Film crew hire/Set builders
Hire set builders, anywhere in the UK. Walls, rooms and shop fronts, built for the camera and gone by morning.
Set builders, carpenters and scenic painters for adverts, music videos, brand films and drama anywhere in the UK, booked from London. They build to the art director’s drawings in a workshop or on the stage, paint and age it for the camera, and strike it at wrap. £341–512 a day per builder on the APA/Bectu card, paid in full.
- 54 five-star Google reviews
- 2 hrs for our team to read your brief, in working hours
- £10m employers’ liability on every crew member we book
- 2,800+ freelance crew on our books, across the UK
Photos: Ali Mkumbwa, Ryno Marais, Here Now Films and Callum Hill
The role
What set builders do on your shoot
Set builders make the parts of the world a location can’t give you: a wall with the window in the right place, a shop counter, a stage, a room that comes apart so the camera can get in. Carpenters build it, scenic painters finish and age it, and the same team strikes it and clears the floor.
A build runs in four stages: design, construction, dressing and strike. The art director designs and draws it, the builders make it, the dressers fill it, and everyone helps clear it.
Across the UK the build usually goes up on a hired stage: the drive-in stages of west London, Space Studios in Manchester, Curzon Street Studios in Birmingham, The Bottle Yard Studios in Bristol. Pieces are often made in a workshop and driven in, so the truck, its weight and the driver’s licence are part of the plan. We book builders near the stage where we can, and bring a team in when the build needs it, with travel and hotels on the quote.
- Built to drawings. Dimensions, finishes and camera positions agreed with the art director first.
- Made to move. Wild walls and flying pieces, so the camera and the lights can get in.
- Finished for camera. Paint, ageing and textures that hold up at 4K.
- Struck and gone. The stage or location cleared, and the waste taken away.
What’s included
What the day rate covers
Per builder, per day
- An 11-hour day per builder, including an hour for lunch
- Building to the art director’s drawings
- Painting and finishing
- Wild walls and flying pieces where needed
- A standby carpenter on the shoot day, if booked
- The strike, and the space cleared
On top, each on its own line
- Our 10% booking fee and 2% insurance, on the whole quote
- Materials, at cost
- Workshop space, transport and waste disposal
- The stage, and any floor or cove repaint the studio charges for
- Clean air zone charges on an older van or truck, at cost
- Travel, mileage and hotels when the shoot is away from the crew member’s home city, at cost
How our rates work, overtime and the APA/Bectu card: film crew rates in the UK.
Two ways to book
Crew hire or full production: who’s the producer of record?
One question sets the price: who’s the producer of record? Book builders for your own production, anywhere in the UK, or have us take the whole film on.
Crew hire
You run the shoot.
10% + 2% booking fee and insurance, on everything we book for you: crew, kit and travel.
We do
- Find, book and brief the crew, and pay them
- Book kit, travel and hotels too, if you want them
- Send the full price before anything is booked
- One person to call all day
- Employers’ liability for the crew we book, and insurance on kit we hire in
You do
- Run the shoot, or your producer does
- The plan, the schedule and the call sheet
- The location, its permission and its public liability
- Responsibility for the production: you’re the producer of record
What the 2% insures: employers’ liability for every crew member we book, and the kit we hire in for you. Nothing else on the shoot. A large kit rental may need extra insurance, as its own line on the quote.
Full production
We’re the producer of record.
15% + 5% production fee, plus insurance and contingency, on the whole production budget. Quoted as a production.
We do
- Our producer plans it with you and runs the day
- Locations, permits, kit, studio, travel and hotels, booked and paid in our name
- Insurance for the whole shoot, public liability included, plus the risk assessment and the call sheet
- One contract and one invoice, so overseas teams need no UK company
You do
- The creative calls
- Signing off the plan and the budget
What the 5% pays for: our production insurance across the whole shoot, £10m public liability included, and the contingency.
Not sure which you need? If your own producer or director will run the day, it’s crew hire. If you want us to take the production on, it’s a full production quote.
On the day
A set build, from drawings to strike
A kitchen set for an advert, built in a workshop and stood up on a hired stage. Days are an example; the schedule sets the real ones.
- Week 1 Drawings The art director’s plans agreed: the room, the window, the walls that come out for the camera, and what fits in the truck and through the stage doors.
- Day 1 Workshop Flats and units built in the workshop, the window frame made to size, every piece numbered for the load-in.
- Day 2 Load in Pieces driven to the stage on a 7.5-tonne tail-lift truck, which needs a C1 licence: a car licence covers up to 3,500kg (checked October 2026). Then stood up, braced and fixed.
- Day 3 Paint The scenic painter’s base coats, then the ageing: a kitchen that has been lived in.
- Day 4 Dress The dressers fill it; the builders hang the doors and fix whatever the camera finds.
- Shoot Standby A standby carpenter on set to pull a wall, fix a hinge or make a quick change.
- Strike Clear Everything down and out, materials recycled where they can be, and the stage handed back as the studio wants it.
Which kind
Which construction crew do you need?
The team grows with the build. Card rates are per person, per 11-hour day.
