How much does a plumber cost in the UK?
A plumber costs £55 on average in the UK. Most jobs fall between £45 and £90 per hour. Rate band and area: Standard rate £45 to £65, Cities and the South East £55 to £80, London or a premium specialist £70 to £90. Prices reviewed July 2026.
Most UK plumbers charge about £45 to £90 an hour, with £55 to £60 typical away from London. A weekday call-out usually costs £80 to £120 and covers the first hour. A day rate is £250 to £450, and a common small job such as a leak or a new tap costs £75 to £180.
Plumber cost calculator
Use the calculator to price your plumber in 2026. Adjust the options and area for a UK cost range. Nothing is sent anywhere.
Plumber cost breakdown
Typical plumber costs, by option:
| Rate band and area | Typical UK cost |
|---|---|
| Standard rate (North, Wales and Midlands) | £45 to £65 |
| Cities and the South East | £55 to £80 |
| London or a premium specialist | £70 to £90 |
Plumber call-out charges
What a plumber charges to come out depends mostly on when you need them. These are the call-out charges UK plumbing firms publish on their own websites. Most include the first hour of work, a few include only the first 30 minutes, and a few charge just to turn up with labour on top, so ask what the figure covers before you book.
| When | Typical call-out charge | What it usually covers |
|---|---|---|
| Weekday, normal working hours | £80 to £120 | The visit and, at most firms, the first hour of work |
| Evenings and weekends | £125 to £180 | The visit and usually the first hour, at the out-of-hours rate |
| Overnight and bank holidays | £150 to £225 | The visit and usually the first hour, at the dearest rate of the week |
From 32 UK firms' own published prices, checked October 2026. Including VAT where the firm charges it. Each range is what the middle half of those firms charge; some charge less and some more.
What's included in the price?
Typical plumber prices include:
- The plumber's time on site, charged by the hour, half day or as a fixed price for the job
- A call-out or first hour that covers travel and working out what is wrong
- Common fittings and consumables like washers, PTFE tape, seals and small joints
- Testing the repair and checking for leaks before they leave
- Clearing up and taking away the old parts
- Public liability insurance and, for gas or unvented work, the right registration
What changes the price?
The things that move plumber prices most:
Whether you are charged an hourly rate, a half day, a full day or a fixed price for the job
The time of the visit, as evenings, weekends and emergencies cost far more
Your region, with London and the South East well above the rest of the UK
How long the job takes and how easy the pipes and stopcock are to reach
The cost of any parts, from a cheap washer to a new toilet, pump or cylinder
Whether the work needs a registered engineer, such as gas or unvented hot water
These are why two quotes for the same job can differ, and the only way to know your price is to get prices from local firms.
How the price is built up
The core figure is the plumber's time, charged as an hourly rate, a call-out that covers the first hour, or a day rate for longer work. On top sits their travel, van, tools, insurance and any registration for gas or unvented work, which is why even a ten-minute fix carries a minimum charge. Timing then moves the total the most: a standard weekday visit is the cheap end, an evening or weekend call-out usually costs about half as much again, and an overnight or bank holiday one nearly double. Parts are added on where the job needs more than a few pennies of fittings. A plumber's bill is mostly labour, since most small jobs are a bit of the plumber's time plus cheap fittings like washers, tape and seals. Parts only push the cost up on bigger jobs, where a new toilet, pump or cylinder can add anywhere from £50 to several hundred pounds on top of the fitting.
Ways to keep the cost down
- Book routine work in normal hours and avoid the emergency and weekend premium wherever you can
- Ask for a fixed price on a defined job rather than an open-ended hourly rate
- Line up two or three small jobs for one visit so you only pay one call-out
- Buy the obvious parts yourself, such as a tap or toilet, so you are not paying a trade markup
Does where you live change the cost?
In London, a plumber typically costs around £65 per hour, about 20% above the UK average of £55. In the North, Scotland and Wales the guide figure is nearer £55.
| Region | From | Typical | Up to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Midlands / East (UK average) | £45 | £55 | £90 |
| London | £55 | £65 | £110 |
| South East / South West | £45 | £60 | £95 |
| North / Scotland / Wales | £45 | £55 | £85 |
Guide prices per hour, scaled with the same regional multipliers as the calculator. Not quotes.
Plumber cost in major UK cities
| City | From | Typical | Up to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Belfast | £45 | £50 | £85 |
| Birmingham | £45 | £55 | £90 |
| Bristol | £45 | £60 | £95 |
| Cardiff | £45 | £55 | £85 |
| Edinburgh | £45 | £55 | £85 |
| Glasgow | £45 | £55 | £85 |
| Leeds | £45 | £55 | £85 |
| Liverpool | £45 | £55 | £85 |
| London | £55 | £65 | £110 |
| Manchester | £45 | £55 | £85 |
| Newcastle | £45 | £55 | £85 |
| Sheffield | £45 | £55 | £85 |
City guide estimates, scaled by local labour costs. Indicative averages for plumber, not quotes.
