How to hire
Match the firm to the job before you enquire. A local bricklayer owns garden walls, repointing, chimney repairs and small alterations; an extension or conversion belongs with a builder who lays bricks as part of a wider brief; and a large masonry package belongs with a commercial contractor. Say what you want in your first message: the length, height and thickness of the wall, the age of the property, photos of the site and how access looks for materials and waste.
Sort permission before anyone prices the work. In England a garden wall is normally permitted development up to a metre high beside a road or footpath and up to two metres elsewhere, measured from natural ground level, with listed buildings, conservation areas and Article 4 directions able to remove those rights [4]. Telford & Wrekin Council is the authority that confirms where you stand, so check with its planning team before you build above those heights or near a listed boundary.
Telford and Wrekin adds its own layer to the permission question. The borough has eight conservation areas, including the Severn Gorge, Wellington and Wrockwardine, and inside one works that would normally be permitted development can need permission [9]. The Severn Gorge is also a World Heritage Site with an Article 4 direction giving the council further control over minor changes [9]. Restrictions of this kind can remove permitted development rights altogether, so run your address past the council's pre-application advice service, or apply for a Lawful Development Certificate if you want certainty [10].
Around Ironbridge and the Gorge, the conservation area and World Heritage status mean period brickwork gets extra scrutiny, and period homes often need breathable lime mortar rather than cement [9] [2]. Wellington and Wrockwardine have their own conservation areas, where the council weighs new work against the historic character of the street [9]. Whatever part of the borough you live in — Dawley, Madeley, Lawley or beyond — send the bricklayer your postcode with the first message so cover is confirmed before anyone visits.
Treat the boundary as its own job. A wall on or astride the line with a neighbour can engage the Party Wall etc. Act 1996, which means serving written notice on the adjoining owner — and the Act sits apart from planning permission, so a wall can need a notice even when it needs no application [3]. Agree the line, the foundations and who pays for what in writing first, and build wholly on your own land set back from the line if you want to avoid the Act altogether.
Check competence, since no mandatory registration applies to bricklayers. Ask anyone bound for a building site for a CSCS card and verify it through CSCS Smart Check rather than trusting a logo on a van [5]. For extensions and bigger domestic briefs, search the Federation of Master Builders check-a-member route or TrustMark's find-a-tradesperson service for your trade, both of which assess members against published codes [6] [7]. Ask for insurance details and a recent local reference you can verify, in writing.
A typical job runs the same course. You send photos, measurements and access notes; the bricklayer visits, measures and prices a written scope; you compare two or three quotes on identical terms; permission and boundary notices are settled before materials are ordered. On extension work tied to structural changes, building control inspects the work as it progresses, so agree the inspection stages with the builder up front [11]. Walk the finished work together and raise snags before the final balance leaves your account.
Get two or three itemised written quotes on the same written scope so you compare like with like, as TrustMark advises [7]. Each quote should separate labour, materials and VAT, and name the wall specification, the brick type and how existing work is matched, foundations and footings, piers and coping, the mortar mix, access and scaffolding, start date, stages and how soil and waste leave the site. Treat an outlier far above or below the rest as a question, and ask what is included or left out.
Pay in stages and keep the paper. A deposit for materials is normal, while full payment in cash before completion is not, and TrustMark urges a written contract setting out what happens, when and for how much [7] [8]. File the quote, the receipt and any written guarantee with your house papers — you will need them when you sell or claim. For extension brickwork tied to structural work, confirm building control sign-off lands with the paperwork before you release the final balance.
At the end, the file should hold the written quote, the receipt for every payment, any written guarantee with its length and cover stated, and — for extensions and structural work — the building control sign-off confirming the work was inspected [11]. Keep any Lawful Development Certificate or permission letter in the same file [10]. You will need the set when you sell, remortgage or claim, and a firm that hands it over without being asked is showing you its standard.
Pricing
As of autumn 2026, Checkatrade's cost guide puts a single-skin one-metre by four-metre garden wall at around £825 over one to two days, with the double-skin equivalent at about £1,200, and bricklayer day rates averaging near £280 [1]. Taller and longer walls cost more per metre, and a double skin with piers, proper footings and coping is the stronger and longer-lasting boundary.
Repointing prices per square metre at £50 to £60 for standard brickwork including clean-up, around £55 on average, with a chimney repoint at £500 to £1,000 [2]. Period and solid-wall homes often need breathable lime mortar rather than cement, which costs more, and raking out plus scaffolding for upper floors adds to the bill. Scaffolding for upper floors is usually priced apart from the per-metre rate [2].
Access moves the price most after size: tight side passages, steps and spoil removal all add labour, as does matching existing brickwork where reclaimed or handmade stock costs far more than standard facing bricks. Ask whether VAT sits on top of the quoted figures and whether a call-out fee applies to small repairs. Get the scope in writing before work starts — the exact wall or area, materials, dates, stages and what guarantee the price includes. For extension brickwork, confirm whether the price covers the full cavity wall or the outer leaf alone, and check what the quote says about matching the existing brickwork [1].
Chimney work is the dearest repair for the hours involved because access dominates. As of spring 2026, Checkatrade's guide puts most chimney repairs between £180 and £1,000, with flashing or mortar fixes starting near £250, repointing a stack at £300 to £1,000 against an average near £750, and full stack removal around £1,800 [12]. Height, condition and whether scaffolding or specialist access is needed move the figure more than the contractor does.
Extension brickwork is priced as one slice of a much larger build: Checkatrade's extension guide (May 2024 figures) puts a twenty-square-metre single-storey extension at £40,000 to £56,000 excluding VAT [13]. Ask whether the brickwork price covers the outer leaf or the full cavity wall, how the existing brick is matched, and what is allowed for foundations, lintels and making good. Ground conditions, access and matching reclaimed stock move the slice more than the headline rate.
Red flags
Quotes a wall, extension or chimney job without visiting or asking for photos, measurements and access details.
Starts a boundary wall with no written agreement on the line and no notice to the neighbour where the Party Wall Act applies [3].
Builds a tall boundary wall single-skin with no piers or coping, though single skin suits only low walls [1].
Repoints a period or solid-wall home in hard cement without discussing breathable lime mortar [2].
Cannot show a CSCS card you can verify through Smart Check for workers sent onto a building site [5].
Asks for full payment in cash before starting, with no written quote or terms [8].
Will not put the scope, price and start date in writing before lifting a trowel.
Sets up ladders against a chimney with no scaffolding or edge protection before starting high work.
Cannot name the mortar or brick match for period work, or waves away matching the existing wall.