HOW TO HIRE · HOME REPAIRS & HANDYMAN

How to hire an odd-job person in the UK
The checks, the questions and the paperwork.

No register applies to odd jobs, but gas and notifiable electrical work stay off the list. Where the line sits, and the hourly terms to agree.

  • Search and compare — no account needed
  • Nearest to you first
  • One score from Google, Trustpilot and Locufy reviews

TWO WAYS TO BUY THIS

Which do you need?

An individual by the hour

One person for a set number of hours who does the odd jobs you point to — hooks, handles, a dripping tap washer, a flat-pack bookcase. You pay the rate per hour and set the order of the list.

A company for the job

A business that quotes a price for a defined piece of work and sends whoever it employs or subcontracts. Better when the list is really a project with an end result, or needs more than one pair of hands.

What changes

Rate per hour against a price for the job; one person against a team; your instructions on the day against a written scope; and VAT, usually none from an individual and 20% from a registered firm.

THE 60-SECOND VERSION

Hiring an odd-job person in five steps

  1. List the odd jobs with photosOne list, a photo for each, so your helper can estimate the hours.
  2. Strike out gas and wiringGas goes to a Gas Safe engineer; new circuits to a registered electrician.
  3. Agree the hourly termsRate, first-hour minimum and how parts are charged.
  4. Buy the parts firstHandles, hooks, sealant — so the hours go on the work.
  5. Clear the wayMove furniture from the walls and doors being worked on.

BEFORE YOU BOOK

Check before you book

No register applies

No licence or register applies to odd-job helpers in England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland, so anyone may offer odd jobs. The law steps in only where odd jobs turns into gas work, notifiable electrical work or building work.

Ask for a business name, the insurer and a written description of the odd jobs.

Gas: the hard stop

Under the 1998 Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations, and Northern Ireland's 2004 Regulations, nobody may be paid to work on a gas appliance, fitting or pipework unless they are on the Gas Safe Register. If the odd jobs goes near a gas pipe, meter or appliance, that part is not a handyman's.

Leave anything on gas out of the odd jobs, or book a Gas Safe engineer and check the licence. legislation.gov.uk →

Where electrical work starts

If the odd jobs turns into wiring — a new socket, a spur, a light moved — that is electrical work, which in England and Wales must meet the Building Regulations. A new consumer unit or work near a bath or shower is notifiable, and in Wales so is work in kitchens and outdoors: a scheme electrician or building control only.

Keep any new wiring for the odd jobs with an electrician on the Registered Competent Person Electrical register. electricalcompetentperson.co.uk →

Public liability insurance

No law requires a helper to be insured, but a drill through a pipe or cable, or a heavy item coming off a wall, is exactly what public liability covers. The Consumer Rights Act 2015 entitles you to odd jobs done with reasonable care and skill; insurance is what pays if it was not.

Ask the helper for the insurer's name and the cover level before the odd jobs starts.

VAT

Odd jobs are standard-rated at 20% by HMRC, but a helper booked by the hour who is not registered does not charge it; a registered firm does. Under £90,000 of taxable turnover an individual adds no VAT and has no VAT number; over it a business must register, charge it and show it as its own line.

Ask your helper or the firm whether they are VAT-registered, and if they are, for the VAT number. gov.uk →

“Which of my odd jobs will you do, and which should go elsewhere?”

A good answer: A helper who hands back the gas and wiring jobs without being asked.

“What is your odd-jobs rate, and is the first hour a minimum?”

A good answer: A stated rate and minimum — most charge a full first hour.

“How are parts and fixings charged?”

A good answer: At cost with receipts, or bought by you.

“Do you bring ladders for high jobs?”

A good answer: Yes, with the right kit for stairwells.

“Are you insured if an odd job goes wrong?”

A good answer: Public liability, with the insurer named.

“Can you take away old fittings and offcuts?”

A good answer: Only if they are a registered waste carrier; otherwise bagged for you.

Getting the quote right

  • Hourly: the rate per hour, the first-hour minimum, and the odd jobs listed before the clock starts
  • As a job: a written price for the agreed work, and what is not included
  • Who actually attends, and whether that person is employed or subcontracted
  • The VAT number of a registered firm, with VAT at 20% shown as its own line; an unregistered helper adds none
  • How parts and fixings are charged — at cost, marked up, or bought by you

Walk away if

  • Happy to 'have a go' at the gas cooker or the fuse box
  • No hourly terms until the end
  • Vague about what was done when invoicing
  • No idea what fixings the wall needs
LOW
£30
TYPICAL
£33
HIGH
£60

What an odd-job person costs: £30–£60 per hour

Odd jobs are charged by the hour with a first-hour minimum; parts are added. Odd Jobs price guide →

Guide prices compiled by the Locufy team from published Irish and UK provider price lists and 2026/27 cost guides. Updated 2026.

