Electrician hourly rate: what UK rates look like in 2026
The UK average electrician hourly rate in 2026 is roughly £45 to £65 for standard domestic work, and about £55 to £75 across the South East, which is the band that applies in Harlow. Useful to know — but here is the thing the rate guides leave out: for most jobs you will never actually pay an hourly rate, because the work is priced as a job.
Hourly rates by region, 2026
Published market figures, checked September 2026. These are what electricians charge, not what we charge — this site is an information and quote-routing service, not a contractor.
| Region | Hourly rate |
|---|---|
| London | £65–£90 |
| South East (incl. Essex / Harlow) | £55–£75 |
| Midlands | £45–£65 |
| Scotland | £45–£65 |
| UK average, standard domestic work | £45–£65 |
Harlow's position matters for reading that table honestly. The town sits on the Essex–Hertfordshire border inside the London commuter belt, twenty-odd minutes from Liverpool Street: local labour can take London work, so local pricing tracks the South East band rather than the UK average. If you have read a national figure of "about £50 an hour" and a Harlow quote comes in at £70, that is not a markup, it is the right band.
Day rates and call-out charges
| Basis | Typical 2026 figure | When it applies |
|---|---|---|
| Day rate — domestic | £250–£300 | Multi-hour installation work |
| Day rate — commercial | £300–£400 | Business premises, certification-heavy work |
| Day rate — EV charging / solar specialist | £350–£500 | Accredited scheme work |
| Day rate — UK average across all work | Around £312 | A blended figure; treat with care |
| Flat call-out charge | £65–£120 | Attending at all |
| Typical domestic call-out | £50–£100 | Travel + first 30–60 minutes on site |
| Emergency / out-of-hours | £80–£100 per hour | Evenings, weekends, genuine emergencies |
Why the hourly rate is the wrong number for most jobs
Ask for a price on a rewire and nobody quotes you an hourly rate. The scope is known, so the job is priced as a job — and that is true of nearly everything on this site:
| Job | How it is normally priced | Read more |
|---|---|---|
| Consumer unit replacement | Fixed price per job | fuse box replacement prices |
| EICR / condition report | Fixed price by property size & circuit count | EICR prices by property size |
| Full or partial rewire | Fixed price, sometimes staged | rewiring prices and timescales |
| EV charger installation | Fixed price, grant applied to the invoice | which EV grant applies |
| Supply to a garage or outbuilding | Fixed price, driven by cable run | Garage & outdoor electrics |
| PAT testing | Per item + minimum site fee | PAT testing cost |
| Fault finding | Hourly — the genuine exception | Electrical fault finding |
| Small works & additions | Hourly or half-day | Lighting installation |
Fault finding is the honest exception, and for a good reason: nobody can tell you in advance how long it takes to find an intermittent fault. That is why diagnosis is quoted separately from the repair, and why an hourly figure there is a real number rather than a comparison tool.
What actually moves a quote
If two quotes for the same job differ by 50%, the rate is rarely the reason. Four things are:
- What the quote assumes about the existing installation. The single biggest variable. A consumer unit swap priced on the assumption that every existing circuit will pass testing is a different job from one that includes putting right whatever does not.
- Whether certification is included. Notifiable work needs certifying and notifying — see Part P: what is notifiable. A quote that omits it is cheaper because it is less.
- Access. Chased walls, a boarded loft, a board behind fitted units, solid floors. This is pure time and it is invisible in a rate comparison.
- Making good. Whether plaster, decoration and floor coverings are the electrician's problem or yours. On a rewire this is thousands, not hundreds.
Before you agree a rate
- Decide whether the job is an hourly job at all — most are not.
- Ask what the minimum charge is and how much time it includes.
- Batch small jobs into one visit.
- For anything notifiable, confirm the certificate is in the price.
- Check registration on the Registered Competent Person Electrical register — it covers NICEIC, NAPIT, ELECSA and STROMA in one search, and takes about thirty seconds.
Get quotes you can actually compare
Describe the job rather than the hours. Registered electricians covering CM17–CM20 will price it as a job, which is the only way two quotes can be compared honestly.
What we will not do: we do not sell your details on, we do not add you to a marketing list, and we do not require a phone number. If you would rather not be called, leave the phone out — email is enough.