Running the business
Day rate to m² rate
- where
- equivalent rate per m² (£/m²)
- day rate (£/day)
- productivity (m²/day)
Explain this equation
Converts the day rate you need to earn into a rate per m². Use it to price measured work so that it pays what a day's work should.
D is the day rate and Pd your productivity, the m² you actually finish in a day. r is the resulting price per m².
Pay per m² times m² per day must equal pay per day, so the rate per m² is the day rate divided by output.
Sense check: £220 a day at 20 m² a day is £11/m². If your output drops to 15 m² a day on a cut-up job, the rate needed rises to about £14.67/m².
Watch out: use realistic productivity across whole jobs, including setting up and cleaning down, not your best day.
Converts the day rate you need into a price per m², using how many m² you actually complete in a day.
Enter your values to see the result.
Good to know
Use your own records of finished m² per day for each kind of work (skim over board, two-coat on masonry, ceilings, render), measured over whole jobs including setting up, beading, clean-down and travel. Ceilings, small rooms, stairwells and lots of reveals are slower. Published labour constants such as those in Spon's price books are a useful cross-check. To go the other way, multiply your m² rate by your productivity.
Common mistake
Using your best-ever output on an empty new-build wall to price a cut-up refurbishment with furniture to protect.
Limits
Labour only. Materials, access equipment and overheads are added separately.
Sources
Results are calculations from the published methods and manufacturer figures shown, and depend on the data you enter. Always follow the manufacturers’ system and product data, BS 8212, BS EN 13914 and Building Regulations. Coverage rates vary by product, background and thickness. Check prices, VAT and CIS rules with your own records and HMRC.