Artisan & Labour Costs in South Africa

A contractor's quote is only useful once you have a number of your own to compare it against. Most homeowners accept the first quote because they have nothing to check it against — not because the quote was actually fair. This page groups every trade calculator on the site by the work itself — brick, plaster, tile, pipe, wire, garden — each with real 2026 SA labour rates and a calculator sized to your own job, so you walk into a quote knowing roughly what you should be paying before the contractor tells you.

Bricklaying: What a Bricklayer Should Charge

SA bricklaying labour runs R150–R270/m² for a single-skin (half-brick) wall and R300–R510/m² for a double-skin (one-brick) wall in 2026 — labour only, materials extra. Face brick costs 20–30% more than plastered stock brick because the exposed finish demands neater workmanship, and scaffold-height walls above 1.5m carry their own premium. This is the single highest-traffic calculator in this cluster, and for good reason — boundary walls and structural brickwork are among the most commonly quoted jobs on any SA property.

Plastering and Painting: Coat by Coat

Plastering labour runs R50–R78/m² for a scratch coat only, R42–R68/m² for a finish coat only, and R85–R130/m² for both coats combined — sand, cement and bonding agent are charged separately. Painting labour sits at R25–R45/m² for interior walls (2 coats), R30–R50/m² for ceilings and R35–R55/m² for exterior walls, with Cape Town and Johannesburg typically at the higher end of both trades. The two are covered together in our plastering & painting cost guide, since they're almost always quoted as one job on a new build or renovation.

For the painting side specifically, use the Paint Labour Estimator — if you need paint material quantities and cost rather than labour, that's a separate Developer-category tool.

Tiling and Paving: Priced by the Square Metre

Tiling labour runs R110–R200/m² for standard floor tiling and R140–R240/m² for wall tiling — tiles, adhesive and grout are extra, and large-format tiles, diagonal layouts and wet-area waterproofing all push rates toward the higher end. Paving labour for interlocking pavers in a running-bond pattern runs R80–R150/m², with full excavation, sub-base preparation and compaction adding a further R40–R180/m² depending on soil conditions — herringbone and other pattern layouts cost more again. Both are covered in full, including waterproofing membranes and base-prep detail, in our tiling & paving cost guide.

For a driveway or patio, the Paving Labour Calculator covers laying pattern and base preparation separately.

Plumbing and Water: Sizing It Right the First Time

Geyser sizing follows the SANS 10106 rule of thumb of 50 litres per person, so a family of 4 needs a 200-litre unit (60–70L/person for high-usage households with double showers or a bathtub) — check yours with the Geyser Size Calculator. Water storage follows the DWS standard of 150 litres per person per day; a 4-person household wanting 3 days of security during supply interruptions needs at least 1,800 litres, which is why a 2,500-litre JoJo tank is the most common household choice — size yours with the Water Tank Calculator. Pipe sizing itself follows SANS 10252-1's velocity limits — 3.0 m/s maximum for cold water, 2.0 m/s for hot — checked with the Pipe Flow Calculator. And if you're catching roof runoff rather than buying it in, the Rainwater Harvesting Calculator works from your actual roof area and province rainfall — a 120m² Gauteng roof collects roughly 69,100 litres a year.

Electrical: Load, Cable and Backup Sizing

Cable size is governed by both current-carrying capacity and voltage drop — a 3kW geyser on 230V draws about 13A and needs a minimum 2.5mm² cable for short runs, but SANS 10142 requires 4mm² beyond 20m to keep voltage drop within its 5% (11.5V) limit; check yours with the Cable Size Calculator or the standalone Voltage Drop Calculator. Total DB board load is the sum of every circuit breaker rating, but a realistic picture applies a 50–70% diversity factor rather than adding nameplate sizes directly — the DB Board Load Calculator does this for you. For load-shedding backup, an inverter is sized from your essential-load wattage ×1.25, while a generator needs the same load divided by a 0.8 power factor plus a 25% margin — and motor loads like fridges and pumps need ×3 for starting surge on either. For daytime solar offset, a typical 20–30 kWh/day home needs 9–13 standard 550W panels — size yours with the Solar Panel Sizing Calculator.

Garden and Landscaping: Water and Soil by the Numbers

SA lawns typically need 25–40mm of water a week in summer — Kikuyu, the most drought-tolerant common lawn grass, needs around 25–30mm/week in Gauteng, while LM Berea needs a lower 20–25mm/week baseline. Build a water-wise schedule for your own lawn and province with the Irrigation Calculator. For beds and new lawns, the standard SA topsoil depth is 150mm (0.15m³ per m²) — a 20m² bed needs 3m³ net, or 3.45m³ once you add the standard 15% settling buffer, which the Soil Volume Calculator converts straight into bulk-bag quantities.

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