Sub-base: supply & lay – cost per m³ – UK 2026 Rate Guide
Budget rate for supply & lay
Sub-base — all material types
per m³ · supply & lay
£54 – £166 / m³
What is it
The supply and laying of sub-base, spread in layers and compacted to form the load-bearing base beneath roads, hardstandings, slabs and pavings, priced per m³ of compacted material in place. This guide covers 3 material options, which differ mainly in the delivered stone price and how densely each compacts:
Recycled Type 1 — A graded MOT Type 1 sub-base, crushed and screened from reclaimed concrete and brick rather than quarried rock.
Virgin Type 1 — A clean, well-graded MOT Type 1 crushed from quarried virgin rock that compacts to a stable platform.
Type 3 — Reduced-fines stone screened to an open grading so water drains through, for use under SUDS and permeable pavements.
Rate range by material type
Recycled Type 1£54 – £122 / m³
Virgin Type 1£80 – £162 / m³
Type 3£86 – £166 / m³
Budget rate per m³
3 key cost drivers
Material type & grade
The delivered material is usually the largest part of the rate, so which type or grade you specify is the biggest driver — different grades carry different prices and densities.
Material supply & haul
For a given material, the supplier source and haul distance move the delivered price; a longer haul adds materially to the rate.
Laying context
Open 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.
Estimator
Budget rate generator
£92 – £118 / m³
Covers the delivered material, the laying gang with its excavator & roller, and O&P · excl. prelims & VAT
Exclusions
Lifting & material distribution — the site dumper and any forward-haul plant (an attendance, in main-contractor prelims)