Metal-Stud Partition – 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.

Metal-stud partition

per m² · supply & lay

£84 – £172 / m²

What is it

The construction of a freestanding non-loadbearing internal PARTITION on a light-gauge galvanised metal frame — 70 mm ‘C’ studs at 600 mm centres in ‘U’ head & floor tracks — with a 25 mm acoustic mineral-wool quilt pushed into the stud cavity, 12.5 mm tapered-edge plasterboard screw-fixed to BOTH faces and a 2–3 mm multi-finish skim to each face, priced per m² of finished partition. One m² of partition carries two boarded & skimmed faces plus the shared frame and quilt. This is the standard fit-out internal-walling line — the whole wall, not a lining applied to an existing background (that is a separate rate). The rate carries four operations by one drylining gang:

Frame — ‘U’ tracks fixed to floor & soffit and ‘C’ studs cut & located at 600 mm centres, plumbed & sealed.
Insulate — a 25 mm acoustic mineral-wool quilt friction-fitted between the studs.
Board — 12.5 mm tapered-edge plasterboard screw-fixed to both faces, cut around openings with scrim tape & edge / angle beads.
Skim — a 2–3 mm multi-finish skim trowelled to each face, ready for decoration.

Rate range

Low£84 – £108 / m²

Standard£105 – £135 / m²

High£133 – £172 / m²

Budget rate per m².

3 key cost drivers

Partition spec & finish

This rate prices a STANDARD partition — a 70 mm ‘C’-stud frame at 600 mm centres, a single 12.5 mm board & 2–3 mm skim to each face and a 25 mm acoustic quilt. A double-board layer, a moisture / fire (Type X) board, a higher-acoustic build (denser quilt, resilient bars, two layers) or a wider 92 / 146 mm stud all fix slower and cost more per m². Because a partition is a sublet drylining item, the metal, board & quilt carry the full fee-on-fee mark-up.

Height, openings & access

The rate assumes a nominal 2.4 m storey height at normal working level. A tall partition (>2.7 m, needing bracing or a mid-height nogging), many door / borrowed-light openings, or working at height / over congested services slows the gang and lifts the rate per m²; a long, open, full-height run boards fast and costs less.

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

£105 – £135 / m²

Covers the metal C-stud frame & tracks, acoustic quilt, plasterboard & 2–3 mm skim to BOTH faces, the drylining gang & O&P · excl. the background structure, decoration, doors & fire-rated / higher-acoustic upgrades · excl. prelims & VAT

Exclusions

Lifting & material distribution — telehandler / forklift, hoist and site-distribution labour (an attendance, in main-contractor prelims)
The background structure the partition meets — the floor slab, ceiling / soffit & abutting walls (separate rates), and lining an EXISTING masonry wall (the plasterboard-&-skim dot-and-dab rate, a single face, priced separately)
Doorsets, frames, ironmongery, glazed screens / borrowed lights, and structural support to openings
Spec upgrades — a double board layer, fire-rated (Type X) or moisture board, a higher-acoustic build (denser quilt, resilient bars, two layers), and wider 92 / 146 mm studs (dearer per m²)
Decoration (mist coat & paint), skirtings & second-fix, service first-fix within the partition, scaffold, prelims & VAT
Scaffold supply (usually in preliminaries)
Preliminaries — main-contractor site set-up, management & welfare
VAT