Freelance Builder Pay Trends: June 2013
3rd June 2013 | Hudson Contract
Hudson Contract delivers the most accurate indications of pay trends across the construction industry, using payroll data for over 2,200 construction companies and over 125,000 freelance builders to publish the average pay for the full spectrum of 17 different trades across five regions.
It’s something of a mixed picture, this month.
On the one hand, new statistics from Markit/CIPS reveal that – helped by an increase in the level of house building – the UK construction sector has returned to growth after six dismal months.
Yet freelance builders who saw an across-the-board earnings increase last month are all worse off this month, with earnings down by as much as 3 per cent in the North-West and South-West. In the Midlands, the fall of 1.5% is less dramatic, while those in the North-East and South-East are marginally less well off.
Comments Hudson Contract Managing Director David Jackson, "Comparing the earnings averages to this time last year, the numbers remain relatively static. But of course when you take into consideration increases to the cost of living, everyone is having a tough time.”
| Avg Earnings | North-East | North-West | Midlands | South-East | South-West |
| May 2013 | £538.38 | £603.91 | £614.20 | £660.74 | £599.84 |
| May 2012 | £568.08 | £595.12 | £583.96 | £634.72 | £599.88 |
| Difference | + £15.30 | + £8.79 | + £30.24 | + £26.02 | - £0.04 |
NORTH EAST
| Last Month | 3 months ago | % change | |
| Bricklaying | £ 501.49 | £ 489.42 | 2.47% |
| Civil Engineering | £554.84 | £550.00 | 0.88% |
| Demolition | £392.73 | £354.27 | 10.86% |
| Electrical | £646.51 | £633.66 | 2.03% |
| Equipment & Operator hire | £571.41 | £623.85 | -8.41% |
| Fit out by specialist trades | £699.58 | £607.96 | 15.07% |
| General Construction | £557.46 | £582.57 | -4.31% |
| Insulation | £635.64 | £621.78 | 2.23% |
| Joinery | £500.21 | £585.52 | -14.57% |
| Mechanical | £647.35 | £611.62 | 5.84% |
| Plastering | £663.50 | £597.07 | 11.13% |
| Plumbing | £611.37 | £628.73 | -2.76% |
| Roofing | £613.20 | £574.88 | 6.67% |
| Scaffolding | £472.63 | £480.73 | -1.68% |
| Shopfitting | £634.01 | £684.22 | -7.34% |
| Steel & Timber frame erect | £673.76 | £675.11 | -0.20% |
| Surfacing contractors | £541.69 | £632.54 | -14.36% |
| Average | £ 583.38 | £ 584.35 | -0.17% |
NORTH WEST
| Last Month | 3 months ago | % change | |
| Bricklaying | £ 468.41 | £ 439.93 | 6.47% |
| Civil Engineering | £547.23 | £559.07 | -2.12% |
| Demolition | £797.43 | £698.73 | 14.13% |
| Electrical | £651.43 | £699.88 | -6.92% |
| Equipment & Operator hire | £620.07 | £658.91 | -5.89% |
| Fit out by specialist trades | £718.83 | £825.70 | -12.94% |
| General Construction | £563.17 | £589.18 | -4.41% |
| Insulation | £626.09 | £599.02 | 4.52% |
| Joinery | £569.30 | £635.09 | -10.36% |
| Mechanical | £456.60 | £499.95 | -8.67% |
| Plastering | £499.62 | £551.97 | -9.48% |
| Plumbing | £608.63 | £591.52 | 2.89% |
| Roofing | £641.68 | £672.27 | -4.55% |
| Scaffolding | £408.08 | £426.79 | -4.38% |
