How much should a contractor mark up materials?

Most contractors mark up materials 15–35%, with 20–25% typical for established businesses. High-volume low-cost items can carry 30%+, while expensive single items like equipment usually carry 10–20% because a large percentage on a costly unit draws client pushback.

Is it normal for contractors to mark up materials?

Yes, it is standard and expected. The markup covers sourcing, pickup, handling, waste, fronting the cost before the client pays, and warranty risk if a supplied part fails. Passing materials through at cost means absorbing all of that for free, which loses money on every job.

Should I let a client supply their own materials?

Usually no. Client-supplied materials remove your markup, but more importantly they shift warranty risk onto a grey area — if the part fails, you are still making the return trip. If a client insists, price your labour accordingly and make clear in writing that you do not warranty parts you did not supply.

Material Markup for Contractors

How much to mark up materials

The typical range across the trades is 15% to 35%, and for most established contractors 20–25% is the sensible middle. Where you land depends on the job and the materials.

High-volume, low-cost items (wire, fittings, fasteners) carry higher markup — 30%+ is normal, because the handling effort per dollar is high.
Expensive equipment (a condenser, a water heater, a panel) carries lower markup — often 10–20% — because a large percentage on a $4,000 unit is a number the client will push back on.
Special-order or hard-to-source parts justify the higher end, because the sourcing time is real work.

Remember the markup-versus-margin trap: a 25% markup is only a 20% margin. If you want to keep 25% of the materials price, you need a 33% markup. See Markup vs Margin for Contractors before you set your number.

Why material markup is not gouging

Clients occasionally object — "I can buy that part myself for less." The markup is justified, and being able to explain it calmly ends the conversation.

Material markup pays for everything around the part that the client does not see:

Sourcing — knowing the right part and where to get it, fast.
Pickup and handling — the trip to the supplier, the time, the fuel.
Fronting the cost — you pay the supplier now and get paid by the client later, sometimes weeks later. That is your money tied up.
Waste and breakage — the offcuts, the part that gets damaged, the spare you keep on the truck.
Warranty risk — if a part you supplied fails, you eat the return trip. A client-supplied part that fails is on them, which is precisely why "I'll buy the parts" is usually a bad deal for everyone.

Pass materials through at cost and you are absorbing all of that for free. Across a year, it is a serious leak — one of the quiet ones covered in Why Contractors Lose Money on Jobs.

Keeping markup consistent across quotes

The practical problem is consistency. When you price from memory, your markup drifts — 30% on one quote, 12% on another, because you are guessing under time pressure on site. The drift always favours the client, never you.

Setting prices in your QuickBooks item list once, with your markup already built in, fixes this. Then every quote uses the same priced items and your markup is automatic. Fieldpaid builds quotes straight from those item-list prices, so the markup you decided on is the markup every quote actually applies — no mental math at the truck. Check any single item with the markup calculator.

Material Markup for Contractors: How Much to Charge and Why