Some Gas Engineers Are Still Charging Rates from 20 Years Ago

Some heating engineers are charging the same hourly rates today than they were 20 years ago. That came straight from training centre owner Derek Robbins, aka Tomcat. He joined us on a podcast. 2 decades of rising costs, but charging the same price means engineers are underselling themselves on every job. So are your rates keeping up, or are you just keeping busy? Here's what gas engineers across the UK are actually charging in 2026. Across the UK, the average gas engineer's hourly rate now sits between £40 and £80. Checkatrade puts the average at £50. MyBuilder places it between £40 and £60, and gas engineer software users come in slightly higher at the average of £58 an hour. Where your rate sits depends on a few things: your experience, the type of work, your location, and whether you charge hourly, per job, or per day. If you're self-employed, expect to be on the higher end. Most self-employed gas engineers charge between £45 and £75 per hour, and that's not because they can, it's because they're pricing for the reality. Insurance, van costs, fuel, tools, replacement equipment, unpaid hours spent quoting, invoicing, the travelling between jobs. But customers will compare your rate to a wage, and you're not running on a wage. For repairs and diagnostics, call-out fees typically run £60 to £120, usually with the first hour included. Out-of-hours call-outs and emergency call-outs can be much, much more, closer to £100 to £150, and this will cover the disruption and unsociable hours. For bigger jobs like bathroom installs, major pipework, and boiler replacements, day rates often make far more sense. The typical UK gas engineer day rate now sits between £300 and £600 plus, depending on location, complexity. Less time, less pressure, cleaner pricing for the customer, and far fewer disputes over how long a job should have taken. And to bring it back to Tomcat's point, in 2025, 59.5% of businesses raised their prices. Nearly 40% of them kept them the same. If your rates haven't moved in a while, you're effectively earning less per job in real terms, even with a full diary. Staying busy isn't the same as staying profitable. The heating and plumbing engineers running ahead of inflation are the ones who track their jobs properly, know what each one actually costs, and price with confidence. Gas Engineer Software handles the admin side of that for you. Quotes, invoices, certificates, all in one place, so you've got more time to focus on pricing rather than chasing paperwork. For the full 2026 breakdown and the full episode with Tom Camp, head to the link in the description. Thanks for watching, and don't forget to subscribe.