Construction Market Data

Thu March 28 2024

Related Information

Sub-contractor Pay Trends August 2018

Hudson Contract delivers the most accurate indications of pay trends across the construction industry, using payroll data for over 2,200 construction companies to publish the average pay for a spectrum of 17 different trades now split across ten regions.

August holidays – and our scorching summer – spelled time off for many subbies – with earnings more or less the same as July.  “It’s as we expected,” says Hudson Contract Managing Director Ian Anfield. 

“We all know how much weather influences construction, and August almost always means a holding pattern for earnings.  When the school holidays kick in, freelancers and smaller contractors enjoy a family break, and return to their sites refreshed and ready to push on during the autumn and then face the rush to get projects finished by Christmas.”

Even with so many away from the sites, earnings nationally have set a new all-time high of £884 a week.  “It’s only a couple of quid extra – enough to buy an ice lolly,” Ian Anfield adds.  “More significant perhaps, the weekly figure is £32 up on this time last year.  So, when you consider the harsh winter that saw earnings plummet by almost 12% in January alone, it’s been a healthy few months for construction, with earnings rising month-on-month since May.” 

National Weekly Average Earnings August 2018:  £884

Region August 2018  Average Change from July 2018
North East £806.00 +0.99%
North West £796.00 +1.76%
Yorkshire & Humber £834.00 +0.12%
East Midlands £885.00 +1.02%
West Midlands £951.00 +1.05%
Wales £834.00 +4.80%
East of England £925.00 -1.30%
London £880.00 +0.11%
South East £882.00 -2.27%
South West £808.00 +0.87%

Individual Trades:  National Winners and Losers:

Winners:

  • Steel & Timber Frame Erection: +8.98%

Very busy in the North-West and the East Midlands

  • Insulation: +3.14%

Busy across all regions

  • Shopfitting: +1.60%

All systems go on East Midlands projects

Losers:

  • Demolition & Wrecking: -7.12%

Very quiet in the South-East

  • Bricklaying: -2.86%

Building’s traditional barometer struggling in and around London

  • Mechanical & Engineering: -2.11%

East of England hit – but earnings still £1,000+ p.w.

On to the national picture, with the latest IHS Markit/CIPS UK Construction Purchasing Managers’ Index reporting that house building sites were particularly quiet during August, and overall growth also down.  Commercial building led the way, while civil engineering projects continued to tail off, actually decreasing for the first time in five months, while waiting for new infrastructure projects to get underway.

Ian Anfield adds:  “As our own data shows, there was an overall loss of momentum during August, but the outlook for the future is remains positive.  Construction companies are aware of the issues they face as they grow – finding flexible yet suitably skilled labour, cashflow hurdles due to late payments and of course Brexit – but are taking these in their stride, as they always do.

“Finally, the big delay on Crossrail has come as a disappointment to millions of Londoners, and the continued work on the new Tottenham stadium has Spurs fans up in arms, but both projects spell continued work for contractors and subbies.”

Hudson Contract’s ‘Window on the Construction Industry’ gives you hard figures and data that is not available from any other source, with pay averages that reflect the amounts paid by a sample number of businesses – large and small – to specific trades during August 2018.

Hudson Contract’s ‘Window on the Construction Industry’ gives you hard figures and data that is not available from any other source, with pay averages that reflect the amounts paid by a sample number of businesses – large and small – to specific trades during August 2018.

North East

NORTH EAST May-18 Jun-18 Jul-18 Aug-18
CIVIL ENGINEERING £814 £801 £850 £850
ELECTRICAL £536 £639 £655 £853
EQUIPMENT & OPERATOR HIRE £533 £546 £555 £615
GENERAL CONSTRUCTION £787 £776 £801 £814
INSULATION £693 £662 £659 £714
PLASTERING £702 £734 £703 £798
ROOFING £1,028 £1,067 £1,091 £926
SCAFFOLDING & LIFTING £417 £447 £451 £377
SHOP FITTING £658 £778 £684 £668
SPECIALIST TRADES £523 £632 £676 £610
SURFACING CONTRACTORS £955 £1,087 £1,255 £1,442

