← All rates

Class 1A Imported General Granular Fill: Recycled – Supply & Lay – cost per m³ – UK 2026 Rate Guide

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

See the full build-up — try free →
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.

Class 1A general granular fill
per m³ · supply & lay
£46 – £90 / m³
What is it

The supply and laying of SHW Class 1A imported general granular fill (recycled well-graded crushed hardcore, ~0/80–0/125 mm), spread in layers and compacted to build up levels and form general / embankment fill, priced per m³ of compacted material in place. Class 1A is the lower-grade general-fill class laid beneath a capping or sub-base. Material supply sets the delivered stone price, which is the bulk of the rate, and comes in three bands:

A note on the number, for estimators: this is a MAIN-CONTRACTOR budget rate, and the delivered Class 1A recycled fill is around 82% of it. Under the settled material route the bought-in bulk fill is ordered on the contractor’s own account, so it carries the main-contractor O&P only — it is NOT marked up with the market +5% or the sub-contractor O&P +20% (those fall on the laying gang, which does carry the full ladder). The rate sits at or above a domestic supply-&-lay fill figure because it carries the full main-contractor margin a bill rate needs. That is the expected relationship, not an error. The rate range by material supply:

  1. Near source — a local depot on a short haul.
  2. Standard — a typical regional haul.
  3. Long haul — a remote source beyond about 30 miles.
Rate range by material supply
Near source£46 – £60 / m³
Standard haul£53 – £68 / m³
Long haul£70 – £90 / m³

Budget rate per m³.

3 key cost drivers
Material supply & haul
The delivered recycled fill is around 82% of the cost, so the depot source and haul distance are the top driver. Recycled crushed hardcore is cheap at the gate, but the saving narrows on a long haul because haulage costs the same whatever the source.
Laying context
Standard machine-laid areas run fast; working around services, to tight levels or by hand slows the gang and adds over-supply, raising the rate per m³.
Location
London and the South East typically add around 20% to labour and plant.
Estimator

Budget rate generator

£53 – £68 / m³
Covers the Class 1A recycled general fill, the place-&-compact gang with its excavator & roller, and O&P · excl. excavation, cart-away, testing, prelims & VAT
Exclusions
  • Excavation to formation & cart-away / disposal of surplus or unsuitable material (separate groundworks rates)
  • Geotextile / separation membrane & any capping or Type 1 sub-base laid OVER the fill
  • Compaction testing — CBR, plate-bearing & in-situ density testing
  • Lifting & material distribution — the site dumper & forward-haul plant (an attendance, in main-contractor prelims)
  • Dewatering, ground improvement, kerbs, edgings & surfacing
  • VAT
Estimate Anything →
See how it beats ChatGPT for construction rates — the full editable Excel build-up, three free