What does free work cost you?
"While you're here, could you just…?" Half an hour here, a callback there and a free quote that came to nothing. On their own they are small things. Added up over a year they are often weeks of pay.
2026/27 tax year
Five rules that turn free work into paid work
With homeowners the Consumer Rights Act 2015 sets the basics; with builders and businesses your contract (often a JCT form) and the Construction Act do. Write your terms into every quote.
Agree extras in writing before you start
What you say or write to a homeowner about the job and the price becomes part of the contract (Consumer Rights Act, section 50). Without an agreed price the customer only owes a "reasonable price", which is a question of fact and easy to argue about. A text saying "yes, go ahead for £180" is better than nothing; a written variation is better still.
Business customers: get the instruction first
On building contracts, variations normally need a written instruction from the contractor or contract administrator. Ask for it before the work and price it straight away; on a CIS job also check that the variation will be in the next payment application.
Invoice as you go, not only at the end
On construction contracts with businesses lasting 45 days or more you are entitled to stage payments (Construction Act, section 109). With homeowners, agree stage payments in your terms. Extras invoiced the same week are not forgotten.
Quote or estimate: say it before the price runs away
A quote is a fixed price; an estimate is a best guess. If an estimate is going to be clearly exceeded, tell the customer straight away and agree how to continue. Telling them at the end is how invoices end up in dispute.
Tell defects from extras
If your work was not done with reasonable care and skill, the customer can ask you to put it right at your own cost (Consumer Rights Act, section 55). But damage by another trade, the customer's own changes or "could you just have a look at" are not defects. Walk the job with the customer at handover and take photos, then the difference is easy to see later.
Get it in writing without spending the evening on it
In Bidmio you send the quote from your phone and the customer accepts it online. When extra work comes up, you create a variation with a price that the customer approves before you start, and it goes onto the invoice.
Not legal advice. Check your own contract terms, and ask your trade association or a solicitor about specific cases.
Your body is your most important tool, and you can't buy a new one
Being a tradesperson is hard physical work. Knees, back and shoulders do not last 50 years on ladders and scaffolding, and nobody pays you when they say stop. Your rate has to pay for that while you still can.
- 68Born after 5 April 1978? Under today's law your State Pension age is 68, and for those born in the year before it lies between 67 and 68, phased in from 2044. For people born from 6 March 1961 to 5 April 1977 it is 67. The next review could move it again.
- 41,000construction workers in Great Britain suffer from a work-related musculoskeletal disorder: 53% of all work-related ill health in the sector, and 2.0% of its workers against 1.2% across all industries (HSE, average 2022/23 to 2024/25).
- £0Statutory Sick Pay (£123.25 a week from the first day off in 2026/27) is for employees only. Off sick as a sole trader, your income stops the same day unless you pay for income protection yourself.
- 0%No employer pays into your pension. An employee is auto-enrolled with at least 8% of qualifying earnings, 3% of it from the employer. You only get what you build into your own rate.
Do the maths: to stop at 63 instead of 68 you have to fund 5 years without pay. At £2,000 a month that is £120,000 before tax and inflation, and the State Pension, at most £241.30 a week, does not start until 68. That money only comes from one place: your rate in the years your body can still do the work.
Underpricing is not the way to a good life. Every hour you sell too cheaply, you pay for later with your body, your pension and your time off.
Where do the numbers come from?
Every number in the check is either an official UK rate or an estimate that we label as one. Open a field to see why, with an example from real life.
"While you're here" jobs without a variation
Small extras beyond what was agreed that never reach the invoice: an extra socket, a door that just needs easing, one more wall to paint. 1.5 to 2 hours a week is Bidmio's estimate, set low. Anything you say to a homeowner about the work can become part of the contract, so agree the price of extras in writing.
Real life: The customer asks if you could just put up two more lights while you're there. It takes an hour plus a run for materials. Do that five times a month without a written variation and you have given away over 50 hours in a year.
Phone and admin for individual customers
Only time that belongs to a specific customer's job: calls about changes, extra orders, certificates, photos. General admin such as bookkeeping is already in the rate calculator's unbilled time, so it does not belong here. 1.5 to 2 hours a week is Bidmio's estimate.