North West

NORTH WEST May-18 Jun-18 Jul-18 Aug-18
BRICKLAYING £697 £711 £728 £760
CIVIL ENGINEERING £718 £735 £751 £759
DEMOLITION & WRECKING £744 £727 £772 £798
ELECTRICAL £792 £857 £928 £922
EQUIPMENT & OPERATOR HIRE £757 £740 £759 £747
GENERAL CONSTRUCTION £782 £758 £777 £806
INSULATION £1,270 £1,111 £1,272 £1,352
JOINERY £803 £839 £1,125 £1,062
MECHANICAL & ENGINEERING £1,228 £1,183 £1,191 £1,166
PLASTERING £555 £566 £565 £631
PLUMBING £722 £709 £796 £762
ROOFING £805 £745 £806 £822
SCAFFOLDING & LIFTING £609 £600 £621 £551
SHOP FITTING £1,111 £1,028 £1,115 £1,202
SPECIALIST TRADES £780 £844 £813 £864
STEEL & TIMBER FRAME ERECTION £629 £600 £704 £812
SURFACING CONTRACTORS £663 £707 £719 £726

Yorkshire & Humber

YORKSHIRE & HUMBER May-18 Jun-18 Jul-18 Aug-18
BRICKLAYING £721 £674 £730 £757
CIVIL ENGINEERING £761 £766 £793 £787
DEMOLITION & WRECKING £470 £526 £561 £573
ELECTRICAL £837 £810 £874 £877
EQUIPMENT & OPERATOR HIRE £988 £931 £957 £939
GENERAL CONSTRUCTION £783 £784 £815 £821
JOINERY £727 £772 £668 £661
MECHANICAL & ENGINEERING £938 £880 £924 £966
PLASTERING £729 £741 £780 £827
PLUMBING £573 £594 £586 £577
ROOFING £698 £673 £713 £667
SCAFFOLDING & LIFTING £519 £564 £604 £654
SHOP FITTING £1,408 £1,421 £1,392 £1,361
SPECIALIST TRADES £973 £948 £996 £968
STEEL & TIMBER FRAME ERECTION £1,078 £884 £925 £957
SURFACING CONTRACTORS £810 £844 £819 £898

East Midlands

EAST MIDLANDS May-18 Jun-18 Jul-18 Aug-18
CIVIL ENGINEERING £770 £781 £806 £803
DEMOLITION & WRECKING £744 £731 £746 £751
ELECTRICAL £1,019 £1,045 £1,026 £1,087
EQUIPMENT & OPERATOR HIRE £858 £859 £919 £897
GENERAL CONSTRUCTION £994 £959 £992 £1,008
INSULATION £812 £750 £772 £751
JOINERY £780 £805 £823 £842
PLASTERING £618 £737 £729 £709
PLUMBING £1,073 £1,055 £1,169 £1,226
ROOFING £879 £867 £876 £877
SCAFFOLDING & LIFTING £814 £820 £838 £821
SHOP FITTING £1,125 £1,173 £920 £1,218
SPECIALIST TRADES £842 £793 £857 £838
STEEL & TIMBER FRAME ERECTION £1,120 £999 £836 £1,100
SURFACING CONTRACTORS £824 £821 £864 £884

West Midlands

WEST MIDLANDS May-18 Jun-18 Jul-18 Aug-18
BRICKLAYING £422 £351 £363 £855
CIVIL ENGINEERING £905 £923 £953 £965
DEMOLITION & WRECKING £600 £669 £656 £645
ELECTRICAL £1,135 £1,162 £1,145 £1,152
EQUIPMENT & OPERATOR HIRE £829 £827 £883 £873
GENERAL CONSTRUCTION £808 £853 £878 £857
INSULATION £778 £786 £789 £774
JOINERY £1,163 £1,154 £1,179 £1,263
MECHANICAL & ENGINEERING £1,554 £1,489 £1,404 £1,513
PLASTERING £637 £667 £764 £656
PLUMBING £1,248 £1,187 £1,235 £1,186
ROOFING £514 £541 £594 £602
SCAFFOLDING & LIFTING £1,091 £833 £687 £775
SHOP FITTING £1,226 £1,310 £1,115 £1,221
SPECIALIST TRADES £936 £891 £896 £946
SURFACING CONTRACTORS £765 £765 £796 £823

Wales

WALES May-18 Jun-18 Jul-18 Aug-18
CIVIL ENGINEERING £720 £729 £747 £797
ELECTRICAL £948 £852 £755 £832
EQUIPMENT & OPERATOR HIRE £1,276 £1,257 £1,407 £1,257
GENERAL CONSTRUCTION £878 £917 £855 £871
JOINERY £415 £422 £431 £368
PLASTERING £960 £1,140 £1,110 £1,110
PLUMBING £818 £816 £830 £814
ROOFING £410 £413 £454 £450
SCAFFOLDING & LIFTING £678 £710 £682 £681
SPECIALIST TRADES £729 £724 £844 £800
STEEL & TIMBER FRAME ERECTION £652 £571 £720 £689
SURFACING CONTRACTORS £1,031 £1,104 £1,118 £1,044

