Quoting software for plasterers.
Plastering is priced by the square metre and paid for by the day, and the gap between those two is where the money goes. TradeDraft shows what the job costs you and what you keep while you are still able to change the price.
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Square metres from your own rates
Skim, board and skim, full re-plaster, render — all priced per square metre from your own rates. The rate book keeps them, so a two-room skim takes its figures from the last one you priced.
Bonding and browning to bare brick, dry lining and lime plaster for heritage work are separate items, because they are separate jobs at separate prices.
Access, and the visit that is not the first one
Much of this trade is overhead work, and a tower or access equipment is a real cost on a ceiling job. It is its own line in the rate book rather than something that comes out of the day.
So is the return visit. Plaster dries when it dries; going back to finish, check or make good is time on site, and pricing it as a line is the difference between a job that pays and one that nearly does.
What you keep, before you send it
While you price, the app shows what the work costs you, what your day rate has to bring back in, and what you actually keep. When a price stops covering the first two it says so, in those words. Once the customer accepts, you are stuck with it — so the check happens while you can still change the number. How the day rate is worked out is in the day-rate guide. When a job is better charged by the day than priced, see dayworks.
Working for a builder
On subcontract work for a builder, plastering is usually inside the Construction Industry Scheme. The deduction then comes off your labour only: TradeDraft takes the quote total, removes the materials figure you enter, and works it out on what is left. The plaster and board you paid for stay out of it. If the reverse charge conditions are met, the quote goes out with no VAT charged and the required wording on it. The rules behind both are in CIS for subcontractors.
What it has nothing to do with
It does not schedule your work, chase your materials or tell you when a wall is dry. It covers the paperwork either side of the trowel: the price, the customer's go-ahead, the return visit if one is needed, and the invoice.
Questions worth asking first
Does CIS apply to plastering?
Usually, when the work is for a contractor rather than a homeowner. TradeDraft then works the deduction out on the quote total less the materials figure you enter. Whether a particular job is within scope is a question for you and HMRC — our CIS guide sets out the conditions.
Can I price the access equipment separately?
Yes. Access and tower hire is its own item in the rate book, as is a return visit, so neither has to come out of the day rate.
How much is it?
£45 a month or £450 a year, flat, with no per-user charge. Start by 5 April and it’s £22.50 a month for your first 12 months.