Roofers Lose £25k a Year to Wasted Time, Research Reveals

Self-employed roofers could lose an average of £25,365 in potential earnings every year to admin, travel time and reworks, new research has revealed.

The ‘Time is Money’ report by home improvement specialists, Eurocell, analysed 13 different trades using average hourly rates from Checkatrade, estimating the potential cost of time spent on non-chargeable tasks, including admin, travel and reworking jobs by sole traders.

The figures were then combined to calculate how much potential income tradespeople could miss out on if they could have spent that time on paid work.

Lost Earnings

Across the 13 trades in the UK, tradespeople lose an estimated £26,472 in potential earnings, with roofers falling just below the national average.

Tradespeople rely heavily on their time to earn money, but a significant amount of their working week can become swallowed up by tasks that don’t directly generate income.

In fact, research found that 77% of tradespeople in the UK do their admin tasks in the evening when their working day ends, which is time taken away from personal and family life.

To help tradespeople avoid missing out on earnings and family time with loved ones, the Eurocell team ranked the 13 trades by potential earnings losses, while also highlighting where tradespeople could reduce time spent on non-chargeable tasks.

Wasted Hours

The research found that roofers lose an estimated £25,365 every year, with a weekly lost time figure of 12.65 hours, resulting in a potential weekly loss of £487.78 and a monthly sum of £2,112.

Out of the trades analysed, plumbers were revealed to be the worst affected by loss of potential earnings, losing around 13.58 hours of working time every week, which amounts to an estimated £31,777 per annum.

On average, plumbers spend around eight hours per week on overtime admin, lose around one hour to extra travel time, and spend a further 4.68 hours a week on return visits and potential reworks on trickier fittings. Sole traders in the plumbing industry are estimated to be losing up to £611.10 every week and £2,647 per month thanks to lost time.

Following behind in the list are bricklayers and tilers, who are both tied to lose potential earnings of £27,417. Builders take fourth place, forfeiting £26,312 every year, which equates to around £2,192 lost monthly.

At the other end of the table, painters & decorators have the lowest estimated potential earnings loss at £18,590 a year. However, that still amounts to around 11 hours of working time lost every week, highlighting that even the trade with the lowest figure isn’t immune to the impact of non-chargeable work.

Time is Money

Helen Godsiff, Brand Manager at home improvement specialist Eurocell, said: “Our research shows that tradespeople in the UK are unfortunately at risk of losing a significant amount of potential earnings, with the figures reaching an average of £26,472.

“While some lost time is unavoidable, it’s worth noting that jobs with more complex or poor-quality fittings are more prone to repeat visits to ensure details are finished to the highest standard.

“Time spent in traffic and working on extra admin can also quickly eat into the working day, particularly for self-employed tradespeople who are responsible for managing their own jobs and touching base with suppliers.

“Finding ways to make these tasks quicker and more efficient can therefore make a real difference. For tradespeople, time really is money, so looking at where those lost hours are going could be an easy first step towards making more of the working day.”

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