Welder and fabricator invoice template: workshop, site and CIS
For a welder or fabricator, where the work happens matters. Making steelwork in your own workshop is manufacture and outside CIS, but fixing it on site is construction work, and a contract to supply and fix brings the whole job in. Here's how to invoice each, plus where welding inspection fits, with a checked example.
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Welder and fabricator rates
There's no reliable public source for self-employed welding day rates. For context, Indeed's UK salary page for fabricator/welders (updated 12 October 2026, from 5,400 job adverts) gives an average of £17.14 an hour, typically £13.23 to £22.22. That's employee pay from job adverts, not a self-employed rate. As a subcontractor you also cover your own welding plant, gas, consumables, insurance, van, holidays and unpaid days.
To work out a day rate that covers those, use the day rate calculator. For fabrication jobs, price per item or per job, with the steel, finishes (galvanising, powder coating) and site fitting as separate parts. The free quote generator lets you set out labour and materials on separate lines, and with an account you can save the quote and turn it into the invoice later.
CIS: workshop, site and supply and fix
HMRC's manual CISR14220 sets out the split:
- Outside CIS: manufacture or off-site fabrication of components and delivery of them to site. Steelwork you make in your workshop and deliver is, on its own, outside the scheme.
- Inside CIS: installing manufactured items under a supply and fix arrangement. If your contract is to make and fit, the contract is within CIS.
- Site welding for a contractor (erecting steelwork, fixing balustrades, structural repairs) is construction work, so it's inside CIS.
- Repairing a contractor's plant or machinery is listed as outside CIS (CISR14220 excludes the repair or maintenance of construction plant).
Welding inspection: HMRC's manual CISR14270 treats the professional work of surveyors as excluded, and says this may extend to comparable work in specialised areas, naming non-destructive testing, industrial radiography and welding inspection. But if the job goes beyond inspection into carrying out remedial work, the exclusion no longer applies. So inspection and testing on their own are normally outside CIS; inspecting and then re-welding defects is inside. If a contract mixes the two, check with the contractor, HMRC or your accountant before invoicing.
Where CIS applies, the contractor deducts from the payment after taking off what you actually paid for materials, consumables, fuel and plant hired in for the job, and, CIS 340 says, "the cost of manufacture or prefabrication of materials". Whether any of your own workshop time can be treated that way is not spelled out clearly for small fabricators, so agree it with the contractor and check with HMRC or your accountant. The example below takes the cautious approach and treats only bought-in steel and consumables as materials.
Worked example: make and fit a balustrade for a builder
Jess fabricates a steel balustrade in her workshop and fits it on site for a builder, under one supply and fix contract. She is CIS registered (20%) and not VAT registered. The day rate is an illustration, not a market figure.
| Line | Qty | Rate | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steel, fixings, welding consumables and galvanising bought by Jess (materials, invoices attached) | 1 | £640.00 | £640.00 |
| Workshop fabrication, balustrade to drawing BAL-02 (labour) | 3 days | £280.00 | £840.00 |
| Site installation, 4 Mill Street (labour) | 1 day | £280.00 | £280.00 |
| Total | £1,760.00 |
| Less materials | £640.00 |
| Subject to CIS | £1,120.00 |
| CIS deduction at 20% | £224.00 |
| Paid to Jess | £1,536.00 |
Check: 3 × £280 = £840, plus £280 makes £1,120. 20% of £1,120 is £224. £1,760 − £224 = £1,536. If Jess had only made and delivered the balustrade, with someone else fitting it, her invoice would have been outside CIS and nothing would be deducted.
VAT and the 5% disregard
- Supply and fix work for a VAT and CIS-registered contractor is normally under the domestic reverse charge if you're VAT registered, because the goods and the fitting are one supply of construction services.
- HMRC's reverse charge guide has a 5% disregard: if the fitting part is 5% or less of the whole supply's value, you can charge VAT in the normal way. It has to be agreed with the customer at the start, based on the overall contract value. A job like the example above, where fitting is a big share, wouldn't qualify.
- Manufacture and delivery only is a normal supply of goods: charge VAT in the normal way if you're registered.
Common mistakes
- Letting CIS come off a make-and-deliver invoice. Off-site fabrication and delivery on their own are outside CIS.
- Thinking workshop work stays outside CIS when you also fit it. A supply and fix contract is within the scheme.
- Lumping steel, galvanising and labour into one price, so the materials can't be taken off before the deduction.
- Claiming the 5% disregard without agreeing it at the start of the contract.
- Treating inspection with repairs as excluded inspection work.
Free welder and fabricator invoice template
For supply and fix or site work, download the free CIS invoice template (PDF or Excel). For make-and-deliver jobs, use the general invoice template (PDF, Word or Excel). Neither is welding-specific. See CIS and reverse charge 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
Site steel work often comes in alongside the groundworker and the steel fixer, and the scaffolder may be needed for access. See all trade invoicing guides.
Free: The UK Contractor's Cheat Sheet 2026/27
CIS rates, overtime maths, tax dates, mileage, VAT and late payment, on 2 pages. Keep it on your phone or print it for the van.
Frequently asked questions
Does CIS apply to welding and fabrication?
Site work and supply and fix contracts for a contractor are inside CIS. Fabricating in your own workshop and delivering to site, on its own, is manufacture and outside CIS.
Is welding inspection covered by CIS?
HMRC's manual treats inspection and testing, including welding inspection, as excluded professional work. If the job goes beyond inspection into remedial work, it's back inside CIS.
Can the contractor take CIS off my steel?
No. Steel, consumables and other materials you bought for the job are taken off before the deduction, as long as they're shown on the invoice and you can evidence the cost.
What is the 5% disregard?
A reverse charge rule: if the construction services are 5% or less of the value of a single supply, such as supply and fix, normal VAT can apply instead. It must be agreed at the start, on the overall contract value.
Sources
- Construction Industry Scheme manual CISR14220: manufacture and delivery – HMRC
- Construction Industry Scheme manual CISR14270: professional work (welding inspection) – HMRC
- CIS 340: guide for contractors and subcontractors (sections 3.11 to 3.14) – GOV.UK
- VAT reverse charge technical guide (5% disregard) – GOV.UK
- Fabricator/welder salaries in the United Kingdom (updated 12 October 2026) – Indeed
This guide is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Rules and rates change, so check the linked GOV.UK pages for the current position.