Guide
What an electrician's hourly rate actually buys
£45 to £90 an hour is the working range for a domestic electrician, with a minimum charge that usually covers the first hour or two. The rate is the smaller half of what a short job costs.
The range, and what moves it
A sole trader in a small town charges £40 to £60 an hour. A firm with vans and an office in a city charges £60 to £90. London runs higher again. Day rates run £250 to £500 and are better value than hours the moment a job passes about five hours, which is why asking for one changes the number on a full day's work.
Commercial and industrial rates sit above domestic, partly because the work is harder and mostly because the insurance, the certification and the site requirements behind it are.
The minimum charge is the real price of a small job
Almost every electrician has one, typically £60 to £120, covering the first hour or two. It exists because the drive, the parking, the isolation, the testing and the certificate happen whether the work takes ten minutes or ninety.
This is why a single socket costs what it does, and it is also why the second and third job on the same visit cost so much less. Anyone who has a list should get the list done in one go. The saving is larger than any discount that will ever be offered on the rate.
What is inside the hour and what is not
Inside: the work, the testing that follows it, and the certificate. Testing is not an optional extra that a cheaper electrician skips to save you money. It is how anybody knows the work is safe, and its absence is the single clearest signal about who you have hired.
Outside, usually: materials, which are charged at cost or at cost plus a margin; parking and congestion charges in cities; waste disposal on larger jobs; and scheme notification on notifiable work, which some quote separately and most include.
Why two hours of work is not two hours of rate
A job that takes two hours on site has taken longer than that by the time it is priced. Getting the parts, driving both ways, writing and issuing the certificate, and notifying the work all sit outside the hours anybody is standing in your house.
This is worth knowing because it explains most of the gap between what a rate looks like and what an invoice says, and because it points at the way to spend less: batch the work, be ready when they arrive, and have the access cleared before rather than after.
Common questions
Is a day rate cheaper than hours?
Past about five hours, yes, usually by a useful margin. Ask for both numbers when the work is likely to fill a day.
Should I supply my own materials?
You can, and it shifts the warranty for the part onto you. For accessories and light fittings it is often sensible. For anything that has to be certified, let the electrician choose it.
Why is there a charge if nothing was wrong?
Because the time was spent establishing that. A diagnostic visit that finds no fault has still ruled things out, and that is what was bought.