It was a well known fact that if you were a banker you were among those who had some of the longest working hours in the country. However, a new report published by Screwfix shows that  tradesmen now actually have more hours than bankers, lawyers and doctors.

On average a typical tradesman will work between 41 to 50 hours a week and will often be working through holidays and weekends to ensure they don’t lose any business to local competition. This is all from the report published by Screwfix who are suppliers of tools and equipment to those in the industry. From those who were asked, around one fifth of tradesmen worked more than 50 hours a week where as the average in the UK for others in a different industry is a 36.4 hour week. This is in comparison to bankers who on average work 40.9 hours a week, doctors who have an average working week consisting of 38.4 hours and just 36 hours per week for judges and barristers.

Here are some other interesting results that the Screwfix survey found:

• The average lunch break that a tradesman will take is between 10 and 20 minutes.
• Over half of tradesmen take less than 26 days holiday a year and one in six take just 10 days and sometimes fewer.
• 47% use their spare time to catch up on all the paperwork that comes with the job.
• 80% skip meals while they are working and 62% take a packed lunch with them to work.
• Only 1% take an hour for lunch.

Marketing director at Screwfix, John Mewett, said: “We know how hard tradesmen work but the research really brought home how many hours they are putting in each week and how stretched they really are.

“For a lot of tradesmen, time is money, and so any opportunity to squeeze in an extra job is snatched up. This can mean long working hours and driving further from home to increase their workload.”
With this being said, one third of the tradesmen asked actually do DIY in their spare time which suggests that they enjoy their job and although working a 50 hour week is no doubt exhausting, many are happy to do so.

For those who are working this many hours it is important that you have the correct levels of insurance as exhaustion can often lead to small mistakes such as leaving your work van unlocked. In this case it is essential to have an adequate van insurance policy. As a tradesman it is also worth protecting yourself with a tradesman insurance policy. This will ensure that if you accidentally burst a pipe in someone’s home you don’t need to foot the bill. You could also opt to have your tools and equipment covered, especially if you are self employed.

Competition is tough nowadays so staying ahead of the game is essential especially when there are also rogue traders ready to undercut your prices. These are the people in the industry who are operating illegally, slashing their prices to lower than yours for cash and doing a “botch” job, leaving the situation much worse for the next tradesman. We have all seen and heard the horror stories on TV and it isn’t just the customers that the rogue traders are conning that are losing out; legal tradesmen are too.

While it is tempting for customers to give traders cash at a lower price than competition it is considered morally wrong to do so as they are avoiding paying tax which ultimately means that they are not contributing to the maintenance of your local area in the same way you, the legal tradesman, or your neighbours are.

As a result of these cash in hand jobs it simply fuels the need for tax to be raised in other areas which is an unnecessary burden that many families can do without. Consider all the circumstances surrounding the situation because at the time it might seem like a bargain but in the long run it could be costly; not just for tax reasons but also putting right the “botch” job they completed in the first place.