| Shopfitting | £791.21 | £914.19 | -13.45% |
| Steel & Timber frame erect | £702.13 | £627.25 | 11.94% |
| Surfacing contractors | £596.50 | £612.77 | -2.66% |
| Average | £ 603.91 | £ 623.66 | -3.17% |
MIDLANDS
| Last Month | 3 months ago | % change | |
| Bricklaying | £ 433.45 | £ 442.58 | -2.06% |
| Civil Engineering | £644.62 | £669.63 | -3.73% |
| Demolition | £505.08 | £517.78 | -2.45% |
| Electrical | £646.91 | £658.62 | -1.78% |
| Equipment & Operator hire | £607.03 | £510.58 | 18.89% |
| Fit out by specialist trades | £558.42 | £475.54 | 17.43% |
| General Construction | £601.41 | £616.05 | -2.38% |
| Insulation | £666.60 | £665.96 | 0.10% |
| Joinery | £664.34 | £695.24 | -4.44% |
| Mechanical | £699.41 | £786.88 | -11.12% |
| Plastering | £568.05 | £547.53 | 3.75% |
| Plumbing | £644.05 | £613.24 | 5.02% |
| Roofing | £423.06 | £477.98 | -11.49% |
| Scaffolding | £573.85 | £547.25 | 4.86% |
| Shopfitting | £812.14 | £897.94 | -9.56% |
| Steel & Timber frame erect | £774.76 | £786.22 | -1.46% |
| Surfacing contractors | £618.20 | £690.91 | -10.52% |
| Average | £ 614.20 | £ 623.53 | -1.50% |
SOUTH EAST
| Last Month | 3 months ago | % change | |
| Bricklaying | £ 532.86 | £ 532.36 | 0.09% |
| Civil Engineering | £635.47 | £686.29 | -7.41% |
| Demolition | £509.27 | £445.83 | 14.23% |
| Electrical | £807.18 | £780.35 | 3.44% |
| Equipment & Operator hire | £730.65 | £717.80 | 1.79% |
| Fit out by specialist trades | £601.08 | £645.11 | -6.83% |
| General Construction | £585.39 | £614.82 | -4.79% |
| Insulation | £708.41 | £738.80 | -4.11% |
| Joinery | £744.76 | £740.64 | 0.56% |
| Mechanical | £700.42 | £678.24 | 3.27% |
| Plastering | £576.07 | £581.02 | -0.85% |
| Plumbing | £837.61 | £790.14 | 6.01% |
| Roofing | £592.88 | £705.47 | -15.96% |
| Scaffolding | £602.35 | £599.64 | 0.45% |
| Shopfitting | £889.98 | £822.14 | 8.25% |
| Steel & Timber frame erect | £574.65 | £601.66 | -4.49% |
| Surfacing contractors | £603.62 | £643.91 | -6.26% |
| Average | £ 660.74 | £ 666.13 | -0.81% |
SOUTH WEST
| Last Month | 3 months ago | % change | |
| Bricklaying | £ 507.61 | £ 413.81 | 22.67% |
| Civil Engineering | £549.70 | £567.76 | -3.18% |
| Demolition | £616.53 | £654.07 | -5.74% |
| Electrical | £678.12 | £670.26 | 1.17% |
| Equipment & Operator hire | £528.24 | £563.43 | -6.25% |
| Fit out by specialist trades | £703.56 | £688.13 | 2.24% |
| General Construction | £620.71 | £616.60 | 0.67% |
| Insulation | £629.87 | £614.95 | 2.43% |
| Joinery | £479.85 | £458.75 | 4.60% |
| Mechanical | £591.58 | £652.96 | -9.40% |
| Plastering | £547.35 | £566.36 | -3.36% |
| Plumbing | £581.17 | £626.49 | -7.23% |
| Roofing | £553.61 | £565.24 | -2.06% |
| Scaffolding | £555.45 | £658.18 | -15.61% |
| Shopfitting | £832.88 | £968.06 | -13.96% |
| Steel & Timber frame erect | £745.43 | £761.03 | -2.05% |
| Surfacing contractors | £475.65 | £532.31 | -10.64% |
| Average | £ 599.84 | £ 622.26 | -3.60% |
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 over the twelve weeks to 31st May 2013.
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