How to Price Dry Lining Jobs for Main Contractor Tenders
The short answer
Price a drylining package system by system, not as one m² rate: each partition, lining and ceiling type gets its own build-up, and openings, heads, bulkheads and attendances are separate items. Then qualify the tender so the risks you did not price stay with the main contractor.
- One rate for 'partitions' is how packages lose money. A single-board stud wall and a double-board fire and acoustic wall are different products. Take off and price each system type.
- Specs are tested systems. Fire and acoustic partitions must be built as the manufacturer's tested system, so price the exact boards, studs, insulation and head detail on the drawings.
- Items are where margin hides. Formed openings, deflection heads, bulkheads, access panels, pattresses and fire-stopping are priced each or per metre.
- Qualify every tender. Write down the drawings and revision you priced, attendances you expect and what you excluded. It is your evidence when things change.
Most drylining firms that go broke were busy right up to the end. They won packages on a single m² rate and fitted the partitions. At the final account they found the fire walls, heads, bulkheads and three weeks of waiting were never in the price.
This guide shows how to price dry lining jobs for main contractors. It is for owners of drylining and partitions firms in the UK. Not sure your rates cover the package? Book a free strategy call and we'll check a tender with you.
For setting your margin floor and turning hours into an m² rate, see our plastering and drylining margin guide. This page is about the tender itself. For domestic skims and re-plasters, see how to price plastering jobs.
Why one m² rate loses money
A drylining package is not one product. On a typical commercial floor you might have:
- Single-board stud partitions between offices
- Double-board fire and acoustic partitions around stairs, risers and plant rooms
- Wall linings on dabs or on a metal furring system
- MF ceilings with bulkheads and access panels
- Shaft walls, boxing and encasements around services and steel
Each has different materials, outputs and risk. Average them into one rate and you win the easy packages at a loss on the hard parts.
Take off by system type
Go through the drawings and the partition schedule and measure each system separately:
- m² for every partition, lining and ceiling type, by height band (high walls need access and are slower)
- Linear metres for deflection heads, bulkheads, edge trims and beads
- Each for formed openings, access panels, pattresses and service penetrations
- The drawing numbers and revisions you measured from, written on the take-off
Then build a rate for each system from materials per m² plus your own fixing and taping outputs. If you do not know your outputs, job-cost the next three packages and you will.
Price dry lining jobs by specification, not description
"Fire-rated partition" is not a price. The drawings or specification name a tested system: board type and layers, stud size and centres, insulation, head detail, junctions and fire-stopping.
Fire and acoustic partitions only perform as tested if they are built that way. That is why Building Regulations Parts B and E care about the system, not just the board. That means:
- price the exact system on the drawings, not a cheaper look-alike
- price the extra layers, fixings and sealant the system needs
- check who does fire-stopping at heads and penetrations, and price it or exclude it in writing
- allow time for inspection and photos where the client or main contractor asks for evidence of the installation
Swapping in a different board or stud "that does the same job" to win the tender. If it is not the tested system, it may not comply, and the cost of ripping it out is yours.
Price the items and attendances
Worked example: office floor package (example figures)
| Item | Quantity | Cost rate | Cost £ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stud partition, 2 × 12.5 mm board, insulated | 180 m² | £40 | 7,200 |
| MF ceiling with taping | 60 m² | £39 | 2,340 |
| Formed door openings | 8 nr | £45 | 360 |
| Deflection head | 45 m | £9 | 405 |
| Direct cost | 10,305 | ||
| Tender price at a 25% floor (÷ 0.75) | 13,740 |
Price only the m² and leave out the openings and the head, and you tender £12,720. That is £1,020 gone before the first board goes up.
Then check what the main contractor provides and what you do. Hoisting, storage, waste removal, welfare, power and lighting cost real money when they are yours. List them as attendances by others or price them.
Want your drylining rates built per system from your own outputs?
Book a free strategy call.
Qualify the tender so changes get paid
A tender return is not just a number. Send a short qualifications list with every price:
- drawings and revisions priced, and the date of the tender
- what is included and excluded, system by system
- attendances you expect from the main contractor
- your programme assumptions: areas available in sequence, no out-of-sequence returns
- payment terms and retention as you priced them
When the drawings change, the area is not ready or another trade damages your boards, your qualifications are the evidence for the variation. Price it, send it, and get it agreed before you do the work.
UK Plastering & Drylining Profitability Playbook
Turn your hours into true m² rates and job-cost every drylining package.
Get the free guideProtect the cash under the subcontract
The subcontract decides your cash flow as much as your price does:
- Retention If 5% of a £13,740 package is held, £687 waits until practical completion and the rest until the end of the defects period
- CIS The main contractor deducts 20% from your labour if you are registered, 30% if you are not, unless you have gross payment status
- Payment dates Apply on the dates in the subcontract, with measured quantities and photos
- Pay less notices Know what to do when one arrives; see pay less notice received
For a four-minute score of your pricing, cash, sales and systems, take the free Construction Business Scorecard.
Win more packages from main contractors
Main contractors buy drylining from firms they trust to turn up, keep to programme and not fight every invoice. To get on their list:
- Be ready Cards for your team, insurance, RAMS and two or three references from recent packages
- Ask the estimating team which projects are going to tender, and return complete, qualified prices on time
- Deliver one package well, then ask the site manager and QS for the next one
See how to get subcontract work from main contractors for the full approach.
What this looks like in practice. Oleg, a 19-year-old taper and jointer in London, earned about £100 a day on site. Two months later his own company made around £7K a month profit, with a team of 10+. Individual results, not typical or guaranteed.
Sviat Jay runs a working construction company, Craftex, and mentors owners one to one himself. Craftex works as a main contractor, so he knows what a main contractor wants to see from a subcontractor. Every owner is different. Working one to one, he builds on what you are already good at.
The aim is results in about 4 months rather than 1–3-year programs. To talk through your next tender, book a free strategy call.
If you would rather have your tenders priced for you, see our construction estimating services.
Want to win bigger drylining packages without pricing them at a loss?
Book a free strategy call.
Before you return your next drylining tender
Regulatory and tax points are general information as of October 2026. Check the details with your system manufacturer, building control and accountant.
Before you go
- Every system type is measured and priced on its own rate
- Openings, heads, bulkheads and panels are priced each or per metre
- The exact tested system is priced, and fire-stopping is priced or excluded
- Attendances and exclusions are listed in your qualifications
- Retention, CIS and payment dates are in your cash plan
