The rates below are starting points you replace with your own — a worked shape, not market prices. Work out the brick count with the brick and block calculator and the sand, cement and lime with the mortar calculator, then check what an hour has to earn with the charge-out rate calculator.
A worked example: a 24 m² single-skin garden wall
Standard 230×110×76 bricks on an existing footing by others, roughly 1,300 bricks, straight runs with two returns, ground-level work with a hop-up rather than scaffold. Bricklayer registered for GST, customer supplying bricks.
| Line | Qty | Rate | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Set out, profiles and string lines | 1 | $480.00 | $480.00 |
| Lay bricks — single skin, straight runs and returns | 1300 | $2.35 | $3,055.00 |
| Mortar — sand, cement, lime and mixing | 1 | $640.00 | $640.00 |
| Wall ties, DPC and weep holes | 24 | $14.00 | $336.00 |
| Hop-ups and site setup | 1 | $260.00 | $260.00 |
| Rake and iron joints | 24 | $18.00 | $432.00 |
| Clean down, acid wash and site tidy | 1 | $720.00 | $720.00 |
| Subtotal | $5,923.00 | ||
| GST (10%) | $592.30 | ||
| Total inc GST | $6,515.30 | ||
| Deposit to book in (20%) | $1,303.06 | ||
| Balance on completion | $5,212.24 |
Cleaning down sits on its own line at the bottom, and it is the item most often forgotten entirely. It is a day of somebody's time on a wall this size, and a customer who was never told about it reads the acid wash as part of "laying the bricks".
What to put on a bricklaying quote
- Business name, ABN, and your licence number where your state requires one for the value of the work.
- Whether you are pricing per thousand, per square metre or per job — and the brick size the price assumes. A rate built on standard 230s does not hold for a 50-series or an oversize.
- The brick count, and where it came from. Say the figure and the wastage allowance you have included.
- Who supplies the bricks, and who unloads and stacks them. A crane truck that cannot get close is somebody's hire cost.
- Mortar — sand, cement, lime, colour and mix class, in or out, and who provides water and power.
- The joint finish — raked, ironed, flush, weathered. Different labour, and the customer cannot picture the difference from the word alone.
- Scaffold or hop-ups as their own priced line, with the height the price assumes.
- Wall ties, DPC, weep holes, lintels, cavity, insulation and articulation joints — named, because they are the items that get assumed into "the bricks".
- Cleaning down — acid wash, and who is responsible for protecting windows, paths and plants while it happens.
- What the footing has to be, and who provides it — level, to line, and set out. Building on somebody else's bad footing is the fastest way to own their problem.
- Exclusions. Footings and slabs, engineering and design, waterproofing, rendering, demolition, scaffolding above the height you named, and reinstating anything the delivery damages.
- Whether GST is included, how long the price holds, and deposit and payment terms.
- The variations sentence, which in this trade means: the footing, the weather, and how the bricks actually arrive.
Common mistakes, and what each one costs
- Cleaning down left off. It is a real day on a real wall, and it is invisible to a customer who assumes the acid wash is part of laying bricks.
- Mortar absorbed into the brick rate. Sand, cement and lime for a wall of any size is money, and mixing it is time.
- No brick size stated. The count, the labour and the rate all move with it, and the customer changes their mind at the display centre.
- Unloading unassigned. A pack of bricks landing on the wrong side of the block is an hour of barrowing nobody priced.
- Building on a footing you did not check. Out of level, out of line, or not cured — and it becomes your wall and your problem.
- No scaffold line. Above about a metre and a half the job changes, and a quote that is silent about it is a quote that absorbed it.
Three things that win the job
Quote from the footing, not from the drawing. Level, line and set-out are the three things that decide whether this is a clean job or a fortnight of packing, and none of them shows up on a plan.
Say what happens if the bricks land badly. A customer who was told that a delivery on the wrong side of the block costs barrowing time, and knows the rate, does not argue about it later. It reads as experience.
Follow it up. Bricklaying quotes sit while the customer waits on a concreter, a builder or council. Two short messages over a fortnight is the difference — wording in the quote follow-up templates.
Yamate keeps your rates, your standard inclusions and your usual exclusions, so a quote is a few taps rather than a blank page — then turns the accepted quote into the invoice without retyping it. Sign up before 30 September 2026 and lock in the Founder plan at $19/mo — forever. It's $29/mo after that. No lock-in, cancel anytime. Prices in AUD.
Send it, then know if they read it
The builder above priced the job. What it cannot do is remember that this bricklaying quote is still unanswered on Thursday, or turn the yes into an invoice without you retyping it.
Quote from your phone in Yamate → Free to try · no card · sign in with a link, no password to rememberFAQ
What should a bricklaying quote include?
The brick size and the count, whether the rate is per thousand or per square metre, who supplies and unloads, mortar and the joint finish, scaffold, ties and DPC, cleaning down, what the footing has to be, exclusions, whether GST applies, and your deposit and payment terms.
How many bricks do I need for a wall?
It depends on the wall area, the brick size and whether it is single skin or cavity, plus a wastage allowance. The brick and block calculator works out the count with waste, and the mortar calculator gives the sand, cement and lime.
Should bricklaying be priced per thousand or per square metre?
Either works as long as the quote says which and names the brick size it assumes. Per thousand travels better across brick sizes; per square metre is easier for a customer to compare. What causes arguments is a rate with neither stated.
Should I take a deposit for a bricklaying job?
If you are supplying the bricks or the mortar materials, usually yes — that is real money out before you start. Put it on the quote as a percentage and check your state's rules on deposit limits.
Do I charge GST on a quote?
Only if you are registered, which is generally required once turnover reaches $75,000. See when a sole trader has to register.
Next steps
General information for Australian tradies, not tax, legal, engineering or financial advice. Every figure this page produces is an estimate based on what you type in, and the starting rates are placeholders rather than market prices. Structural design, licensing and deposit rules are set by each state and territory — check yours before relying on this page.