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.
Floor decking — chipboard over joists
per m² · supply & lay
£37 – £64 / m²
What is it
The supply and fixing of a structural floor deck — 22 mm P5 moisture-resistant tongue-&-groove chipboard flooring cut, glued at the T&G joints and screwed/nailed down over prepared first-fix joists to a level braced deck — priced per m² of floor area. 22 mm P5 T&G chipboard is the mainstream UK budget floor deck; it is the board that completes the first-fix timber floor the joists carry. This rate prices the DECK only — the joists it sits on, the insulation and any screed or floor finish are separate rates. The rate carries three operations:
Set out & cut — 22 mm P5 T&G boards loaded out, set out to the joist gauge and cut around the perimeter, openings and upstands.
Glue & joint — D4 PVA adhesive run into the tongue-&-groove joints as the boards are laid, so the deck acts as one continuous sheet.
Fix off — the boards screwed / nailed down to every joist to a level, braced deck ready to receive its insulation, screed or finish.
Rate range by board grade
Basic chipboard£37 – £48 / m²
Moisture-resistant P5£42 – £54 / m²
Branded P5 / WBP ply£50 – £64 / m²
Budget rate per m².
3 key cost drivers
Floor complexity & access
A simple rectangular floor with clear access boards fastest; many openings, trimmers, stairwells, upstands or restricted access add cutting and perimeter-joint time. Board thickness (18/22 mm) and joist spacing flex the deck too. It is a key driver of the labour per m².
Board type & grade
Three genuinely different board products: flooring-grade chipboard, moisture-resistant P5 T&G (the default) and branded P5 (Egger) or WBP structural plywood. Each is a distinct BoQ item with its own spec and unit price, so the control switches product, not price grade.
Location
London and the South East typically add around 20% to labour.
Estimator
Budget rate generator
£42 – £54 / m²
Covers the 22 mm P5 T&G chipboard deck, adhesive, fixings, the carpentry gang and O&P · excl. joists, insulation, screed / floor finish, structural design, scaffold & VAT
Exclusions
Lifting & material distribution — telehandler / forklift, hoist and site-distribution labour (an attendance, in main-contractor prelims)
The first-fix floor joists / carcass and insulation between or over the joists
Screed / floor finish over the deck, structural design, and access / scaffold
Scaffold supply (usually in preliminaries)
Preliminaries — main-contractor site set-up, management & welfare