Carpenters and master carpenter Build the set Card £341–512
Carpenters build flats, platforms, units and pieces, in the workshop and on the stage. A master carpenter runs them, solves the tricky pieces and signs off what’s safe.
Best for any build, from a single wall to a room; add a master carpenter on anything longer than a couple of days.
Scenic painter Paint, ageing and finishes Quoted on the brief
Paints and ages the set: wood, plaster, metal and dirt, all convincing on camera.
Best when the set has to look old, used or expensive.
Standby carpenter On set on the day From £341 a day
Stays with the set during the shoot to move walls, fix things and make changes.
Best on any built set.
Props, models and effects Specialist workshops Quoted on the brief
Models, miniatures, moulded props and physical effects such as fire, smoke and weather, made by a specialist workshop.
Best when the set needs something no carpenter would make. Effects on set need a competent effects person with authority over safety, and a DSEAR assessment, as HSE’s guidance sets out.
What it’s for
What people book set builders for across the UK
Adverts
A kitchen, a shop or a living room built on a stage, with walls that come out for the camera.
Music videos
A look built in a warehouse or on a cove, from east London to Glasgow.
Product films
Plinths, platforms and backgrounds for a product on a studio cove.
Events and launches
Stages, sets and backdrops in conference centres and exhibition halls, built for the cameras as well as the room.
Locations that need help
A false wall in an office, a fake window, or a shop front over a real one, with the owner’s permission.
How we crew it
How we crew a set build across the UK
How a build runs with us, wherever the stage is.
How we crew it · UK
The stage, the truck and the drawings
Before a build is drawn, we ask the stage for its load-in times, door sizes and floor rules, and whether the floor or the cove needs a repaint after. Anything it charges goes on the quote as its own line. Then the transport: a 7.5-tonne truck needs a driver with a C1 licence, which licences issued before 1997 normally include, and a van or truck that isn’t clean enough pays a daily charge in an English clean air zone, or a fine in a Scottish low emission zone. Our studio guides list the stages: London, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol and Cornwall.
How we crew it · UK
Building on location
On private property the owner says yes first. On the street it’s the council or the film office, and it sets the notice: the City of London asks four weeks for a hoarding and 12 for a road closure, Birmingham’s film office 21 days for a road closure, and Cornwall Council 12 weeks (checked October 2026). Pieces fix without damage and come out cleanly at wrap. Work at height is planned, supervised and carried out by competent people, as HSE sets out.
Before you book
Things to know
The day
- 11 hours, including an hour for lunch: ten working hours.
- Overtime by the hour at the APA card’s rate for the role, agreed with you before it happens.
- At least 11 hours between wrap and the next day’s call.
- Build and strike days are quoted separately, each on its own line.
Vans and trucks
- A car licence (category B) covers vehicles up to 3,500kg; a 7.5-tonne truck needs C1, which licences issued before 1997 normally include (GOV.UK).
- A van that doesn’t meet a clean air zone pays: £9 a day in Bristol, Bath and Bradford, £10 in Sheffield, £12.50 on Tyneside and in London’s ULEZ (checked October 2026).
Building on location
- Private property: the owner’s consent first.
- Council land and roads: the film office’s notice, from four weeks for a City of London hoarding to 12 weeks for a road closure in Cornwall (checked October 2026).
- Work at height planned, supervised and carried out by competent people (HSE).
Paying and changes
- Nothing to pay until you confirm the builders.
- 50% by card when you book, 50% on receipt of the final rushes.
- Every line on the quote: day rate, booking fee, kit, travel.
- Moving the date? Tell us as soon as you know.
- Cancellation terms are on every quote.
What our insurance covers
- Employers’ liability for the builders we book: £10m.
- Kit we hire in for you is insured. A large kit rental may need extra insurance, as its own line on the quote.
- Nothing else on a crew hire. Public liability, the location and your own kit stay with you, and your venue will want your certificate. When we’re the producer of record, our policy covers the shoot.
From £341 a day
The APA/Bectu card range, carpenter to master carpenter. One builder’s day at the bottom of it:
| Per builder, 11 hours | £341 |
| Booking fee, 10% | £34.10 |
| Insurance, 2% | £6.82 |
| One builder, one day, before materials | £381.92 + VAT |
The 2% is employers’ liability for the builders we book, and cover on kit we hire in. Insurance for a UK shoot
You won’t pay anything until you confirm the build.
- 50% by card at booking, 50% on the final rushes
- Our team reads every brief within 2 working hours
- Every line on the quote before anything is booked
Or call us on 07412 543822.
Reviews
What clients say about our crews
Straight from our Google Business Profile.
Book set builders, anywhere in the UK.
Tell us what needs building, where, and when it has to be ready. Our team reads every brief within 2 working hours. Or call us on 07412 543822.
Check availability
The whole crew
Every role across the UK, booked the same way
One brief, one quote, every role on its own line. Our UK day rates, paid to the crew member in full:
Production 06
- Director From £500
- Producer From £450
- Production manager £504–627
- 2nd AD £355–448
- Production assistant £400
- Runner £245
Camera 09
- DOP From £850
- Camera operator £529–656
- Lighting camera operator £529–656
- Videographer £529–656
- Focus puller (1st AC) £461–575
- Clapper loader (2nd AC) £355–448
- