Geotextile Separation Membrane: laid to formation – 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.

Geotextile separation membrane

per m² · supply & lay

£1.6 – £2.8 / m²

What is it

The supply and laying of a nonwoven separation geotextile — a Terram 1000-class filtration fabric — rolled out and lapped over a prepared formation, priced per m² of membrane. The membrane is the separation layer between the soft subgrade and the granular sub-base above it: it stops the subgrade fines pumping up into the stone and the stone punching down into soft ground, so the sub-base keeps its load-bearing thickness. The rate carries two operations:

Laid — the fabric unrolled over the trimmed formation to the full area.
Lapped & pinned — adjacent rolls overlapped 300 mm at side and end joints, trimmed to edges and pinned or weighted against wind and placing.

Rate range

Low£1.6 – £2.1 / m²

Standard£1.9 – £2.4 / m²

High£2.2 – £2.8 / m²

Budget rate per m².

3 key cost drivers

Membrane grade

This rate prices a standard nonwoven separation / filtration geotextile to a Terram 1000 class — the industry-reference formation membrane. A heavier stabilisation or filtration grade, or a woven reinforcement fabric, is a dearer material; a lighter weed-control fabric is cheaper and not a structural separation layer. Because a formation membrane is self-delivered groundworks, that bought-in fabric carries the main-contractor O&P only — not the full subcontract mark-up.

Formation area & overlap

This rate prices open-formation laying with a standard 300 mm lap allowance (about 15% over the net area). A large open formation lays fast; a small, cut-up or heavily-obstructed area laps and trims more, using more fabric and slowing the gang.

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

£1.9 – £2.4 / m²

Covers the separation geotextile, the 2-man laying gang & O&P, laid & lapped to formation · excl. excavation, sub-base, formation prep, prelims & VAT

Exclusions

Lifting & material distribution — telehandler / forklift, hoist and site-distribution labour (an attendance, in main-contractor prelims)
Excavation, formation trimming & preparation, and the sub-base / capping laid over the membrane
Roll distribution around site (an MC dumper attendance), stabilisation / reinforcement geogrids, edge restraints & the surfacing above
Scaffold supply (usually in preliminaries)
Preliminaries — main-contractor site set-up, management & welfare
VAT