Outdoor & Garden Lighting Installation Costs UK — What to Charge in 2026

Outdoor Lighting Jobs and What to Charge

Exterior lighting work falls into a few clear categories, and the price gap between them is huge. A single light onto an existing supply is a one-hour job; a full garden scheme with trenching is a one-to-two day project. Here's a breakdown of the main job types with current UK price ranges.

Single Outdoor Wall Light or Security Light (Existing Supply)

The simplest outdoor lighting job: fitting a single wall light, lantern or security light where a supply already exists — typically replacing an old fitting or wiring into a nearby switch and accessible cable. Most of the labour is in the fitting itself, making good the weatherproof seal, and testing. There's no new cable run and usually no notifiable work if you're replacing like for like.

Always use an outdoor-rated fitting with the correct IP rating, fit the gland properly and check the existing circuit has RCD protection. If the customer has supplied a cheap fitting with a poor seal, flag it — you don't want to be called back when water gets in.

• Fit a single wall light / security light onto existing supply: £80–£150

PIR Security Floodlight on a New Spur

A step up from the single light: adding a PIR-controlled LED floodlight where there's no existing exterior supply, so you need to run a new spur from a convenient point — usually a nearby socket circuit, lighting circuit or consumer unit. This involves routing cable through the wall, fitting the floodlight and PIR, sealing the entry point and testing. The PIR sensitivity and timing setup is part of the value you add — a badly aimed sensor that triggers on every passing cat is a callback waiting to happen.

This is notifiable work in most cases (see Part P below), and the new spur must be RCD protected. Price reflects the extra cable, the fitting and the certification.

• Add a PIR security floodlight on a new spur: £100–£200

Garden Lighting Scheme (Multiple Fittings)

This is where outdoor lighting becomes a proper project — and a proper earner. A garden scheme means multiple fittings (spike spots, bollards, recessed deck lights, wall washers) wired across new outdoor-rated cable runs, with IP-rated fittings throughout and, for low-voltage systems, a transformer to step 230V down to 12V. Cable is often buried in trenches or run through ducting, fittings are positioned for effect rather than convenience, and controls — timers, photocells, smart drivers — are part of the spec.

Price swings widely depending on the number of fittings, the length and difficulty of the cable runs, and how much trenching is involved. A handful of spike lights along a path is at the bottom of the range; a designed scheme lighting trees, borders, steps and a patio with 15+ fittings and trenching through a lawn sits at the top — and bespoke schemes can run well beyond it.

• Small scheme (4–6 fittings, minimal trenching): £400–£700
• Medium scheme (8–12 fittings, some cable runs): £700–£1,200
• Large designed scheme (15+ fittings, transformer, trenching): £1,200–£1,500+

Low-voltage (12V) systems are popular for planted borders because the buried cable is safer and the fittings are smaller, but the transformer needs a weatherproof housing and the volt-drop over long runs has to be calculated properly. Mains (230V) schemes give brighter output and longer runs without volt-drop issues, but every fitting and connection must be fully IP-rated and the whole circuit RCD protected.

SWA Cable to a Shed or Garden Office

Running power and light to an outbuilding is one of the most-requested outdoor electrical jobs, driven by the explosion in garden offices and home gyms. The job centres on a steel wire armoured (SWA) cable run from the house consumer unit (or a new garden sub-board) to the outbuilding, terminated with proper SWA glands at both ends. Inside the outbuilding you'll typically fit a small consumer unit, a couple of sockets and lighting.

The big cost variable is the cable route. A short run across a patio with surface clipping is cheap; a long run that needs a trench dug across a lawn — buried at the correct depth with warning tape above, or run through ducting under hard landscaping — costs considerably more, especially if you're digging through paving or concrete.

• Short run, surface or easy route: £300–£450
• Longer run with trenching / ducting: £500–£800+

Quote the trenching as a separate line, and be clear about who's digging. Many electricians price the electrical work and let the customer arrange a groundworker for the trench — it keeps your quote competitive and avoids you spending a day on a spade.

IP Ratings — Get These Right

Every fitting and accessory used outdoors must carry an IP (Ingress Protection) rating suitable for its exposure. Getting this wrong is the single most common cause of outdoor lighting failures and callbacks — water gets into an under-rated fitting, the LED driver fails, and you're back on site for free.

• IP44 minimum for any fitting exposed to the weather — splashing water from any direction. This is the baseline for a sheltered wall light under an eave.
• IP65 for very exposed positions, ground-level fittings, or anywhere subject to driving rain, hose-down or jets of water. Spike spots, recessed deck and ground lights, and exposed floodlights should be IP65.
• IP67/IP68 for fittings that may be submerged — pond lights, fittings in areas that flood, or fully buried connections.