Real life: The customer rings three times about the tile colour, and you spend 40 minutes re-ordering and sending photos. On a day-rate job that time could go on the timesheet, but most people forget to write it down.
Bidmio's estimate from typical figures. Change it to your own.
Callbacks and snagging
Trips back to a finished job you are not paid for. A real defect you must put right yourself, so that time can only be saved with fewer mistakes and a proper handover. But many callbacks are not defects, and those you can charge for if your terms say so. 1 to 2 a month is Bidmio's estimate.
Real life: The customer rings about a crack in the paint. It turns out the joiner fixed a skirting board afterwards. It is not your defect, but without photos from handover you end up fixing it for free.
Hours per callback
The work itself is often short, but getting there takes time: driving both ways, parking and getting the tools out. 1.5 to 3 hours including driving is Bidmio's estimate depending on the trade.
Real life: Ten minutes easing a door at a customer 15 miles away is easily an hour and a half with the driving. At £44 an hour that is £66 excl. VAT nobody pays for.
Bidmio's estimate from typical figures. Change it to your own.
Free quotes and pricing visits
Pricing visits, measuring up and writing quotes the customer does not pay for. Homeowners are told to get three quotes, so many quotes never become a job, and the time has to be paid for by the jobs you win. 4 to 5 a month is Bidmio's estimate.
Real life: You go out and measure up a new bathroom, spend an evening on the quote, and the customer picks someone else. Five of those a month is more than a full working day, every month.
Bidmio's estimate from typical figures. Change it to your own.
Show 2 more explanations
Hours per pricing visit
Driving, time at the customer's and the time afterwards working out and writing the quote. 1 to 2 hours is Bidmio's estimate; big jobs take much longer.
Real life: 45 minutes at the customer's, 30 minutes' driving and 45 minutes on the quote in the evening is 2 hours. A template quote on your phone can cut the last part to a few minutes.
Bidmio's estimate from typical figures. Change it to your own.
Your hourly rate excl. VAT
The free hours could have been sold at your rate. It is filled in with the typical rate from the rate calculator, which covers take-home pay, 8% pension, costs and unbilled time. Tax afterwards uses the same 2026/27 rates.
Real life: If you charge £38 an hour but should charge £44, enter £38 to see what you lose today and £44 to see what you should be losing.
All sources
- Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 50: what you say about the service is binding
- Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 55: right to repeat performance
- GOV.UK: Income Tax rates and allowances 2026 to 2027 (Personal Allowance £12,570, rUK and Scottish bands, dividends)
- GOV.UK: Self-employed National Insurance rates 2026 to 2027 (Class 4 6% / 2%, Class 2)
2026/27 tax year
Rates change every tax year on 6 April, and some at the Budget. We update the figures once the new rates are published, but always check your own numbers with your accountant.
What counts as free work?
Hours you spend on a customer's job without being paid: small extras beyond the agreement, callbacks, quotes that come to nothing, and phone and admin about that one job. General admin such as bookkeeping does not count here; it is already in the unbilled time in the rate calculator.
Where do the hours come from?
There are no official statistics on unbilled work, so the defaults are Bidmio's estimates for a typical sole trader, set low on purpose. Change them to what you see yourself, for example by writing down your unpaid hours for two weeks.
Should I charge for quotes?
It is your choice. In the UK free quotes are the norm for most domestic work, so the time has to be in your rate. For long drives, detailed surveys or design work, a fixed survey fee that is deducted if the customer goes ahead is common.
Why do you work out tax on the amount?
Because that is what you would have kept yourself. Turnover excl. VAT becomes profit, and on that you pay income tax and Class 4 National Insurance at the 2026/27 rates the rate calculator uses.
Do you store my numbers?
No. Everything is calculated in your browser and nothing is sent to a server. The share link only contains your hours and your rate.
Disclaimer
All calculations are a guide only and may contain errors. Bidmio gives no guarantee for the result, and the calculation is not tax, accounting or legal advice. The figures show what it takes to run a healthy, profitable business on the assumptions you entered and typical UK rates for 2026/27. Your own situation may differ, so always check the figures with your accountant before making decisions.