KNOW WHAT TO LOOK FOR? NOW FIND ONE

Odd-job helpers near you, with the badges that matter shown

ID checked, trader status and one score from every review — on the card, before you message anyone. Nearest first. No account needed to look.

Or post the job free and let them come to you, or book by the hour.

  1. Walk the listYour helper reads the list with you and flags anything restricted.
  2. Order the jobsMessy jobs first, finishing touches last.
  3. Do the workDust sheets down where there is drilling.
  4. TestEvery fixing loaded, every door swung.
  5. TidyOffcuts bagged and the list signed off.

Minimum charge
The smallest bill for a visit, usually an hour.
Notifiable work
Work that must be certified or notified under the Building Regulations.
Wall plug
A plastic sleeve that grips a screw in masonry.
Cavity fixing
A fixing for hollow plasterboard walls.
Making good
Filling and touching up after the work.
Waste carrier
A business registered to take other people's waste away.

AFTER

When the job is done

Get an itemised invoiceJobs, hours and parts listed.
Check each jobDoors close, fixings hold, taps do not drip.
Agree a call-backIf a fixing fails, your helper comes back.
Leave the reviewReviews on Locufy are tied to a booking, so yours about the odd jobs carries weight. If something is not right, the make-it-right step gives the odd-job person the first chance to fix it before it is published.

STEP 1Put it in writing to the odd-job personSay what is wrong with the odd jobs and what you want done about it. Under section 49 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 the odd jobs had to be carried out with reasonable care and skill; if it was not, you can ask the odd-job person to put it right at their own cost (section 55) or for money off (section 56).
STEP 2Use the make-it-right stepA score under four stars opens the make-it-right step: you choose whether the odd-job person gets the chance to put the odd jobs right first, and we chase it to an end before you publish.
STEP 3Trading Standards, through the helplinesAn odd-job person who will not engage can be reported through the consumer helplines, which pass cases to Trading Standards — Citizens Advice (0808 223 1133) in England and Wales, Advice Direct Scotland (0808 800 9060), Consumerline (0300 123 6262) in Northern Ireland.
STEP 4Small claims, if money is owedAn unpaid refund or repair bill from the odd jobs goes to small claims: £10,000 is the limit in England and Wales, £5,000 in Scotland using simple procedure, and £5,000 in Northern Ireland — all designed to be used without a solicitor.

Hiring an odd-job person: questions people ask

No. No register applies in any UK nation; the law restricts gas work and notifiable electrical work instead.

Like-for-like replacement is not notifiable; new circuits and work near a bath or shower are, in England and Wales.

It is not required by law, but ask about public liability before any drilling.

£30–£60 an hour, about £33 typical. The odd jobs price guide explains the range; your town in the search box above shows helpers who cover it.

Batch a long list into one visit and have parts ready.

Only if registered as a waste carrier; your duty of care in England and Wales is to hand waste only to an authorised person.

MORE GUIDES

More hiring guides in home repairs & handyman

How to hire: HandymanHow to hire: Furniture AssemblyHow to hire: Shelving InstallationHow to hire: Picture & Mirror HangingHow to hire: Curtain & Blind FittingHow to hire: Sealant & CaulkingHow to hire: Door Hanging & RepairHow to hire: TV MountingAll 701 hiring guides →

Odd-job helpers near you

Odd-job helpers in LondonOdd-job helpers in ManchesterOdd-job helpers in BirminghamOdd-job helpers in GlasgowOdd-job helpers in BelfastAll odd-job helpers on Locufy →

Sources — checked October 2026

  1. Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, regulation 3
  2. Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2004, regulation 3
  3. Registered Competent Person Electrical register
  4. gov.uk — Approved Document P: electrical safety in dwellings (England)
  5. gov.wales — building regulations: electrics
  6. Environmental Protection Act 1990, section 34 — duty of care
  7. Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 49 — reasonable care and skill
  8. Citizens Advice — more help with a consumer issue (England)
  9. Buildings and construction (VAT Notice 708) — 2.1 Construction services: work to an existing building is normally standard-rated
  10. GOV.UK — VAT rates
  11. GOV.UK — Register for VAT: when to register