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Cost guide 6 min read

Porcelain Tile Cost

Published UK figures for porcelain tiles supplied and fitted, what large format changes, what preparation adds, and the numbers on the tiles in the range.

Guide type
Cost guide
Reading time
6 min
Low slip potential (HSE)
36 + PTV
Waste, plank floors
8-12 %

A porcelain floor is the one floor in this range where the fitting usually costs more than the material. The tile is priced per square metre and the tiler is priced per square metre, and on a mid-range tile the second figure is the larger. This guide sets out the published UK figures for both, what moves them, and what the numbers on the tiles in the range mean for the total.

1/ 8
01

The tile

Supply only
Checkatrade's porcelain flooring guide (last updated July 2026) puts supply-only porcelain at £20/m² for a budget tile, £35/m² mid-range and £60/m² at the high end, all for 9 mm tiles. The same guide adds £10/m² for adhesive, grout and the other materials. The spread between the tiers is the design, the finish and the format rather than the porcelain itself, which is why a marble-effect polished tile and a plain matt one can sit at different ends of it.
Supplied and fitted
MyBuilder's tiling guide (updated 21 August 2026) gives porcelain an average of £70 to £110/m² as a complete figure, and puts tiling in general, including adhesive and grout, at £80 to £130/m², with basic ceramic at the lower end and premium porcelain or natural stone at the top.
See also
02

The tiler

Checkatrade's figures for labour are £30 to £60/m², averaging £50, or £240 to £360 a day. MyBuilder's are £20 to £40 an hour and the same range per square metre, with the hourly rate moving by region: around £30 to £40 in London and the South East, £20 to £30 in the Midlands and the North, and £18 to £35 in Scotland and Wales. The two guides agree on the shape of the number and differ on its level, which is what you would expect from two samples of the same trade.

The reason labour is the larger line is that porcelain is cut with a wet saw or a rail cutter, bedded in adhesive on a floor that has to be flat first, and grouted afterwards, and each of those is a separate pass over the same square metre. A click floor is one pass.

03

The total

Checkatrade's all-in figure for a porcelain floor, tiles, materials and labour together, is £60 to £130/m² with an average of £90. On its worked examples that is £300 to £650 for a 5 m² bathroom, £600 to £1,300 for a 10 m² kitchen and £900 to £2,000 for a 15 m² living space. MyBuilder's £80 to £130 sits inside the same band. Take £90/m² as a planning figure, then move it for the tile tier, the region and the preparation.

04

Large format changes the labour, not only the tile

Every floor tile in the range is 600 mm by 1200 mm, which is a large-format tile. Checkatrade's large-format guide (last updated August 2026) prices 800 mm square tiles at £22 to £68/m² and 1200 mm square at £36 to £80/m², says most tilers charge around £50/m² for labour, and gives a day's output as 10 to 15 m² of large-format tile. A large tile has fewer joints to grout and more weight to lift, and it shows a hollow in the floor that a small tile would follow, so the flatness of the subfloor matters more than the tile size does.

05

What moves the figure

Preparation
BS 8204 grades a screed's flatness in three classes measured under a 2 m straightedge, SR1 at 3 mm, SR2 at 5 mm and SR3 at 10 mm, and the Contract Flooring Association requires the base to be clean, sound, level, dust free and dry enough to read no more than 75 % relative humidity before a floor finish goes down. A floor outside those conditions is levelled or dried before it is tiled, and that is a separate line on the quote. Ask for it separately; it is the line that varies most between two tilers looking at the same room.
Taking up the old floor
Checkatrade's general tiling guide (last updated June 2026) budgets £800 to £900 for removing existing tiles with their adhesive and grout. A vinyl or laminate floor comes up for much less; an old tiled floor is a job in itself.
Waste
None of the sources we use publishes a cutting-waste figure for tiles. Havwoods gives 8 to 12 % for plank floors and 15 to 20 % for herringbone and chevron; Quick-Step gives 5 % for laminate in a regular room and 10 % in a room with many angles. A 600 by 1200 tile in a small room with a bath, a basin pedestal and a door reveal is nearer the top of that thinking than the bottom, and the boxes are 1.44 m² each, so the last box is bought whole.
See also
06

What the tiles in the range carry

The eleven porcelain floor tiles are 600 mm by 1200 mm, 9 or 10 mm thick, two to a box, so one box is 1.44 m². All are rated for floor and wall, compatible with underfloor heating, frost resistant and listed with a water absorption ratio below 0.5. Their abrasion resistance for glazed ceramic is class III or IV, and two of the lappato stone-effect tiles carry an R11 slip resistance. R11 comes from a different test from the pendulum test the Health and Safety Executive uses to grade slip potential, where a pendulum test value of 36 or more is low potential, 25 to 35 moderate and 0 to 24 high; the two are not converted into each other, so a bathroom specification should ask for the figure it is actually written around.

