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How to Price Your Work as a Tradesperson in Ireland

Pricing is one of the hardest parts of running a trade business. Charge too much and you lose work to competitors. Charge too little and you are busy but broke. Most tradespeople set their prices based on what others seem to charge, which is a start, but it does not account for your own costs, your experience, or the profit you actually need to make. This guide covers how to work out what you should charge and how to present your prices with confidence.

Know Your Costs First

Before you can set a price, you need to know what it costs to run your business. Many tradespeople skip this step and end up undercharging without realising it. Your costs fall into two categories:

Fixed costs are expenses you pay regardless of how much work you do:

Variable costs change depending on the job:

Add up your annual fixed costs. For most sole trader tradespeople in Ireland, this figure lands somewhere between €15,000 and €30,000 per year, depending on your trade and setup. You need to cover this amount before you earn a penny of profit.

Calculate Your Hourly Rate

Your hourly rate is the foundation of all your pricing, whether you charge by the hour, by the day, or by the job. Here is how to work it out:

Step 1: Decide your target annual income. This is what you want to take home after tax and business expenses. Be realistic. If you were earning €45,000 as an employed tradesperson, you might target €50,000 to €60,000 as a sole trader to account for the added risk and the benefits you no longer receive (sick pay, holiday pay, pension contributions).

Step 2: Add your annual fixed costs. If your target income is €55,000 and your fixed costs are €22,000, your business needs to generate at least €77,000 in revenue from labour alone (before materials).

Step 3: Add your tax burden. As a sole trader you pay Income Tax, PRSI, and USC. On €55,000 of taxable profit (after expenses), your combined tax bill will be roughly €14,000 to €18,000 depending on your credits and circumstances. Add this to get a total revenue target. In this example, roughly €93,000.

Step 4: Work out your billable hours. There are about 2,080 working hours in a year (40 hours per week for 52 weeks). But you will not bill for all of them. Subtract time for:

That leaves approximately 1,440 billable hours per year. Many tradespeople find their actual billable hours are closer to 1,200 to 1,400 once they account for quiet periods and time between jobs.

Step 5: Divide revenue target by billable hours. Using the example above: €93,000 divided by 1,400 hours equals roughly €66 per hour. That is your minimum hourly rate before materials, VAT, or any profit margin.

Day Rates vs. Hourly Rates

Many tradespeople prefer to quote a day rate rather than an hourly rate. A day rate is simply your hourly rate multiplied by the number of hours in your working day (usually 8). Using the example above, that gives a day rate of approximately €530.

Day rates work well for larger jobs where you will be on site for a full day or more. They are simpler for the customer to understand, and they remove the pressure of customers watching the clock. However, for smaller call-out jobs or repair work, hourly rates (often with a minimum call-out charge) are more appropriate.

A minimum call-out charge is essential for small jobs. Even a job that takes 30 minutes on site involves travel time, preparation, and admin. Most tradespeople set a minimum charge equivalent to one to two hours of their hourly rate. This ensures short jobs are still worth your time.

Pricing by the Job (Fixed Price)

For many jobs, customers prefer a fixed price. They want to know upfront what the work will cost, with no surprises. Fixed-price quoting is where you stand to make the most money, but also where you can lose it if you get the estimate wrong.

To price a job accurately:

Using quoting software makes this process faster and more consistent. You can build quotes with itemised labour and materials, save them as templates for recurring job types, and send professional documents that customers take seriously.

What Are Tradespeople Charging in Ireland?

Rates vary depending on your trade, location, experience, and the type of work. As a rough guide for 2026, typical hourly rates (excluding VAT and materials) are:

Dublin and other urban areas tend to be at the higher end, while rural areas are lower. Specialist work (underfloor heating, solar panel installation, commercial fit-outs) commands higher rates. Emergency and out-of-hours work is typically charged at 1.5 to 2 times the standard rate.

These figures are guides, not rules. If your calculated rate from the exercise above comes in higher than the market average, that does not necessarily mean you need to lower it. It may mean you need to target different types of work, improve your efficiency, or better communicate the value you provide.

Handling Materials

How you handle materials on a quote affects both your profitability and how the customer perceives your price. There are three common approaches:

Include materials in the price. The customer sees one total figure. This is the simplest approach and what most domestic customers prefer. Your quote might read "Supply and install new bathroom suite — €4,500". The downside is that customers cannot see the labour/materials split, which some find less transparent.

Itemise labour and materials separately. The customer sees what they are paying for labour and what they are paying for materials. This works well for larger jobs and commercial clients who want to see the breakdown. It also protects you if material prices change between quoting and starting the job.

Customer supplies materials, you supply labour. Some customers want to buy their own materials to save money or to choose specific products. This removes your materials markup but also removes the risk of material cost overruns. Be clear in your quote that you are not responsible for material quality or suitability, and that any delays caused by missing or incorrect materials are the customer's responsibility.

When to Raise Your Prices

If you have not raised your prices in the last 12 months, you are almost certainly charging less in real terms than you were a year ago. Inflation, insurance increases, fuel costs, and supplier price hikes all erode your margins. You should review your rates at least once a year.

Signs that you need to raise your prices:

A healthy close rate for trade quotes is typically 50 to 70%. If you are winning nearly everything, you are leaving money on the table. Raise your prices gradually, 5 to 10% at a time, and monitor the impact on your conversion rate.

Common Pricing Mistakes

These mistakes come up repeatedly and cost tradespeople real money:

Presenting Your Prices

How you present a price matters almost as much as the price itself. A professional, itemised quote gives customers confidence that the price is fair and well-considered. A number scribbled on the back of a receipt does not.

Your quote should include a clear breakdown of the work, the materials, the timeline, payment terms, and what is excluded. If you are VAT-registered, show the net amount, VAT, and gross total separately. This is not just good practice, it is a legal requirement.

Using Workcanon, you can build professional quotes with itemised line items, send them to customers for online acceptance, and convert accepted quotes directly into invoices. No more retyping job details or chasing paper quotes.

Key Takeaways

Simplify your quoting and invoicing

Workcanon helps tradespeople in Ireland manage quotes, invoices, and payments in one place. Free to start.

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