Formwork to Slab Edges & Soffits – 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.

Formwork to slab edges & soffits

per m² · supply & lay

£109 – £210 / m²

What is it

The making, fixing and striking of traditional 18 mm ply-and-timber formwork — the temporary mould an in-situ concrete slab is cast against — to the SOFFIT (underside) and EDGES of the slab, priced per m² of CONTACT (formed) face, the way a bill of quantities measures formwork. The forms are cut and assembled from shuttering plywood on softwood bearers, carried on adjustable steel props, oiled with release agent, then STRUCK, cleaned and removed once the concrete has gained strength — a temporary works item, not left in the slab. This headline prices a basic (F1) soffit finish. The rate carries three operations by one carpentry gang:

Make — the ply deck cut & assembled on 47×100 bearers & soldiers.
Fix — erected & levelled on adjustable props / falsework and oiled with release agent.
Strike — struck, cleaned and set aside for re-use (the rate assumes five uses).

Rate range

Low£109 – £140 / m²

Standard£131 – £169 / m²

High£163 – £210 / m²

Budget rate per m².

3 key cost drivers

Formwork type & finish

This rate prices a basic (F1) slab SOFFIT — a to-be-concealed underside. Slab EDGES (priced per m² of the narrow formed face) fix far slower per m², and a fine (F4) fair-faced finish, curved or tapered forms, columns and beams are slower again — each lifts the rate per m². Because formwork is a sublet RC-frame item, the ply, timber & prop hire carry the full fee-on-fee mark-up.

Re-uses & access

The ply and timber are amortised over their re-uses — this rate assumes five. A single-use or twice-used form spreads the material over fewer pours and costs more per m²; a repetitive deck struck & re-pitched many times costs less. Open, low-level soffits build fast; working at height, over congested rebar or to tight geometry slows the gang and lifts the rate.

Supply & quantity

Merchant prices for the bought-in materials move with supplier, account and load size, and the published band already spans that range. Rates are UK non-London; London & the South East typically run dearer — adjust the build-up.

Estimator

Budget rate generator

£131 – £169 / m²

Covers the shuttering ply, timber bearers, prop hire & release oil, the carpentry gang (make / fix / strike) & O&P · excl. the concrete & rebar; slab edges & F4 fine finishes run dearer · excl. prelims & VAT

Exclusions

Lifting & material distribution — telehandler / forklift, hoist and site-distribution labour (an attendance, in main-contractor prelims)
The concrete itself — ready-mix supply & place (the suspended-slab / concrete-grade rates) — and the reinforcement (the rebar supply-&-fix rate); both separately measured
Slab EDGE forms & fine (F4) fair-faced finishes (dearer per m²), proprietary panel / system formwork, and beam / column / wall forms — priced separately
Craneage / offloading & distribution of forms around site (an attendance, in main-contractor prelims), scaffold, prelims & VAT
Scaffold supply (usually in preliminaries)
Preliminaries — main-contractor site set-up, management & welfare
VAT