How Much Should an Electrician Charge Per Hour in the UK? (2026)

There's no single right hourly rate for an electrician in the UK. There's a right way to work yours out, and a wrong way (which is what most people do — picking a number that "feels right").

The wrong way to set your rate

Most self-employed electricians set their rate by:

Asking other electricians what they charge.
Picking a round number that sounds professional.
Picking a round number that doesn't scare customers off.

The problem with this approach is that it ignores your actual costs. If your real costs are £28/hour and you charge £35, you're earning less than minimum wage after tax.

The right way: work backwards from your target profit

Here's the formula:

Hourly rate = (Annual costs + Target profit) ÷ Billable hours per year

Let's break that down.

Step 1: Add up your annual costs

Include everything:

Van (lease/finance, insurance, MOT, fuel, tax)
Tools and equipment
Materials you use day-to-day
Public liability insurance
Accountant fees
Software subscriptions (GraftLog, accounting, etc.)
Phone and broadband
CIS / HMRC payments (treat your own tax as a cost)
Marketing and advertising
Training and certifications
Sick days and holidays (you don't earn while off)
Pension contributions

A self-employed electrician in 2026 typically has £15,000–£30,000/year in non-wage costs.

Step 2: Decide your target profit

This is what you take home before income tax. Most electricians aim for £35,000–£55,000 before tax. Be realistic — £80,000 sounds great but means charging rates customers won't accept.

Step 3: Work out your billable hours

You don't bill 40 hours a week. Subtract:

Travel between jobs (typically 25–40% of your time)
Quotes and admin (5–10%)
Marketing and customer enquiries (5%)
Bank holidays, holiday, sick days (6–8 weeks)

A self-employed electrician typically bills 1,100–1,400 hours per year, not 1,920.

Step 4: Calculate

Example: £25,000 costs + £45,000 profit = £70,000. ÷ 1,200 billable hours = £58/hour.

Regional variations

London and the South East typically run 20–30% higher than the national average. The North, Wales, and rural Scotland typically run 10–20% lower. Use your local market as a sanity check, not a target — if your costs are higher than average because you run a van and live in a city, your rate should be too.

Day rates vs hourly rates

Many electricians prefer to quote day rates for bigger jobs. A day rate is typically 6.5 to 7 times the hourly rate (i.e. 6.5 billable hours — you don't bill for lunch or admin within a day).

So if your hourly is £55, your day rate is around £360.

Call-out fees

A call-out fee covers your time and travel to attend the job, regardless of how much work you do. Typical rates in 2026:

First hour (including call-out): 1.5× your hourly rate
Subsequent hours: your normal hourly rate
Emergency / out-of-hours: 2× to 3× your normal rate

Always quote the call-out fee clearly upfront so the customer isn't surprised.

How to quote confidently

Customers will always ask "what's your hourly rate?" — that's the question they're comfortable with. But the right answer is rarely "£X per hour."

A good quote:

Breaks the job down into tasks.
Shows hours and materials per task.
Gives a fixed total (or "fixed unless scope changes").
States what's not included (e.g. "doesn't include making good decoration").

This is what GraftLog's AI quote builder does in 60 seconds. You pick the room, add the tasks, and it produces a professional PDF quote with everything broken out.

The bottom line

Set your rate from your costs and target profit, not from what other electricians charge. Charge by the task, not by the hour. And always quote in writing.

Build a professional quote in 60 seconds with GraftLog →