right to cancel a contract agreed away from your business premises, such as at the customer's kitchen table. For a service, the period normally ends 14 days after the day the contract is made. Before they're bound, you give them the required information on paper, or another lasting form if they agree, and a cancellation form. The information rules don't cover deals of £42 or less. If you never give the cancellation information, the period runs on for up to 12 months.
Can you start work during the cancellation period?
Only if the customer asks you to, and for a deal agreed in their home, that request has to be on paper or in another lasting form, such as an email. If they then cancel, they pay in proportion to what's been done. If they didn't ask, or you didn't give them the information, they pay nothing for that work. A visit they specifically asked for to carry out urgent repairs or maintenance carries no cancellation right, though extra services you sell on that visit can.
What does the law expect of your work?
The Consumer Rights Act 2015 says a service must be done with reasonable care and skill. If no price was fixed, the customer pays a reasonable price and no more. If no time was fixed, the work has to be done within a reasonable time. What's reasonable depends on the facts, so agree both up front.
How to handle a customer complaint
Listen, go and look if you can, and write down what they say and what you see. If the work fell short, the customer can ask you to do it again at your cost, within a reasonable time and without significant inconvenience. If that's impossible, or you don't do it in time, they can ask for a price reduction, which can be the full price. If you don't think you're at fault, say why, calmly and in writing, and show what you checked. Citizens Advice runs a consumer service, with separate advice for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and it can pass complaints to Trading Standards. Court is a last step, and GOV.UK notes Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own process.
The customer and the job: common questions
- Does consumer law apply to a small plumbing job?
- Yes. The Consumer Rights Act 2015 covers services a trader provides to a consumer, whatever their size, in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The work must be done with reasonable care and skill, and if it falls short the customer can ask for it to be put right. This is a summary, not legal advice.
- Is a verbal quote binding?
- It can be. The Consumer Rights Act treats what you say as well as what you write as part of the contract if the customer takes it into account. So don't promise what you can't do, and put prices in writing.
- Should you charge for a quote?
- That's your call, but tell the customer before you visit. If you advertise free quotes, the CMA's guidance says the customer can't be charged for anything beyond the unavoidable cost of responding or collecting.
Sources
- legislation.gov.uk: Consumer Rights Act 2015, services — A trader's duty to provide a service with reasonable care and skill, and the consumer's remedies when it falls short.
- legislation.gov.uk: Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 — Information and cancellation rights for contracts agreed away from business premises, including the cancellation period for services.
- legislation.gov.uk: Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, section 230 — What an invitation to purchase must include, such as the total price with fees and taxes, or how the price will be calculated.
- CMA: unfair commercial practices guidance (CMA207) — Guidance on total price, mandatory charges, drip pricing and describing something as free.
- nibusinessinfo.co.uk: difference between a quotation and an estimate — A fixed quotation against a non-binding estimate, written breakdowns, worst-case estimates and expiry dates.
- GOV.UK: when to register for VAT — The VAT registration threshold, the 12-month and 30-day tests, and voluntary registration.
- GOV.UK: VAT rates — The standard rate of VAT.
- HMRC: VAT on energy-saving materials and heating equipment (Notice 708/6) — The time-limited zero rate on installing certain energy-saving materials, and work done alongside other jobs.
- Citizens Advice: contact the consumer service — The consumer helpline, its advice by nation, and passing complaints to Trading Standards.
- GOV.UK: make a court claim for money — Court claims in England and Wales, and the separate process in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Key numbers
- 14 days
- For a service agreed in the customer's home, the cancellation period normally ends this long after the contract is made.
- 12 months
- How much longer that cancellation period can run if the customer is never given the cancellation information.
- £90,000
- Taxable turnover over the last 12 months above which a business must register for VAT.
Common mistakes
- Giving an estimate when the customer thinks it is a fixed quote.
- Mixing up mark-up and margin when you set a price.
- Starting in the cancellation period without the customer asking you to.
- Talking a caller through a gas smell instead of sending them to the emergency line.
Lessons on the plumbing path
- From enquiry to booked job
- Quotes, estimates and pricing a job
- Consumer rights in plain terms
- When it goes wrong: complaints and putting it right
Terms to know
Before you start: some plumbing work is regulated or notifiable
Some water fittings work needs notice to, and consent from, the water supplier before it starts. Check the rules where you live.
Gas work is for competent workers covered by a Gas Safe registered business in Great Britain. Northern Ireland has separate gas regulations. Do not work on gas pipes or appliances yourself.
In England, installing an unvented hot-water system over 15 litres is notifiable building work: use a competent installer registered with a competent-person scheme, or tell building control before work starts. Leave this work to a suitably skilled person.
Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own water and building rules; check which apply before work starts. Electrical connections belong with an electrician.
This guide does not qualify you or make you competent, approved or registered for plumbing, gas or unvented work.