Trade Rate Index · Plumbing

What plumbing work really costs, and what to charge over it

For the plumbing jobs quoted most: the benchmark cost of actually doing the work, and the sell rates that land a floor, healthy or premium margin, on the national card and on every regional card. All ex GST, derived from Sumitt's 2026 rate cards. Type your own rate into the checker to see where you sit.

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How to read it. Cost is the benchmark cost of doing the reference job in an average Australian region, per unit, before any margin. Floor adds a 15% margin (the house minimum), Healthy adds 30%, Premium adds 40%. The spread column shows how the healthy rate moves across regional cost factors. These are cost-derived guides for your own pricing, not a survey of what anyone else charges, and not advice.

Plumbing: the benchmarks

JobCostFloorHealthyPremiumHealthy, by region
Bathroom reno (toilet, vanity, shower)per the job · benchmark scope: bathroom reno with new toilet, vanity and shower$3,520$4,141$5,029$5,867$4,774 to $5,641Adelaide / SA metroDarwin / NTCheck your rate
Hot water swap (like for like)per the job · benchmark scope: replace electric hot water like for like$1,725$2,029$2,464$2,875$2,363 to $2,827Adelaide / SA metroDarwin / NTCheck your rate

The healthy rate, card by card

The same reference scope priced on each regional rate card, ex GST, at the healthy margin. Each card carries its own material and labour factor against the national average.

Rate cardMaterialsLabourBathroom reno (toilet, vanity, shower)Hot water swap (like for like)
Australia-wide average (default)1.001.00$5,029$2,464
Sydney / NSW metro1.061.14$5,559$2,623
Melbourne / VIC metro1.001.00$5,029$2,464
Brisbane / SEQ1.041.06$5,283$2,566
Perth / WA metro1.031.02$5,151$2,537
Adelaide / SA metro0.960.94$4,774$2,363
Canberra / ACT1.051.12$5,477$2,597
Hobart / TAS1.000.96$4,913$2,459
Darwin / NT1.151.10$5,641$2,827
Regional (freight + travel)1.081.03$5,291$2,656

Method.Every figure is derived, not surveyed: Sumitt’s 2026 regional rate cards (the original eleven trades recalibrated July 2026 against named-supplier pricing; carpentry, roofing, bricklaying and rendering calibrated on their addition in August 2026) are priced over the reference scope shown under each job by the same deterministic takeoff engine the app quotes with, then grossed up to each margin level. All figures ex GST. Regional spread uses the same rate cards’ material and labour factors. No AI, no user data, and nothing here reflects what any Sumitt user charges.

These are the current edition’s figures; the edition label and its publication date are on the index. Rates are guidance for your own pricing, not gospel and not advice; your costs are the ones that matter, and every derived number stays editable inside Sumitt.