Connections matter as much as fittings. Use proper IP-rated junction boxes, weatherproof glands and gel-filled connectors for buried joints — a perfect fitting fed by a connection in an under-rated box still lets water into the circuit.

RCD Protection and Weatherproofing

All outdoor electrical circuits must be RCD protected — this is non-negotiable under BS 7671. Outdoor cabling is at far higher risk of damage from spades, mowers, frost and water ingress, and an RCD (30mA) is what disconnects the supply fast enough to prevent a fatal shock if a fault occurs. If the existing board doesn't provide RCD protection on the circuit you're extending, you need to add it — factor an RCD or RCBO into your quote.

Beyond the RCD, weatherproofing is what separates a job that lasts from a job that fails. Use outdoor-rated fittings, correctly fitted glands, weatherproof junction boxes and the right entry seals. Cable entries into walls should be sealed against water tracking back along the cable. These details are cheap to do properly and expensive to fix when ignored.

Low-Voltage vs Mains Garden Lighting

For garden schemes you'll choose between low-voltage 12V systems and mains 230V — and the right answer depends on the layout and the customer's priorities.

• Low-voltage (12V): A transformer steps mains down to 12V, feeding small spike and recessed fittings. Buried cable is lower risk, fittings are compact and discreet, and it suits planted borders and pathways. The trade-off is volt-drop over long runs — you must size the cable and split the load correctly, or distant fittings dim noticeably.
• Mains (230V): Brighter output, longer runs without volt-drop calculations, and better for floodlighting and larger features. Every fitting, joint and connection must be fully IP-rated and the circuit RCD protected. This is the choice for high-output schemes and outbuilding lighting.

Smart controls, timers and PIR sensors are an easy upsell on either system. App-controlled drivers, astronomical timeclocks (which adjust to sunset through the year) and zoned control let the customer set scenes and save energy — and they add margin to the quote with very little extra labour.

Trenching and Burial Depth for SWA

Where SWA or outdoor cable is buried, it must go deep enough to be safe from spades, forks and future digging — and be protected and marked so anyone digging later knows it's there. As a working guide, bury cable at a sufficient depth (commonly around 450mm under a lawn or border, deeper under areas that may be cultivated or driven over), lay cable warning tape above it, and use ducting where the route crosses hard landscaping or where you may need to pull cable through later.

Trenching is labour-heavy and easy to underestimate. Digging through a soft lawn is quick; cutting through paving, a concrete path or tree roots is slow, hard work. Survey the route before quoting, and either price the digging realistically or hand it to a groundworker as a separate line. Reinstating the surface — re-laying turf or paving — should also be costed or explicitly excluded.

Part P and Building Control

Fixed outdoor electrical work is notifiable under Part P of the Building Regulations. New circuits, new outdoor supplies and most exterior installation work must be either notified to building control or self-certified by a registered competent person under a scheme such as NICEIC, NAPIT or ELECSA. Simple like-for-like replacement of a fitting on an existing, compliant circuit is generally not notifiable — but extending circuits, adding spurs outdoors and running supplies to outbuildings are.

If you're a registered electrician, this is straightforward — you self-certify and issue the certificate. If you're not registered, the work has to be notified to building control before you start, which carries a fee. Either way, the customer gets an Electrical Installation Certificate (or Minor Works Certificate for smaller jobs). Build the certification into your price — it's part of the job, not an extra, and it's a genuine point of difference over an unregistered competitor who skips it.

What Affects the Price

Two outdoor lighting jobs that sound identical on the phone can differ by hundreds of pounds once you see the site. The main variables to check before you quote:

• Cable distance: Longer runs mean more cable, more time, and — for low-voltage — volt-drop calculations and heavier cable. Distance to the outbuilding or far end of the garden is the single biggest cost driver on bigger jobs.
• Trenching through hard landscaping: A trench across a lawn is quick; cutting through paving, concrete or a driveway is slow, costly, and needs reinstatement. Establish the route before pricing.
• Number of fittings: Each fitting adds material cost, a connection, and setup/aiming time. Scheme price scales with fitting count.
• Fitting quality: Budget spike lights versus quality brass or stainless fittings with serious IP ratings make a big difference to material cost — and to how long the scheme lasts. Spec it clearly in the quote.
• Access: Tight side passages, cable routes that cross floors or lofts, awkward wall constructions and obstructed garden routes all add labour. A two-storey cable drop is more than a ground-floor one.

Quick Reference: Outdoor Lighting Prices UK 2026

Prices are indicative ranges for England and Wales in 2026, excluding VAT. Always survey the site, confirm IP requirements and RCD provision, and factor in Part P certification before quoting.