True cost of labour calculator
What you actually pay for project labour.PAYE vs Agency vs UrProject.
Build a real cost picture. Every employer cost included on PAYE, full agency margin and VAT, UrProject's direct CIS rate plus £50 platform fee. Pick the workers you use, see the gap.
1. Who's on the team
Pick from each category. Add as many as you need.
2. Programme
How long the team is on this job.
3. Productivity, downtime, risk
Per the manual: every labour estimate must apply these three.
What you save with UrProject — P&L impact + cashflow impact
Add workers above to see the comparison
Local, verified labour adds savings the calculator cannot see. These compound across multiple projects.
- Workers persist between projects. No re-recruitment, no re-induction, no re-vetting every time you mobilise.
- Local matching cuts travel cost. Workers matched to nearby postcodes spend less time and money on the commute. Less fatigue, more productive output.
- No accommodation overheads. When the platform sources locally, you don't pay to put workers up off-site.
- Skill ratings cut rework. You see the worker's verified skill profile before they start. Fewer mismatches, less corrective labour.
- One platform across all your jobs. Switching cost between projects is zero — same verified pool, same locked rates.
4. The three engagement models compared
Same team, same programme, three ways of paying for it.
Direct PAYE
Highest adminAgency
+VAT cashflowUrProject
RecommendedWhat's actually included in each model — full breakdown
Direct PAYE — what a UK employer actually pays on top of base wage (2025/26):
- Employer's National Insurance — 15% on earnings above £5,000/year secondary threshold (Autumn Budget 2024 change, in effect April 2025)
- Holiday pay accrual — 12.07% (statutory minimum, 5.6 weeks)
- Workplace pension — 3% employer contribution minimum (auto-enrolment)
- Apprenticeship Levy — 0.5% on payroll above £3M annual
- CITB Levy — 0.35% on PAYE earnings (construction sector)
- Employer's liability insurance — mandatory, ~1-1.5% of payroll for construction
- Public liability insurance — typically required, ~0.3-0.5%
- Equipment and PPE — boots, hi-vis, helmet, tools (~1-2% amortised)
- Travel allowances — site-dependent, typical £20-£35/day
- SSP (statutory sick pay) — £116.75/week (2024/25), amortised ~0.5-1%
- Recruitment and onboarding — amortised over typical tenure (~£25-£40/week per worker)
- Payroll admin — internal cost ~1-2%
Total PAYE on-cost: typically 35-50% on top of base pay in UK construction.
Agency — what's bundled in the charge rate:
- Worker's base pay (what the worker actually takes home before tax)
- Holiday pay 12.07% (rolled up)
- Employer's NI 15% (agency carries this as the employer)
- Apprenticeship Levy, CITB Levy
- Employer's liability insurance
- Recruitment and admin overhead
- Agency margin / profit — typically 15-30% on top
Plus: VAT at 20% on the invoice (reclaimable, but creates 30-90 day cashflow drag against quarterly HMRC reclaim cycle).
UrProject — direct CIS pricing with platform layer:
- Worker's day rate (CIS subcontractor) — paid net of CIS deduction
- 20% CIS deduction goes to HMRC on worker's behalf (this is normal CIS, not extra cost)
- £50/worker/week platform fee — covers verification, locked rates, time tracking, dispute pack, compliance
- No VAT on labour services
- No employer's NI or holiday accrual (subcontractor, not employee)
- No agency margin
- No recruitment cost (verified worker pool, persistent profiles)
UrProject typically lands 25-40% below Agency and 20-35% below Direct PAYE for equivalent labour.
Methodology — how the calculator builds the numbers
Following the formula in Section 2 of the Specialist Contractor's Labour Manual:
Total = (Day Rate × Days) + Statutory On-Costs + Downtime Allowance + Risk Reserve + Platform Fee
- Gross days = Workers × Programme weeks × Days per week
- Productivity factor reduces effective output, modelled in downtime allowance
- Downtime cost = Base × Downtime %
- Statutory on-costs (PAYE only) = NI + Holiday + Pension + Levies + Insurance + PPE + Travel + Admin
- Risk reserve = (Base + Downtime + Statutory) × Risk %
- Agency VAT = (Charge Rate × Days) × 20%
- UrProject platform fee = £50 × Workers × Weeks
Want more detail on the methodology?
The full Specialist Contractor's Labour Manual covers calculation methods, commercial file structure, dispute prevention, and UK trade rate benchmarks.