Carpenter day rates
Pick where you work and how experienced you are for a realistic carpenter day rate, the sources behind it, and what it leaves you after tax and costs.
Read the full guide→An experienced self-employed carpenter across most of the UK typically charges around £240 to £320 a day. In London that rises to about £305 to £410, and newly qualified it is nearer £205 to £270. These are labour rates charged to the customer, not take-home pay.
Nothing you enter is sent to us or saved. 2026 figures.
Your work
Where you work
Experience
Optional, see what you take home
Typical day rate
£240–£320/ day
for an experienced carpenter in Most of the UK. Charged to the customer, labour only.
If you charged £280 a day
You keep ≈ £36,716 a year
£53,200 over 190 billable days, minus £8,000 overheads, minus Income Tax and National Insurance on the profit.
A range, not a single number: what you charge also comes down to demand, your reputation and the job.
Rules and registration for carpenters
Which carpenter work you can take on, and sign off yourself, depends on these. Each point links to the official source it was checked against.
CSCS cards for site work
A CSCS card is not a legal requirement, but most principal contractors and major house builders require one on their sites. The card shows your training and qualifications, and its colour depends on the level of your NVQ.
Replacement windows and doors
In England, replacing windows, and external doors that are at least half glazed, can need building regulations approval. Registration with a competent person scheme for windows and doors lets you self-certify that work, so the customer does not have to apply to building control.
Sources: Building regulations approval, gov.uk; Competent person schemes, gov.uk
Site, workshop or home
The National Careers Service lists carpenters working on construction sites, in workshops and in customers' homes, on jobs from roof timbers, staircases and partition walls to kitchen units and shop interiors. Jobs with a clear scope, such as fitting a kitchen or a staircase, can be quoted as a fixed price based on your day rate.
Checked against the linked sources on 15 October 2026.
How this range is worked out
Region, in four bands
Rates are usually highest in London and above average across the South East. We split the country into four bands so the figure matches where you work.
Experience, from the earnings spread
The gap between a newly qualified and an experienced carpenter follows the official ONS earnings spread for the trade, alongside the National Careers Service and the JIB and CIJC agreed grades.
The level, from the marketplace
What carpenters actually charge a customer comes from marketplace figures: Checkatrade, Simply Business and the cost-guide consensus. The result is a range, with every source shown.
A day rate is not what you keep
After Income Tax, National Insurance, overheads and the days you cannot bill, your take-home is a good bit lower. The self-employed tax calculator shows the full picture for the year.
Work out your take-home →Once you have a rate, save it in your Trame price book and add it to any quote in one click.
Frequently asked questions
Sources: Building regulations approval, gov.uk; Competent person schemes, gov.uk
An estimate, not a quote or financial advice. Day-rate ranges triangulate published marketplace figures (Checkatrade, Simply Business), official employee earnings by trade and region (ONS ASHE, which covers employees not the self-employed, so it sets the shape not the level), the collectively agreed grades (JIB for electrical, CIJC for construction) and National Careers Service bands. Regions are grouped into four bands because the data cannot support precise per-town figures. Take-home uses the HMRC Personal Allowance, Income Tax bands and Class 4 National Insurance for the 2025/26 and 2026/27 tax years. Your real figure depends on your work, costs and circumstances.
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