The bathroom and the kitchen are where porcelain is weighed against rigid vinyl, and what luxury vinyl costs to buy and lay is the comparison to read next. For the order itself, how much to order turns the room into boxes.

See also
07

Common questions

Why does fitting cost more than the tile?

Because a porcelain floor is three passes over the same square metre: levelling and priming the base, cutting and bedding the tiles, then grouting. Checkatrade's published labour figure is £30 to £60/m² against £20 to £60/m² for the tile itself, and MyBuilder's hourly rate moves from £18 to £40 depending on the region.

Do large tiles cost more to lay?

Checkatrade's large-format guide gives around £50/m² for labour and 10 to 15 m² a day of output. What a large tile adds is a demand on flatness: a 600 by 1200 tile bridges a hollow that a small tile would follow, so the levelling line on the quote is where the format shows up.

How many boxes do I need?

Every floor tile in the range is two tiles to a box and 1.44 m² per box. Divide the room area by 1.44, add the waste allowance you have chosen, and round up to whole boxes. There is no published waste figure for tiles among our sources; the plank and pattern figures from Havwoods, 8 to 12 % and 15 to 20 %, bracket the sensible range.

Can porcelain go over underfloor heating?

Every porcelain tile in the range is listed as compatible with underfloor heating, and where the heating is in a screed the screed is run through its commissioning cycle before tiling. The underfloor heating guide covers the limits on the floor build-up.

A tiler's rate is the line that moves most by region, and the two published guides above show the spread. Browse by town and region.

See also
08

What the published standards say

Each entry is quoted from its source and linked to it. The full set is in the standards reference.

Pendulum Test Value — how slip risk is assessed

HSE grades pedestrian slip potential from the pendulum test value (PTV): 0-24 is high slip potential, 25-35 moderate and 36 or above low slip potential, the pendulum coefficient-of-friction test being the subject of BS 7976 Parts 1-3.

low slip potential36 + PTV
moderate slip potential25-35 PTV
high slip potential0-24 PTV

“Table 1 Slip potential classification, based on pendulum test values (PTV) PTV High slip potential 0-24 Moderate slip potential 25-35 Low slip potential 36 +”

Source: HSE - Assessing the slip resistance of flooring (GEIS2)

Cutting waste — how much extra to order

There is no published industry standard for cutting waste; the figures come from manufacturers' own guidance and they vary. Havwoods advises 8-12 % wastage for planks and 15-20 % for patterned floors such as herringbone or chevron. Quick-Step's UK guidance for laminate is 5 % extra in a regular room and 10 % in a room with many angles or curves.

Wastage allowance, plank floors (Havwoods UK)8-12 %
Wastage allowance, herringbone or chevron (Havwoods UK)15-20 %
Extra to order, regular room, laminate (Quick-Step UK)5 %
Extra to order, room with many angles or curves, laminate (Quick-Step UK)10 %

“For planks we typically advise on 8-12% wastage and patterned floors, such as herringbone or chevron, may need 15-20% wastage.”

Source: Havwoods UK - FAQs: How Much Wastage Shall I Encounter For? · second source

BS 8204 — surface regularity classes SR1 to SR3

BS 8204 defines three surface regularity classes for screeds and concrete bases, SR1, SR2 and SR3, measured as the maximum deviation below a 2 m straightedge placed directly on the surface.

SR1 (max deviation under 2 m straightedge)3 mm
SR2 (max deviation under 2 m straightedge)5 mm
SR3 (max deviation under 2 m straightedge)10 mm
straightedge length2 m

“Surface regularity classes are given in BS 8204 as SR1, SR2 and SR3 relating to 3mm, 5mm and 10mm respectively.”

Source: Surface regularity - straightedge method | The Concrete Society

CFA guidance — the subfloor is the installer’s first responsibility

The CFA Guide to Contract Flooring requires the base to be a clean, sound, level surface that is strong enough to carry the preparation materials and the floor finish, mechanically prepared and dust free, and dry enough to give a hygrometer reading of no more than 75% relative humidity.

maximum hygrometer reading before laying a floor finish75 % RH

“Before the application of the floor finish a solid (cementitious or similar) base must be sufficiently dry to show a hygrometer reading not greater than 75% Relative Humidity when tested in accordance with the British Standard Code of Practice.”

Source: CFA Guide to Contract Flooring - Contract Flooring Association
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