BCIS (the cost index produced by the RICS) suggests that a 2:1 gang (2 bricklayers and I labourer) should charge just under £50/hour for their labour. Assuming an 8 hour productive day, this will cost £400. Working at average speeds one good bricklayer might lay 600 bricks in the day. So 1200 bricks between the gang will amount to 20m² of single skin face brickwork (60 bricks per m²). Therefore at £400, each m² will cost £20 for the labour. My own estimation about the cost of a gang in practical terms today in outer London would be a gang rate of £600/day and therefore a m² rate of £30. I haven’t yet met many bricklayers who ever deliver 1000 bricks per day although I know it is common place for this to be a performance target. And if the work is complex then 600 may be ambitious.

Head to our guide to working with bricklayers for more advice: https://www.self-build.co.uk/guide-working-groundworkers-bricklayers

Tim Doherty (Build It expert and MD at Dobanti Chartered Surveyors)