How Much to Charge for Plumbing Work in Ireland in 2026

What an Irish plumbing quote needs to include

Because part of the job can be legally regulated and part isn't, the quote needs to make clear which is which. Nine things, every time:

1. 1Your business details — name, logo, contact details, and (if any part of the job is gas work) your RGI registration number.
2. 2The customer's name and the site address — older Irish homes with ageing copper or cast-iron stacks, and tricky access (lofts, under-floor runs), both move the price.
3. 3A quote number and date.
4. 4Itemised line items — never one lump sum for "plumbing work".
5. 5What's not included — tiling, redecorating, making good beyond a first-fix patch.
6. 6Whether the job needs an RGI-registered engineer, and who's doing that part if it isn't you.
7. 7The VAT rate applied, and why — 13.5% or 23%, shown as its own line rather than folded silently into the price.
8. 8Subtotal, VAT, and the total, all in euro.
9. 9A valid-until date — 14–30 days is standard — and payment terms: deposit for materials, balance on completion.

Most quotes that lose a job on price alone are missing the registration line — homeowners increasingly check before they book, and when it isn't stated plainly, the "cheap" quote starts to look like the riskier one.

RGI only applies to the gas part — and that's worth explaining on the quote

There's no national licensing scheme that covers "plumber" as a job title in Ireland. General water, drainage and central-heating pipework can be quoted and carried out by any competent plumber. Gas is the exception: work on a domestic gas installation or appliance must only be carried out by a Registered Gas Installer (RGI). The register is run by Safe Energy Ireland on behalf of the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU), and an RGI has to be trained, insured, and able to issue a Declaration of Conformance confirming the work meets the I.S. 813 standard once it's done.

This is a genuine legal line, not a courtesy. The CRU runs criminal prosecutions against people who carry out gas work illegally or falsely present themselves as registered — in May 2026, a Cork District Court case saw a man convicted and fined €1,500, with a further €3,000 in costs awarded to the CRU, for illegal gas works and falsely portraying himself as an RGI. That means a growing number of Irish homeowners now check before they book a boiler job — and a quote that states plainly whether RGI registration applies, and who holds it, answers that question before it's asked instead of leaving a homeowner to go digging.

What to charge in 2026

Irish plumbing pricing varies by region and job type, but these are a fair starting point for 2026, all excluding VAT:

• Hourly rate: roughly €55–€95, with around €80 typical for most domestic work.
• Call-out fee: commonly €90–€150, averaging around €120, rising to €135–€165 for evenings, weekends and emergencies.
• Tap installation or replacement: €75–€160, averaging around €115.
• Toilet replacement: €130–€265, averaging around €195.
• Radiator installation or replacement: €180–€525, averaging around €225.
• Hot water cylinder replacement: €500–€1,300, averaging around €750.
• Boiler service: €75–€160, averaging around €115.
• Gas boiler replacement (RGI required): €1,500–€2,500, averaging around €1,900.
• Broken pipe repair: €500–€2,000, averaging around €650.

These are labour-and-materials job prices, not take-home margin — build in your van, tool and call-outs that don't convert before you settle on your own number.

The VAT rule that applies to most plumbing jobs

Ireland's standard VAT rate is 23%. Revenue's own VAT rates database lists plumbing valves, supplied and installed in a private dwelling, at the reduced 13.5% rate — but with one sharp condition attached: "supply only is liable at Standard rate". The reduced rate is for combined supply-and-fit work, not for parts sold on their own.

The broader mechanism behind that is Revenue's two-thirds rule. When a job combines goods (the materials you supply) with a service (your labour), compare the cost of those materials against two-thirds of the total job price, excluding VAT. If your materials cost more than that threshold, the goods' rate applies to the whole job — usually the standard 23% rate. If materials stay under the threshold, the service rate — 13.5%, for qualifying supply-and-fit work in a private home — applies to the entire job instead, materials included.

None of this is tax advice, and the correct treatment depends on the exact mix of goods and labour in your own contract — Revenue's VAT rates database, or your accountant, is the place to confirm anything borderline. But knowing the shape of the rule, and the supply-only trap specifically, means you can quote the right rate from the start instead of discovering the gap when a customer or Revenue questions the invoice later.

A worked example

A gas combi boiler replacement with a power flush, quoted the right way — VAT worked out using Revenue's own two-thirds method, not guessed:

Materials for the boiler, flue and filter come to roughly €950 — well under two-thirds of the €1,630 subtotal (€1,086.67), so the 13.5% reduced rate applies to the whole job rather than the 23% standard rate. Work carried out by an RGI-registered engineer; Declaration of Conformance issued on completion. Valid for 21 days. 30% deposit to order the boiler, balance on completion and handover of the certificate.

Five details that get Irish plumbing quotes accepted faster

• State whether the job needs an RGI-registered engineer, and who that is. If you're subbing out the gas connection, name the subcontractor and their registration on the quote itself — a homeowner comparing quotes notices who answers this without being asked.
• Name the certificate, not just "it'll be signed off". "RGI Declaration of Conformance issued on handover" is a specific, checkable line. A vague promise of certification is exactly the kind of thing that turns into a dispute once the invoice lands.
• Show your VAT rate, and why it applies. A quote that states "13.5% reduced rate, supply and install" reads like it came from someone who understands Revenue's rules — and flags early if a job is supply-only and therefore standard-rated instead.
• Make accepting effortless. A homeowner comparing three plumbers will pick whichever quote is easiest to say yes to — one tap on their phone beats print, sign, scan, every time.
• Follow up once, properly. A short "happy to talk through the boiler options" a few days later recovers jobs that got buried under two other quotes while the homeowner was still deciding.

The fastest way to do all of this

Working out whether a job needs RGI, then getting the VAT rate right on top of itemising the boiler, the flush and the certification, is exactly the kind of thing that gets skipped when you're quoting between call-outs — which is how a supply-only job ends up invoiced at 13.5%, or a straightforward fit-and-supply job ends up at 23%.

This is what QuoteRocket is for. Describe the job in plain English — "gas combi boiler replacement, power flush, commission and certify" — and it turns that into a branded, itemised PDF quote in under a minute, priced automatically in euro for Irish customers. Your customer accepts it with one tap on their phone, and an accepted quote becomes an invoice in one click, with the boiler, the flush, the certification and the VAT line all itemised instead of folded into one guessed total.

Whatever tool you use to produce it, the principles hold: state clearly whether RGI registration applies and who holds it, name the certificate you'll issue, work out your VAT rate properly rather than defaulting to one number for everything, and make saying yes effortless.

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