For UK contractors, time is everything. Every hour spent on admin, travel, or client chasing is an hour that could have been spent on-site delivering real work. But what many don’t realise is just how much time is slipping away on jobs that were never the right fit in the first place.
Our research reveals the shocking time wasted by UK contractors - up to four months of working time every year on unsuitable jobs. That’s not just a few hours here and there - it’s the equivalent of a third of the working year gone, with nothing to show for it.
A Day: The Cost of Wrong-Fit Jobs in Construction
A single bad-fit job eats up around 7 hours - almost a full day’s work. Between enquiries, paperwork, travel, and chasing clients, contractors are losing entire days on jobs that never convert.
A Week: Contractor Productivity Loss
Contractors handle an average of two unsuitable jobs per week. That’s 14 hours wasted, the same as nearly two working days every week. For many businesses, that’s a clear case of contractor productivity loss that eats into profits and progress.
A Month: A Week Lost to Wasted Time
Across a month, those wasted hours add up to 56 hours - equal to seven full working days. That’s an entire working week each month gone, without pay or progress.
Six Months: Two Months of Work Gone
By the half-year mark, contractors have thrown away 336 hours - or 42 full working days. Put simply, that’s nearly two months of productivity lost by chasing unsuitable projects.
One Year: Up to Four Months Slipped Away
Zoom out to a year, and the problem is impossible to ignore. Contractors waste around 672 hours annually on unsuitable jobs. That’s 84 working days, or up to four months of the year. Four months that could have been spent completing projects, winning new work, or simply taking time off — instead written off as the cost of wasted time in UK construction.
Why It Matters
In a competitive industry where margins are tight and schedules are packed, contractors can’t afford to give away a third of their year. Every wasted day is a missed opportunity to build, to earn, and to grow. And the real sting? Time doesn’t just disappear - it has a money value attached to it.
See the Financial Impact
The wasted hours aren’t just frustrating - they’re expensive. With our free calculator, you can work out exactly how much those wrong-fit jobs are costing your business in pounds and pence. It’s a wake-up call for contractors across the UK: wasted time isn’t just lost hours - it’s lost profit.
