Asphalt Road Surfacing: Binder + Surface Course – cost per m² – UK 2026 Rate Guide

Budget rate for supply & lay · typical budget rate before your adjustments

Labour, plant, materials, outputs and waste — yours to edit, as an Excel. Three free.

Rates are UK national (non-London): central London and constrained urban sites typically run dearer — adjust the labour, plant and access lines in the build-up accordingly.

Asphalt road surfacing (binder + surface)

per m² · supply & lay

£40 – £78 / m²

What is it

The supply and laying of a ~90 mm asphalt carriageway resurface — a ~60 mm AC20 binder course under a ~30 mm AC10 (or SMA) surface course, machine-laid in two passes to a prepared, structurally-adequate base — priced per m² of finished road. Tack/bond coats bond the base and the interlayer; both courses are laid to line & level by the paver and rolled to density. This rate prices the binder + surface resurface ONLY — planing/excavation of the old road, kerbs, ironwork, markings and traffic management are separate items. The rate carries three operations:

Tack / bond coats — a sprayed bitumen-emulsion prime to the base and an interlayer bond between the courses.
Binder course — a ~60 mm AC20 dense binder course machine-laid & rolled to regulate and strengthen.
Surface course — a ~30 mm AC10 (or SMA) wearing course machine-laid & rolled to the finished level.

Rate range by surfacing spec

AC20 + close-graded AC10£40 – £52 / m²

AC20 + AC10 dense (standard)£48 – £61 / m²

AC20 + SMA (heavy-duty)£61 – £78 / m²

Budget rate per m².

3 key cost drivers

Substrate, depth & access

A sound base with long, open runs at the standard ~90 mm two-layer depth lays fastest. A deeper reconstruction or a thinner inlay changes the tonnage; short runs, ironwork, night working with traffic management and restricted access slow the gang and lift the rate per m². The London & South-East market runs dearer. Region rides this note, not a dropdown.

Surfacing spec

An AC20 binder under a dense AC10 surface course is the priced default. A heavier-duty AC20 + SMA build, for high-stress or heavily-trafficked carriageways, runs dearer. It is the driver of material cost — the calculator flexes the binder & surface courses across their delivered price bands. Material dominates the m² rate.

Location

London and the South East typically add around 20% to labour.

Estimator

Budget rate generator

Surfacing spec

£48 – £61 / m²

Covers the tack coats, the machine-laid binder & surface courses, the surfacing gang, paver & roller and O&P · excl. planing/excavation, kerbs, ironwork, markings, traffic management & VAT

Exclusions

Lifting & material distribution — telehandler / forklift, hoist and site-distribution labour (an attendance, in main-contractor prelims)
Planing / milling or excavation of the old road (a separate item)
Kerbs & edgings, ironwork adjustment, road markings, traffic management, prelims & VAT
Scaffold supply (usually in preliminaries)
Preliminaries — main-contractor site set-up, management & welfare
VAT