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Class 6N Selected Granular Fill: Recycled – Supply & Lay – cost per m³ – UK 2026 Rate Guide

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

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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 6N selected granular fill
per m³ · supply & lay
£46 – £90 / m³
What is it

The supply and laying of SHW Class 6N selected granular fill (recycled well-graded crushed hardcore, ~0/80 mm), spread and compacted as selected backfill to concrete structures and behind retaining walls, priced per m³ of compacted material in place. Class 6N is a selected fill placed to a tighter compaction than loose general fill. 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 rate is identical to our Class 1A general fill by construction, not by a manufactured uplift. In the priced recycled market Class 6N and Class 1A are the SAME well-graded crushed-hardcore stock (~2.0 t/m³) — merchants publish “6N” pages quote-only, with no separate recycled 6N uplift — so 6N is priced off the same representative row and lands on the same headline. This is a MAIN-CONTRACTOR budget rate: the delivered fill is around 82% of it and, under the settled material route, carries the main-contractor O&P only (the laying gang carries the full ladder). A PRIMARY / virgin 6N, if ever priced separately, would be a distinct rate. 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 6N recycled selected 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
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