Pricing construction work in Ireland has become harder—and more essential.
According to the Central Statistics Office (CSO), construction activity in Ireland has grown 12% year-on-year, but so have input costs. Tradespeople and contractors who price incorrectly leave money on the table or underbid jobs that should be profitable. The difference between winning work and winning *profitable* work comes down to one thing: a systematic pricing method.
This guide walks you through the exact approach successful Irish contractors use to price jobs in 2026—one that factors labour, materials, overheads, and margin in a way that wins quotes and protects your profit.
Start with your true labour cost, not your hourly rate.
Your hourly rate is not your labour cost. Labour cost includes your wages, payroll taxes, holidays, sick leave, and training. Many Irish tradespeople quote an hourly rate of €45–€65 but forget they're not paid for every hour of the year.
Here's the maths. If you earn €50,000 gross annually and work 1,600 billable hours per year (40 weeks × 40 hours), your cost per hour is €31.25. But add employer's PRSI (around 11.05% for earnings above €352 per week, per Revenue.ie), holiday entitlements (20 days statutory minimum), and sickness cover. Your true labour cost climbs to €38–€42 per hour before you add profit.
Use this formula:
- Annual gross salary: €50,000
- Employer PRSI at 11.05%: €5,525
- Holiday cost (20 days at 8 hours): €6,400 (at €40/hour)
- Total annual cost: €61,925
- Billable hours (1,600): €38.70 per hour
Now you know your floor. Any quote below this is a loss.
Add materials at invoiced cost—never at retail.
Most Irish contractors buy materials at trade discounts. If a product retails at €100 but you buy it for €70, quote at €70 (or €75 with a small handling margin). Never inflate material costs by guessing what the customer might pay elsewhere.
Use live supplier quotes in your quoting software. If you're sourcing materials from multiple suppliers, capture the actual delivered cost, including VAT at 23% (standard rate for most building materials per Revenue.ie). Keep supplier invoices for 6 years—the Revenue uses them to verify pricing if a customer disputes your quote.
Pro tip: Build in a 2–3% contingency for bulk orders or price volatility, but don't use this as hidden margin.
Overheads must be built into every job—or no job pays for them.
Overheads are the costs that exist whether you're on site or not: van fuel, insurance, office rent, phone, accountancy, equipment servicing, and licensing. Many Irish tradespeople ignore overheads in their quotes and wonder why they're not profitable.
Calculate your annual overhead and divide by billable hours:
- Van running cost: €4,000 per year
- Tools and equipment: €2,000 per year
- Insurance (public liability, PI): €1,200 per year
- Phone, software, office: €2,400 per year
- Total overhead: €9,600 per year
- Billable hours: 1,600
- Overhead per hour: €6
Add €6 to every quote. This is not profit—it's survival.
Set your margin based on job risk and market conditions.
Margin is the profit you keep after labour, materials, and overheads. It's not greedy; it's how you cover bad debts, cash-flow gaps, and the risk that a job overruns. Margin varies by trade and complexity.
Small, fixed-price jobs in competitive markets: 10–15% margin. Larger, bespoke, or specialist work: 20–30%. Maintenance or repeat contracts: 8–12%.
If you're winning every quote, your margin is too high. If you're losing every quote, it's too low. Track your win rate monthly—aim for 35–45%.
A worked example: pricing a kitchen extension in Dublin, 2026.
A homeowner asks for a €35,000 quote (materials and labour) for a 25 m² kitchen extension in Rathmines.
- Labour: 160 hours at €38.70 (true cost) = €6,192
- Materials: €18,000 (invoiced cost from supplier)
- Overheads: 160 hours at €6 = €960
- Subtotal: €25,152
- Margin (20%): €5,030
- Your quote: €30,182
This job takes 160 hours over 8 weeks. You've factored every real cost and set aside €5,030 for profit, cash-flow, and contingency. If the job runs to plan, you net around €5,000 clear profit. If materials spike or labour overruns, you still have buffer.
Use software to stop pricing guesswork.
Spreadsheets and mental maths cost time and introduce errors. QuoteWin helps Irish contractors build quotes in minutes, track labour rates automatically, and monitor profit margins across jobs. You can analyse your quote free to see exactly where margins are leaking, and compare your pricing method against benchmark data from your trade.
If you're managing 3+ ongoing quotes per week, quote software pays for itself in time alone. Most Irish SMEs using digital quoting report a 25–35% improvement in proposal-to-close time (QuoteWin customer data, 2025).
Price for cash flow, not just gross profit.
A 20% margin on a €40,000 job looks great on paper (€8,000 profit)—until the customer doesn't pay for 90 days and you've already paid suppliers. Consider staging progress payments for jobs over €10,000. Revenue.ie's guide to small business tax allows you to offset VAT on materials even if payment is delayed, but only if your invoice states clear payment terms.
Always quote with payment terms in writing: 50% on contract, 50% on completion (for small jobs) or 30% deposit, 30% on start, 40% on sign-off (for larger work).
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I know if my labour cost is right?
Track actual hours on 10–15 jobs. Compare invoiced hours to real time spent on site. If you're consistently over, your hourly estimate is too low. If you're under, you have room to improve efficiency or raise your rate. Revenue.ie requires you to keep time records for jobs over €25,000; make this a habit for all work.
Can I quote a flat rate if I don't know exact hours?
Yes, but only if you've priced similar jobs before and have historical data. New contractors should always quote time + materials initially, then move to fixed prices once you've built a 3–6 month data set. This reduces the risk of underbidding.
Should I match a competitor's lower quote?
Never. If a competitor quotes lower than your true cost plus margin, they're either undercutting unsustainably or pricing incorrectly. Match their quote and you'll go bankrupt slowly. Instead, explain your pricing: materials sourced at trade cost, labour at market rate for your experience, insurance included. Customers who value quality will pay. Those who don't, won't—and that's OK.
Winning quotes in Ireland means pricing with confidence. You now have a system to factor every real cost—labour, materials, overhead, and margin—into every quote. Start tracking your win rate and profit per job this week. If your current method leaves margin guesswork to luck, it's time to change. Explore QuoteWin pricing to see how quote software can turn your pricing method into a competitive advantage.