Should a Kitchen Fitter Charge a Day Rate or Fixed Price?

For customers

Either can be perfectly reasonable. For a normal kitchen installation with clear plans, a proper survey and a well-defined scope of work, I would usually expect an experienced installer to be able to give you a fairly clear overall price.

There are other jobs where that simply isn’t possible. If somebody is investigating problems with an existing kitchen or carrying out work where the extent of the problem cannot be seen until things are taken apart, charging by the day can sometimes be a fairer way to work.

The important thing is understanding what you have agreed to and where the financial risk sits.

A fixed price gives you more certainty

This is the main attraction from the customer's point of view. If the installer has agreed to complete the work described in the quotation for £6,500, you can plan around that figure rather than wondering every evening whether another day's work has increased the bill. That certainty is valuable on a kitchen project.

It only works properly, though, if you understand what is included in the £6,500. One fitter may include plumbing, electrics, waste and coordination of the other trades, while another quotation may cover little more than fitting the cabinets. Two prices that initially look very different can sometimes be describing very different jobs. That is why the scope matters as much as the total at the bottom.

A fixed price is normally for the work that was agreed

A fixed price does not necessarily mean the installer has agreed to deal with anything they might discover once the old kitchen comes out.

Perhaps the floor is lifted and there is significant damage underneath that nobody could reasonably have seen during the original survey. Or you decide halfway through the project that you want additional sockets, more tiling or a different appliance position.

The work has now changed. That is different from the installer simply taking longer than they expected to complete the original job. Where genuine additional work is required, the installer should explain what has changed, what it is going to cost and, wherever possible, get your agreement before carrying it out.

When does a day rate make sense?

A day rate can be useful when the amount of work genuinely cannot be known in advance.

Imagine you have bought a house with a kitchen that has several problems. Cabinets are moving, appliances have been badly installed and the worktops are out of level. You ask another fitter to put it right, but until they start taking things apart there may be no sensible way of knowing whether it is a one-day job or several days of remedial work.

If they give you a fixed price, they either have to guess or add enough contingency to protect themselves against the worst case. In that situation, an agreed day rate can actually be fairer because you pay for the time that is genuinely needed rather than paying for a large contingency that may never be used.

Ask what the day rate actually covers

If a fitter tells you they charge £300 a day, it is reasonable to ask a few questions.

Find out whether that is for one person, whether materials are additional, whether specialist trades are charged separately and how they deal with part days. It is also sensible to ask how long they reasonably expect the work to take based on what they can currently see.

They may not be able to guarantee a final number of days, particularly if the reason for using a day rate is that there are genuine unknowns. You should still have some idea of how the arrangement is going to work. A day rate should not simply mean the clock starts running and nobody talks about the cost again until the final invoice arrives.

The fitter should keep you informed

If somebody initially thinks a job will take three days and, once they start, it becomes clear it is going to take seven, there should be a conversation. Perhaps something unexpected has been discovered. Maybe another part of the property needs attention before the work can continue.

Whatever the reason, you should understand what has changed and why the expected cost is moving. You do not necessarily need an exact final figure if the work is genuinely unpredictable, but you should not be left watching the bill increase with no explanation.

A tradesperson's day rate is not the same as an employee's daily wage

It is easy to hear that somebody charges £350 or £400 per day and multiply that by five days a week for 52 weeks. That does not normally reflect how a small installation business works.

The installer has vehicles, fuel, tools, insurance, accountancy and other overheads. They also spend time surveying jobs, preparing quotations, collecting materials and dealing with admin, none of which necessarily appears as a separate fitting day on your invoice.

There are holidays, sickness and gaps in the diary as well. The amount a business charges for a working day is therefore not the same thing as the amount the person takes home as wages.

A faster fitter is not necessarily more expensive

This is another area where looking only at time can be misleading. One experienced installer may be able to complete a kitchen properly in eight days while somebody else needs ten. If the first fitter has quoted a fixed price you were happy to accept, finishing the work efficiently does not mean you have been overcharged.

You are paying for the completed installation and the responsibility that comes with it, not for somebody to remain in your house for a minimum number of days. Years of experience, better systems and better organisation are often the reason somebody can complete the work efficiently. Taking longer is not automatically a sign that you are receiving more value.

Be careful trying to work backwards from a quotation

Customers sometimes take a fixed price and try to work out what the installer is apparently earning each day. That rarely gives you the full picture.

One quotation may include managing the electrician and plumber, waste removal, collections and return visits after the worktop has been fitted. Another may not. The fitter also has costs and responsibilities that are not obvious from the number of days you physically see them in the house.

It is more useful to compare what each business is actually offering to deliver than to try to calculate an imagined daily wage from the total price.

Sometimes a mixture works best

There is nothing unusual about agreeing a fixed price for the parts of the installation that can be clearly defined and having a separate arrangement for work that genuinely cannot be known beforehand.

For example, the main kitchen installation might be £6,500 fixed, while the condition of an old floor cannot be confirmed until the existing units are removed.

The fitter could make that clear from the beginning and agree that any necessary remedial work will be discussed and priced separately if it is discovered. That gives you certainty around the main job without forcing the installer to guess at something nobody can yet see.

So which should you prefer?

For a normal kitchen installation that has been properly surveyed and clearly scoped, a fixed price can give you valuable certainty. For investigative, remedial or genuinely uncertain work, a day rate may be a perfectly sensible arrangement.

I would not reject a good installer simply because they use one method or the other. I would ask why they have chosen it and make sure I understand what it means for my project. The best arrangement is the one where both sides know what work is being done, how it is being charged and what happens if the job changes.