Prices in London and the South East run about £70 to £90 an hour, while much of the North, Wales and the Midlands sits nearer £45 to £65. Day rates follow the same pattern, from around £250 outside the cities to £450 or more in London.
Compare this with a real quote
The figures above are guide prices. Two or three quotes from local plumbers tell you what it costs where you live.
Common questions
How much does a plumber cost per hour in 2026?
Most UK plumbers charge around £45 to £90 an hour in 2026, with £55 to £60 typical away from London. Many charge more for the first hour, which includes the call-out, usually £80 to £120 on a weekday, then bill by the hour after that. For a longer job you may be quoted a day rate of £250 to £450, or £400 to £600 in London, which usually works out cheaper per hour than paying the hourly rate all day.
How much is a plumber's call-out fee?
A plumber's call-out charge is usually £80 to £120 on a weekday, and at most firms it includes the first hour of work. Evenings and weekends usually cost £125 to £180, and overnight or on a bank holiday £150 to £225. Those figures come from the prices UK plumbing firms publish on their own websites. A few include only the first 30 minutes, and a few charge just to turn up with labour on top, so ask exactly what the figure covers before you book.
What does a plumber charge for common jobs?
Common small jobs are often priced as a fixed fee rather than by the hour. As a rough guide for 2026: fixing a dripping tap or a leaking joint is about £75 to £150, replacing a tap £80 to £150, unblocking a toilet or sink £80 to £180, fitting a new toilet around £150 to £300 in labour, and installing a basin with taps £150 to £300. Parts are added on top where they are more than a cheap washer or seal.
What makes a plumber more expensive?
The biggest jumps come from timing and location. An evening or weekend call-out usually costs about half as much again as a weekday one, and an overnight or bank holiday call-out nearly double, and London plumbers charge well above the rest of the UK. Awkward access to pipes or the stopcock adds time, and pricey parts such as a new pump, cylinder or toilet lift the bill. Work that needs a Gas Safe engineer or an unvented hot water ticket also costs more than general plumbing.
Can I do the plumbing myself instead of paying a plumber?
Plenty of small jobs are DIY friendly, such as changing a tap washer, fitting a new toilet seat or clearing a blocked trap, and doing them yourself saves a call-out charge of £80 to £120 plus labour. The line to draw is anywhere a mistake floods the house or breaks the law: pipework under pressure, moving a stopcock, and anything on gas or an unvented cylinder. A weeping joint behind plaster or under a floor costs far more to put right than the plumber you avoided.
Is it worth paying for an emergency plumber?
For a burst pipe, a leak coming through a ceiling or no water at all, an emergency plumber at £125 to £180 in the evening or at a weekend, or £150 to £225 overnight, is usually money well spent, because the damage builds by the minute. For anything that can wait, book a plumber in normal hours, when the call-out is usually £80 to £120. If it is not urgent, turning the water off at the stopcock and waiting until the morning can nearly halve the cost.
Check they are registered before they start
Gas work is the one job on this site you should never let an unregistered person touch. It is illegal, it cannot be signed off or insured, and the risk is carbon monoxide. Checking takes about a minute and it is free.
- Find or check a registered engineer Gas Safe Register · Anyone you pay to work on gas must be on it by law. Check the 7-digit licence number on their ID card, or text the word Gas followed by their licence or business registration number to 85080
- How to check an engineer is Gas Safe registered HSE · The regulator's own instructions, including the free 0800 408 5500 helpline
Cite this data
These figures are free to use in articles, reports and research under a CC BY 4.0 licence. All we ask is a credit to Costwise, and online a link. Where your style allows, please make "Costwise" the linked word so readers can check the figure for their own region.
Costwise (2026): A plumber typically costs £55 per hour in the UK, ranging from £45 to £90 per hour. Reviewed July 2026. costwiseuk.co.ukSource: Costwise (costwiseuk.co.uk)Costwise (2026). Plumber cost. Costwise UK cost data, version 2026-10-12. https://costwiseuk.co.uk/plumber-cost/2026-10-12 (158 jobs)Dataset DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.21159943 · also on Kaggle, Hugging Face and Figshare. Method: how we price. Downloadable CSV.
These are independent guide prices based on typical UK jobs in 2026. Your actual cost depends on your property, spec, access and where you live. Always get at least three written quotes before committing.