OptiTech Automation · Original research · August 2026
What UK plumbers charge for a call-out in 2026
We read the published prices of 36 UK plumbing firms. Of the 23 that state a standard-hours figure, the median minimum is £80 (the range runs £60 to £130). Emergency and out-of-hours minimums cluster around £132, roughly 1.55× the daytime figure, the steepest premium of any trade we measured. 42% advertise "no call-out fee", but several still publish a one-hour minimum charge, which is the same number under another name. Every figure below links to the firm’s own page.
By Cristian Moise, founder · Data accessed 18 August 2026
Where plumbers sit against the other trades
The chart below puts the plumbers median in context with the other trades in the study. The full national picture (regional differences, the out-of-hours premium and the VAT question) is in the main study.
Every firm we recorded
The 23 firms below publish a standard-hours figure. Each links to the page it came from, accessed 18 August 2026. “Out-of-hours” is the published evening/weekend or emergency minimum where the firm states one.
| Firm | Town | Standard | Out-of-hours | VAT |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Emergency Repairs London Call-out fee '£60, any hour of any day'; weekday 'from £110/hr', out-of-hours 'from £140/hr'; call-out fee waived if w… | Covent Garden, London | £60 | £60 | inc VAT |
| Bristol Plumbing Services '£60 ph' standard, weekend £80 ph, Sat evening £120 ph; minimum one-hour charge; £20 minimum for site visit with no wo… | Kingswood, Bristol | £60 | £100 | no VAT charged |
| Bolton Plumbing and Heating Ltd 'Call out and up to 1 hour labour (8:00am-6:00pm) £60'; out of hours £90; 'Per 30 min increments thereafter £30'. | Bolton | £60 | £90 | not stated |
| South Liverpool Plumbing No call-out fee; 'fixed charge for the first hour ... normally £60 + Materials'. | Garston, Liverpool | £60 | n/a | not stated |
| My Plumber Mon-Fri 8am-6pm: first half hour £61, subsequent half hours £49; out of hours first hour £110 then £75/half hour; day… | North Harrow, London | £61 | £110 | not stated |
| Action Services Plumbers '£65 P/H Inclusive of VAT' Mon-Fri 7am-6pm, first hour minimum; £95 evenings, £115 weekend day, £160 overnight. No tra… | Kilburn, London | £65 | £95 | inc VAT |
| MAF Plumbing & Heating 'All services: £70' per hour, minimum one hour; 'CALL OUT CHARGE: Evenings and weekend £125 (MIN.)'. | Darlington | £70 | £125 | ex VAT |
| Hamish the Plumber '£75 for up to an hour (within a 5 mile radius of Salisbury), then £60 per hour'; 'my first hour includes a £15 callou… | Salisbury, Wiltshire | £75 | n/a | not stated |
| All Superb 'Callouts 7am - 11pm £80 + VAT minimum, first hour'; 'Callouts 11pm - 7am £150 + VAT minimum'. | Cheadle, Greater Manchester | £80 | £150 | ex VAT |
| Liverpool Emergency Plumber (Ideal Plumbing Solutions) '£80/hr' weekday, '£120/hr' weekend, '£150/hr' out of hours; 1 hour minimum on all call-outs. | Kirkby, Liverpool | £80 | £150 | not stated |
| Clearwater Plumbing and Heating Ltd 'no call-out charges'; Essex £80.00/hr, Suffolk £70.00/hr; minimum one hour. | Essex / Suffolk | £80 | n/a | ex VAT |
| Edinburgh Plumbing Company '£80+ VAT (Minimum Charge)', additional hours '£65 + VAT'; emergency '£160 + VAT (Minimum Charge)'. | Edinburgh | £80 | £160 | ex VAT |
| North Oxford Heating 'Breakdown (1st hour) Labour Only £85', 'Per Hour Thereafter £65'; 'Out of Hours Emergency Call Out (1st hour) £185'. | Oxford | £85 | £185 | ex VAT |
| Plumbcare.com 'Plumbing £85' Mon-Fri 7am-8pm; £125 8pm-7am; one-hour minimum; rates correct as of 1 July 2026; £30 cancellation char… | Wakefield | £85 | £125 | inc VAT |
| Plumbing Angels '£95 plus VAT for the first hour', then £47.50 plus VAT per hour thereafter. | Tonbridge, Kent | £95 | n/a | ex VAT |
| Dulwich Plumber 'No call-out fee' but 'minimum charge of £100+VAT p/h for the first hour', then £22.50+VAT per 15 min; overnight £180. | Dulwich, London | £100 | £145 | ex VAT |
| will i am Plumbing & Heating Plumbing first hour £100, subsequent half hour £50; heating first hour £120; emergency plumbing £170/hr; 'minimum char… | Hackney, London | £100 | £170 | ex VAT |
| Emergency Plumber London (I-M Plumbing & Gas Engineering Ltd) 'does not charge a call-out fee'; £102 per hour minimum, then £48 per subsequent half hour. | London | £102 | £150 | inc VAT |
| M&R Group 'We do not charge for a call-out, quote, fuel, parking'; general plumbing £108.00/hr; 1 hour minimum. | Bolton | £108 | n/a | not stated |
| Celsius Plumbers '£110 for the initial visit... Up to the 1st hour on site'; '£170 for an out of hours emergency call'. | Edinburgh | £110 | £170 | not stated |
| Aquiris Plumbing and Heating 'my first hour includes my call-out fee and is charged at £120'; emergency '£140 for the first hour and £80 per hour t… | Clevedon, North Somerset | £120 | £140 | inc VAT |
| Plumbing Heroes '£125 call out plus £125 for the first hour'. | Gloucester / Cheltenham | £125 | n/a | not stated |
| Pimlico Plumbers 'We do not charge for a call-out, travel time, fuel'; plumbing 7am-6pm £130, 6pm-12am £170, 12am-7am £210 (excl. VAT);… | Lambeth, London | £130 | £170 | ex VAT |
Download the data
Every figure in this study, by firm, with the exact wording and a link to the source page. Free to reuse with a credit and a link back to this page (CC BY 4.0).
Method
A census of published prices, not a survey of charged prices. We located UK trade businesses via web search on 18 August 2026 and recorded only figures visibly stated on the firm’s own website; directory listings and third-party price guides were excluded. Where a range was published, the midpoint was used and the range kept in the notes. Firms that publish are self-selected towards transparency and the confident end of pricing, so read these as published, not average, prices. Prices are as displayed and not VAT-normalised, and medians are rounded to the nearest pound (exact values are in the dataset). All figures were correct on the access date; websites change.
OptiTech Automation builds booking and job-management software for UK trade businesses. This study is independent of any customer relationship; no firm in the sample was contacted or is a customer.
The fee that’s already paid is never disputed.
Whether or not you charge a call-out fee, the argument at the door happens when the customer didn’t know the number. OptiTech Automation puts your price on the booking page, repeats it in the confirmation, and takes it as a card deposit at booking, into your own account.