Dryliner invoice template: per m² price work, day work and CIS

Drylining rates: per m² first, day rate second

There's no reliable public figure for what a contractor pays a subcontract dryliner, because most of the work is priced per m² on a measured schedule that varies by board type, height and access. As a guide to customer prices, Checkatrade's plasterboard cost guide (updated June 2026) gives about £16 per m² for walls and £37 per m² for ceilings, supply and fit, about £480 of labour to board an average room, and an average day rate of £480 for a drylining contractor on commercial work. Those are prices paid to firms, including materials or overheads, not subcontract labour rates.

For employed dryliners, the CIJC Working Rule Agreement minimum craft rate is £16.40 an hour from 20 July 2026. That's an employee minimum, not a self-employed rate. To set your own day rate, start from what you need to earn and the days you'll realistically work, using the day rate calculator, then check your m² rates against it: how many m² can you board, or tape and joint, in a day?

What goes on a drylining invoice

• The site, plot or floor and the area ("Level 2, apartments 4 to 6").
• One line per rate: board walls, MF ceiling, metal stud partition, tape and joint, with the m² measured and the rate per m².
• Day work with the date and who asked for it, typically making good after the electrician or plumber, or work held up by other trades.
• Materials you bought on their own line (screws, tape, beads), with receipts. If the contractor supplied the boards and studs, don't put them on your invoice.
• Retention, if your subcontract has one, shown as a deduction so the gross value is still clear.

Agree how areas are measured before you start (openings deducted or not, ceilings measured flat), and keep the marked-up drawing. Most disputes on drylining invoices are about the measure, not the rate.

CIS for dryliners

Drylining is construction work, so a builder or contractor deducts CIS from your labour: 20% if you're registered, 30% if you're not, or nothing with gross payment status. Fitting insulation or soundproofing as part of a wider building project is also inside CIS (HMRC's manual CISR14240), although fitting it on its own in premises not otherwise being worked on, without affecting the building's fabric, is listed as excluded. Materials you paid for come off before the deduction. If you run a gang and pay the others yourself, you're a contractor too and have to operate CIS on them.

Worked example: a fortnight's measured work

Kyle dry lines a commercial fit-out for a contractor. The contractor supplied the boards, studs and track. Kyle is CIS registered (20%) and not VAT registered. All rates are illustrations, not market figures.

Check: 42 × £14 = £588; 55 × £12.50 = £687.50; 110 × £3.20 = £352; half a day at £220 = £110. Labour is £1,737.50, and 20% of that is £347.50. £1,801.80 − £347.50 = £1,454.30.

VAT

• If you're VAT registered and the contractor is VAT and CIS registered, standard-rated drylining work is normally under the domestic reverse charge: no VAT added, the reverse charge wording, and the VAT amount shown for information. See the reverse charge guide.
• Insulation installed on its own in a home can be zero rated until 31 March 2027 under VAT Notice 708/6. But the notice is clear that insulation fitted as part of a bigger job, such as building an extension, is part of a single standard-rated supply. If you think the zero rate applies, check the notice or with your accountant first.
• New build housing work can be zero rated, which also takes it outside the reverse charge.

Common mistakes

• One line for "drylining, £X" with no areas, so the QS can't check it against the measure.
• Putting the contractor's boards on your invoice, or letting CIS come off your own screws and beads.
• Day work with no date or name. Get it signed or confirmed by text on the day.
• Claiming 0% VAT on insulation that's part of a standard-rated build.
• Ignoring retention until the end of the job. Keep a running total on each invoice.

Free drylining invoice template

Download the free CIS invoice template (PDF or Excel) and add one row per m² rate. It isn't drylining-specific, but it keeps labour, materials and the CIS deduction apart. For a weekly run of days, the weekly day-rate invoice is simpler. See the reverse charge and CIS wording on the sample invoice. If CIS is taken off your pay, the CIS refund checker gives a quick estimate (not tax advice) of whether you may be due money back.

Related trade guides

Drylining is followed by the plasterer (skim) and the painter and decorator, and often follows the joiner on timber stud. Labour-only gangs should also read the labour-only subcontractor guide. See all trade invoicing guides.