How to Quote a Concreting Job: NZ Concreter's Pricing Guide

With concreting work, the pour is rarely where a quote goes wrong. The mix is a known cost. It is the excavation, boxing, reinforcing and site access that eat the margin when they are bundled into a single lump sum. Below is a practical way to price concreting accurately for the New Zealand market, along with a template you can reuse on every job.

What a concreting quote should include

• Business name, GST number (from IRD) and contact details
• Quote number, date and expiry
• Client name and site address
• Itemised scope covering excavation, boxing, reinforcing, pour and finish on separate lines
• Concrete finish specified such as plain, exposed aggregate, broom or coloured
• Area (m2), thickness and strength (MPa)
• Materials and labour shown separately, plus 15 percent GST, payment terms and exclusions

Common concreting rates (2025/2026 NZ market)

• Plain concrete (driveway or slab), supply and lay: $90 to $135 per m2
• Exposed aggregate finish: $120 to $180 per m2
• Coloured or patterned concrete: $120 to $190 per m2
• Excavation and site prep: $55 to $100 per m2, higher in rock or fill
• Concrete cutting and removal: $45 to $90 per m2
• Concrete pump hire: $900 to $1,700 per pour where access is tight
• Concreter labour: Auckland and Wellington $80 to $110 per hour, Christchurch and regional NZ $70 to $95 per hour

Treat these as guide ranges only. Truck and pump access tends to be the single biggest swing. A back-section slab you cannot reach with a chute will cost well above a street-front driveway of the same area.

How to price concrete and materials

Ready-mix concrete sits at roughly $280 to $400 per m3 delivered depending on the MPa mix and your region. Add reinforcing mesh or rebar, boxing timber and any pump hire, then apply a markup of 15 to 25 percent on materials. That markup absorbs ordering, part-load fees, wastage and the chance of a top-up load. Always state the strength, for example 25 MPa, and the thickness, because a 100mm path and a 150mm driveway are not the same job. Foundations and slabs are placed to NZS 3109 for construction and NZS 3604 for timber-framed footings, and structural foundation work can need building consent, so note where consent and engineering sit.

Exclusions that protect you

• "Assumes standard ground. Rock excavation or fill removal charged at cost"
• "Assumes truck and pump access to the pour area"
• "Does not include drainage, plumbing or electrical conduit unless listed"
• "Building consent and engineering certification at client's cost"
• "Price held for 30 days subject to ready-mix supplier pricing"

A free concreting quote structure you can reuse

Run every concreting quote off one layout: business details, the job description (area, thickness, finish, MPa), then line items grouped into Excavation, Boxing and Reinforcing, Concrete, Labour and any Pump or Disposal, then subtotal, GST, total, payment terms and exclusions. The pour is the predictable part. Itemising the prep is what stops a fixed price eating your margin when the ground turns out worse than it looked.

Related guides

• Concrete Driveway Cost in New Zealand
• How to Write a Trade Quote

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