Kitchen Fitter Day Rates UK: Labour, Person-Days and Scope

Reviewed 18 September 2026. A kitchen fitter’s day rate is only one input to an installation budget. The number of person-days, assembly work, room condition, trade coordination and exclusions determine what the finished job costs. A low rate with a longer programme can cost more than a higher rate attached to a tightly specified task.

Checkatrade’s new-kitchen guide publishes a broad ordinary fitter reference of £250–£350 per day. We use £250/£300/£350 as gross planning allowances, not a survey of current local transactions. The guide’s page was updated in March 2026, while its itemised kitchen table is dated March 2025. That distinction matters when describing the evidence.

Person-days are not calendar days

One person working for five days represents five person-days. Two people each working for four days represent eight person-days, even though the calendar programme lasts four days. Clarify whether a contractor’s “day rate” is for one individual or an entire team, and whether an assistant is charged separately.

The calculator uses units divided by four plus 1.5 setup/snagging days as a simple carpentry placeholder. It rounds to the nearest half-day. This is a disclosed assumption, not a measured productivity standard, and it can be overridden. Flat-pack assembly, unusual joinery and difficult access may require more time.

For example, 12 divided by four plus 1.5 equals 4.5 person-days. At £300 per day that is £1,350. The same arithmetic does not establish how quickly a particular room can be fitted. A site inspection and the agreed cabinet schedule are better evidence than the placeholder.

Define what cabinet fitting covers

Ask whether the quote includes checking the delivery, assembling cabinets, setting out, levelling, securing units, fitting doors and drawers, installing panels, cutting plinths and making final adjustments. Handles and specialist storage can add work. A cabinet count alone does not describe every task.

Our model includes ordinary laminate or timber worktop fitting within paid cabinet-fitter time. It therefore does not charge a second fixed fee for that work. If your chosen installer excludes it, replace the relevant line with a scoped quote. The worktop comparison explains the different treatment of specialist fabrication.

Specialist worktops are different

Stone and some acrylic surfaces are commonly sold through a separate fabricator, with templating, manufacturing and installation in one package. The cabinet installer’s price should not silently duplicate that package. Ask who prepares the units for templating, which tolerances the fabricator requires and who returns for connections.

A supplied-and-installed worktop quote replaces the whole worktop allowance. If basic cut-outs and fitting are included, do not add those charges again. Equally, check whether upstands, unusual edges, lifting equipment or additional visits are excluded. A simple “price per metre” is not enough to identify ownership of those jobs.

Removal is not automatically included

Taking out an existing kitchen involves more than unscrewing cabinets. Appliances and services may need safe disconnection, access must be protected, materials moved through the property, and waste handled appropriately. Agree who undertakes each task and whether disposal is in the price.

The model retains £700/£1,000/£1,500 as provisional combined strip-out, waste and local-repair allowances when that option is selected. Those are inherited planning budgets, not independently verified task tariffs. Replace them with an itemised quote rather than treating them as a guaranteed complete service. Removal time is not also added to the cabinet-fitter days.

Making good versus decorating the whole room

Local patch repairs are different from replastering every wall, levelling the entire floor or repainting the room. A small allowance for local repairs should never be described as covering those larger jobs. The calculator leaves additional preparation and decoration unquoted until you enter an amount.

Floor preparation can only be assessed properly once substrate condition and the intended finish are known. A supplier may include underlay or adhesive in its package, but not repairs. Confirm the boundary between floor installer, carpenter and decorator before accepting any “full installation” description.

Plumbing, electrics and appliance connections

Professional fitting does not automatically include every regulated trade. Ask who disconnects appliances, alters water and waste pipes, tests electrical work and supplies the relevant paperwork. Even appliances being retained can require paid reconnection. See our services guide for the scope questions.

Notification rules differ across the UK. For England, the authoritative starting point is Approved Document P. Do not assume that a generic kitchen-fitter quote covers electrical compliance or that a kitchen is automatically treated as a special location. Gas work needs an appropriately qualified Gas Safe registered engineer.

Fixed prices, day rates and per-unit quotes

A fixed-price job provides a defined amount for a defined scope. Ask what counts as a variation, who approves it and how extra work is priced. A day-rate arrangement should still include an estimated duration, attendance assumptions, a material basis and a process for discussing overruns.

Per-unit pricing can be useful, but it is not interchangeable with either approach unless the contractor defines assembly, panels, worktops and finishing. Multiplying a per-unit headline by twelve does not necessarily reproduce a twelve-unit fitted package. Compare the final scope, not whichever single unit looks cheapest.

Why we removed exact regional tables

We do not have a reliable matched dataset that establishes a precise rate for every UK region. Access, travel, parking, local demand and contractor workload can matter within the same postcode. Publishing exact London uplifts or northern discounts would imply more evidence than we hold.

The region selector therefore does not automatically change prices. Enter the locally quoted gross rate in the calculator, or replace the fitting line entirely. Keep material prices and delivery separate: an unsupported percentage uplift on cabinetry is not a substitute for an actual supplier quotation.

Check tax, payment and programme

Confirm whether the price includes VAT. The standard VAT rate is 20%, but not every supplier charges it. Our calculator uses gross inputs and never adds VAT again. A net trade quotation must be made comparable with a gross retail price before deciding which is cheaper.

Get written start and completion expectations without confusing working time with drying, delivery and fabrication lead times. Citizens Advice’s building-work guidance supports written quotes and cautious payment arrangements. Agree progress stages and a snagging process rather than relying on an informal promise.

Finally, use the fitting cost guide and pricing methodology to reconcile labour with the whole project. A transparent allowance is useful for planning; an itemised, inspected and agreed quotation is what makes the installation budget dependable.