East of England

EAST OF ENGLAND May-18 Jun-18 Jul-18 Aug-18
BRICKLAYING £750 £777 £813 £770
CIVIL ENGINEERING £842 £858 £878 £870
DEMOLITION & WRECKING £662 £661 £673 £656
ELECTRICAL £1,361 £1,315 £1,311 £1,287
EQUIPMENT & OPERATOR HIRE £954 £938 £933 £937
GENERAL CONSTRUCTION £924 £898 £930 £933
INSULATION £912 £911 £1,032 £1,073
JOINERY £1,252 £1,159 £1,187 £1,300
MECHANICAL & ENGINEERING £1,144 £1,167 £1,166 £1,053
PLASTERING £824 £856 £914 £906
PLUMBING £1,246 £1,251 £1,291 £1,299
ROOFING £702 £753 £778 £768
SCAFFOLDING & LIFTING £825 £842 £856 £846
SHOP FITTING £1,279 £1,283 £1,394 £1,347
SPECIALIST TRADES £844 £833 £853 £892
STEEL & TIMBER FRAME ERECTION £734 £685 £773 £836
SURFACING CONTRACTORS £680 £696 £749 £713

London

LONDON May-18 Jun-18 Jul-18 Aug-18
BRICKLAYING £740 £752 £768 £718
CIVIL ENGINEERING £770 £785 £806 £811
DEMOLITION & WRECKING £1,033 £596 £637
ELECTRICAL £970 £999 £1,033 £1,023
EQUIPMENT & OPERATOR HIRE £826 £875 £1,064 £932
GENERAL CONSTRUCTION £897 £899 £943 £912
INSULATION £824 £1,005 £1,158 £971
JOINERY £1,110 £1,027 £1,101 £1,059
MECHANICAL & ENGINEERING £1,301 £1,249 £1,180 £1,241
PLASTERING £1,458 £1,423 £1,341 £1,326
PLUMBING £957 £938 £958 £997
ROOFING £765 £773 £784 £850
SCAFFOLDING & LIFTING £1,137 £1,111 £1,166 £1,164
SHOP FITTING £865 £810 £956 £955
SPECIALIST TRADES £989 £1,044 £1,130 £1,094
STEEL & TIMBER FRAME ERECTION £649 £655 £669 £709
SURFACING CONTRACTORS £450 £480 £647 £575

South East

SOUTH EAST May-18 Jun-18 Jul-18 Aug-18
BRICKLAYING £729 £792 £805 £789
CIVIL ENGINEERING £742 £759 £798 £782
DEMOLITION & WRECKING £1,154 £1,209 £1,280 £1,161
ELECTRICAL £1,138 £1,235 £1,115 £1,162
EQUIPMENT & OPERATOR HIRE £758 £789 £842 £810
GENERAL CONSTRUCTION £823 £824 £861 £853
INSULATION £838 £963 £849 £1,389
JOINERY £1,006 £1,048 £1,018 £996
MECHANICAL & ENGINEERING £1,060 £1,126 £1,127 £1,087
PLASTERING £773 £804 £956 £866
PLUMBING £991 £1,048 £1,052 £1,060
ROOFING £710 £739 £752 £754
SCAFFOLDING & LIFTING £805 £803 £842 £824
SHOP FITTING £1,198 £1,222 £1,298 £1,310
SPECIALIST TRADES £826 £791 £820 £891
STEEL & TIMBER FRAME ERECTION £743 £780 £761 £780
SURFACING CONTRACTORS £791 £756 £780 £755

South West

SOUTH WEST May-18 Jun-18 Jul-18 Aug-18
BRICKLAYING £1,574 £1,169 £600 £1,495
CIVIL ENGINEERING £677 £663 £691 £702
ELECTRICAL £736 £697 £659 £659
EQUIPMENT & OPERATOR HIRE £553 £755 £612 £622
GENERAL CONSTRUCTION £904 £878 £886 £874
INSULATION £1,231 £1,334 £1,501 £1,505
JOINERY £1,058 £1,089 £1,073 £1,077
MECHANICAL & ENGINEERING £635 £634 £679 £654
PLASTERING £875 £647 £713 £806
PLUMBING £1,177 £1,270 £1,734 £1,318
ROOFING £760 £811 £829 £847
SPECIALIST TRADES £858 £807 £968 £804
SURFACING CONTRACTORS £602 £618 £630 £636