Published averages vary by trade, region and size of firm, so treat any single figure with care. Your own number is more useful: it comes from your overheads, not someone else's.
Then check each trade against it. In the example below the whole job looks healthy, but one trade is close to break even and would turn into a loss with one day of delay.
| Trade | Client pays | Subcontractor | Profit | Margin | Markup |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electrical | £12,000 | £9,000 | £3,000 | 25% | 33.3% |
| Ceilings | £8,000 | £6,400 | £1,600 | 20% | 25% |
| Flooring | £5,000 | £4,750 | £250 | 5% | 5.3% |
| Whole job | £25,000 | £20,150 | £4,850 | 19.4% | 24.1% |
Put your own job into the calculator to see the same view.