Material markup for tradespeople: what's normal

There's no legal or standard figure, but many small UK trade firms add somewhere between 10% and 25% to the cost of materials. Set yours from what handling materials costs you: collection time, credit, waste, returns and the guarantee you give on what you fit. Then quote it consistently, and remember that a 20% markup is only a 16.7% margin.

Why mark up materials at all?

Because buying materials costs you more than the price on the invoice. Someone drives to the merchant or waits for a delivery, someone orders too much and returns it, some of it gets wasted or damaged, and you pay the merchant before the client pays you. You also stand behind what you fit. A markup is how those costs get paid.

Worked example

What a 10% markup pays for on a £3,000 order

A kitchen fitter buys £3,000 of materials for a job and marks them up 10%, adding £300 to the quote. Here's where that £300 goes before any profit.

Trip to the merchant and loading2 hours × £40 an hour	£80
Waste and offcuts not charged elsewhere3% of £3,000	£90
Returning surplus stock1 hour × £40	£40
Cost of paying 6 weeks before the client paysabout 1% of £3,000	£30
Cost of handling the materials	£240
Markup charged£3,000 × 10%	£300
Left as profit on materials£300 − £240	£60

One sole trader we spoke to, doing plumbing-type work, marked materials up 10%. That can be enough for small, collected orders. On bigger jobs with deliveries, waste and long payment terms, the same 10% may barely cover the handling.

What markup do tradespeople usually add?

Most small firms sit somewhere around 10% to 25%, depending on trade and job size. Use any common figure as a sense check, not a target. The right number is the one that covers your handling costs and leaves the profit you want, at a price clients still accept.

What's the difference between markup and margin?

Markup is profit as a share of cost. Margin is profit as a share of price. The same pound of profit is a bigger percentage of cost than of price, so mixing them up means pricing below the margin you think you're getting.

Margin = markup ÷ (1 + markup). Our guide to markup vs margin covers the full picture for labour and the whole job.

Calculator: Markup to price

Your cost for the jobLabour, materials, plant, subbies£

MarkupAdded on top of cost%

Price–

Your numbers, not a promise. Change any figure to match your firm.

Should you show your markup to the client?

You don't have to. Most domestic quotes give a single price or a labour and materials split without showing the markup. If you itemise materials, clients can and do compare with online prices, so expect questions on big-ticket items. A clear answer works better than a defensive one: the price includes ordering, collection, waste, returns and your guarantee on the fitted item.

If a client supplies their own materials, say in writing that you won't guarantee those materials, only your workmanship, and that delays from missing or wrong items are charged as extra time. Our guide to exclusions and assumptions wording has lines to copy.

How does markup work on CIS jobs?

If you're a subcontractor under the Construction Industry Scheme, the contractor shouldn't deduct CIS from the direct cost of materials you bought for that job. HMRC's guidance says that if you won't disclose your material costs, perhaps because of a large markup, the contractor can estimate the cost and deduct from the rest. Any markup you add sits in the part that gets the deduction.

Keep your merchant invoices with each job. They're the evidence for the materials figure, and contractors increasingly ask for them. Our CIS explainer covers the rates (20% registered, 30% unregistered, 0% with gross payment status).

How do you keep your markup from leaking?

Markup leaks when material prices rise between quoting and buying. If you quoted with last month's price and the merchant has since gone up 8%, your 10% markup is down to about 2%. That's why the price list behind your quotes has to come from current invoices, as our guide to merchant prices explains.

One electrician we spoke to, working on solar, EV chargers and heat pumps with two apprentices, stopped paying a £75-a-month bookkeeper once his supplier invoices went into Xero automatically with a check for price rises. Catching a rise on the invoice is what protects the markup on the next quote.

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Where Nexley fits

Nexley is the AI back office for UK trade firms: five AI assistants run your tenders, quotes, buying, scheduling and invoicing. It connects to the tools you already work in, you run it all from WhatsApp, and you approve everything. £799 a month.

For materials, Nexley keeps your price list from the merchant invoices you receive, applies your markup (one rate for routine items, another for big-ticket ones) to every quote it drafts from your voice note, and tells you when an invoice comes in above the price you quoted. You approve every quote before it goes.

Start 7 days freeSee automated quoting

Common questions

Sources

1. GOV.UK: CISR15060, The Scheme: payments: materials
2. GOV.UK: What you must do as a CIS contractor: make deductions and pay subcontractors
3. legislation.gov.uk: Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 50
4. GOV.UK: Building materials and components commentary, August 2026

Every rule, rate and date above was checked against these sources on the date shown at the top.