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.
Brickwork below DPC
per m² · supply & lay
£155 – £261 / m²
What is it
The supply and laying of a half-brick (102.5 mm) skin of Class B engineering brickwork below the damp-proof course to a vertical substructure wall, priced per m² of wall face. Below-DPC brickwork is the buried or ground-level masonry beneath the DPC — Class B engineering bricks are specified for their low water absorption and high compressive strength where the wall sits in damp, aggressive ground. The rate covers:
Laid rough — engineering bricks bedded in mortar to a half-brick substructure skin, gauged, plumbed and levelled at roughly 60 bricks per m².
Struck flush — bed and perpend joints struck off flush as the work proceeds; no separate pointing pass, as the skin is below ground / DPC and will not be seen.
Rate range by wall complexity
Simple£155 – £200 / m²
Standard£174 – £225 / m²
Complex£202 – £261 / m²
Budget rate per m².
3 key cost drivers
Wall complexity
Openings, returns, piers and reveals slow the gang and add cutting waste. It is a key driver of the rate.
Brick grade
This rate is for a Class B engineering brick — the standard below-DPC specification. Class A engineering or dense-concrete commons shift the material cost and the laying speed. It is a key driver of material cost.
Location
London and the South East typically add around 20% to labour.
Estimator
Budget rate generator
£174 – £225 / m²
Covers Class B engineering bricks, bedding mortar, the laying gang and O&P · excl. prelims, scaffold & VAT
Exclusions
Lifting & material distribution — telehandler / forklift, hoist and site-distribution labour (an attendance, in main-contractor prelims)
The damp-proof course membrane, cavity fill / insulation below DPC, wall ties & bed reinforcement
Foundation concrete, excavation & the facing skin above DPC
Scaffold supply (usually in preliminaries)
Preliminaries — main-contractor site set-up, management & welfare