Equipment
Specify the exact units, usable facilities, fittings and capacity for the proposed workforce and working hours.
Purchase · Hire · Delivered and installed cost
Site welfare unit hire costs in the UK
Site welfare unit hire costs depend on the facilities, hire period and services your project needs. Ask for a quote covering delivery to your postcode, installation, servicing and collection. This guide helps you compare the full budget and assess buying as an alternative.
Site welfare unit hire costs: what to include
Use this quotation checklist to request a current hire rate for the actual facilities, workforce and dates. There is no published UK rental price sample or flat delivery tariff on this page. The postcode, site access and required servicing must be included in the supplier's assessment.
Ready for use
Include delivery, offloading, supports, assembly, water and drainage arrangements, electricity and commissioning before work starts.
Throughout the project
Price cleaning, consumables, tank emptying and water replenishment, maintenance, emergency replacement and final collection.
Ask for the charge period, VAT, minimum hire, extension and notice terms, and every delivery or collection charge. Commercial hire terms do not change the requirement to provide suitable welfare from the start and throughout the work.
Request an itemised quotationThe CDM requirements that affect the specification
For construction work, these provisions come from CDM 2015 Schedule 2 in England, Wales and Scotland, and CDM 2016 Schedule 3 in Northern Ireland. Plan them before work starts and keep them available throughout the work.
Washing with hot and cold, or warm, water
Washing facilities belong beside toilets and near required changing rooms. They must include clean hot and cold, or warm, water, with running water so far as reasonably practicable, cleaning products and a way to dry. Provide showers where the work or health risks require them.
Include in the specification: Choose a basin large enough for hands, face and forearms. Specify the heater, water supply and replenishment, soap and towels or dryers. Hand sanitiser alone is not a replacement for suitable washing facilities. Keep washing separate from eating and rest areas where hazardous substances could contaminate food.
Legal provisions: paragraph 2 of GB Schedule 2 / NI Schedule 3.
Changing, secure storage and drying
Changing rooms are required where workers need special work clothing and cannot reasonably change elsewhere for health or propriety reasons. Provide seats, separate rooms or separate use by men and women where needed, and drying facilities where necessary. Provide secure storage for clothing and personal effects where needed.
Include in the specification: Allow for wet clothing and the number changing together. Keep contaminated protective clothing separate from ordinary clothes; specify lockers, seating and a safe drying arrangement.
Legal provisions: paragraph 4 of GB Schedule 2 / NI Schedule 3.
Rest, meals and boiling water
Provide accessible rest rooms or areas with enough tables and seats with backs for simultaneous users, arrangements to prepare and eat meals, and a way to boil water. Maintain an appropriate temperature. Provide for pregnant or nursing workers to rest lying down where necessary.
Include in the specification: Agree break-time occupancy, food preparation, heating and ventilation. Keep the space clean and free of stored plant, tools and materials; an office label alone does not make a cabin a suitable rest area.
Legal provisions: paragraph 5 of GB Schedule 2 / NI Schedule 3.
Use HSE's checks to plan toilets and washing and changing, drinking water and rest. For Northern Ireland, check who is responsible under HSENI's guidance.
The complete budget in six line items
Request a total for your project, with each line item shown as included, priced separately or covered by your team.
The units and their equipment
Purchase price or hire charges for the planned period. Ask for a list of rooms, furniture, heating and sanitary equipment.
Transport and offloading
Site address, number of trips and lifting method. For hire, ask for a price for delivery and collection.
Preparation and installation
Supports, levelling, packing, joining the units and access. Make clear what your team prepares and what the supplier does.
Service connections
Water, drainage and electricity: distance to connections, materials, works and commissioning. Specify any standalone needs.
Use on site
Utilities, maintenance, refilling and emptying of any tanks. Ask what is included and how often.
End of use
For hire: dismantling, collection, cleaning and reinstatement conditions. For purchase: dismantling, relocation or storage if you reuse the units.
Allow separately for conditional amounts
Security deposit, any insurance, excess, extension and reinstatement: ask for the applicable terms and amounts. A refundable deposit is cash you have to put forward; it is not automatically added to the final cost.
For hire, allow for the entire billed period
Have the billing start and end dates, the minimum hire period and how a part month is handled confirmed. The total hire charges depend on these terms.
Hire charges for the period + delivery and collection + installation and connections + services and end-of-hire costs.
Also ask the price for an extra month. If a monthly amount relates to finance with an option to purchase, compare the commitment period, any initial payment and the final purchase price before comparing it with standard hire.
Hire, new purchase or used?
Compare the solutions over the same period of use and with the same equipment. Purchasing may also involve costs between two sites.
For a defined project
Ask for a hire offer with transport, collection and detailed services. Cost an extension if the end date remains uncertain.
Cost up the hireFor multiple uses
Add to the purchase the transfers, storage, maintenance and adaptations. For used units, ask for details of condition, repairs and equipment actually supplied.
Cost up the purchaseNo period of use automatically makes purchase more cost-effective. Base the calculation on planned projects and comparable quotes, without assuming a guaranteed resale.
Send the same enquiry to compare quotes
A lower total is useful if the proposed installation covers the same needs.
- Maximum number of people present at the same time and whether meals are taken on site.
- Required rooms, furniture and equipment already available.
- Postcode, lorry access, location and photos of the site.
- Delivery and collection dates, expected duration and possible extension.
- Available utilities and work needed to connect the units.
- Expected services: installation, maintenance, waste tank emptying, cleaning and collection.
For each quote, check the quantities, plan, inclusions and exclusions. Keep amounts on the same tax basis: an ex VAT price cannot be compared directly with an inc VAT total.
Your site welfare unit, costed for your project.
Prepare an enquiry with your period, location and required equipment. Free and without obligation.
Prepare a welfare hire enquiryQuestions about the price of site welfare facilities
How much does a site welfare unit cost to hire?
Request a current supplier quote for the required facilities, occupancy, duration and postcode. This page publishes a quotation checklist, not a verified UK price sample. Compare hire charges, VAT, delivery and collection, installation and the services needed to keep the welfare working.
Is transport included in the quoted price?
Check each quote. Specify offloading, installation, connections and collection for hire. Ask for a total including VAT, with each service marked as included or charged separately.
How do I compare buying and hiring?
Compare the same equipment over the same period. Include hire charges, transport and servicing, or purchase, maintenance, transfers and storage. Do not calculate a break-even point from units with different fittings, capacities or services.
Does a used site welfare unit cost less overall?
The purchase price alone does not tell you this. Ask about the condition of the units and installations, the equipment included and the work required. Add delivery, set-up and repairs before comparing with a new offer or hire.
Is the security deposit part of the hire cost?
Present it separately in your cash flow budget. If it is refundable, it is not automatically a final expense. Check the conditions for return and any amounts that may be withheld, as well as insurance and any fees.
Choosing the equipment
Describe the workforce, uses and rooms required.
ReadWelfare unit hire
Specify the hire period, facilities, servicing and collection before comparing costs.
ReadPreparing for installation
Anticipate the siting, lifting and connections.
ReadChecking site requirements
See the guidelines on equipment and hygiene.
ReadUK welfare guidance reviewed on 28 September 2026. Prices depend on the quoted equipment, location, duration and services; the directory does not sell or hire these units.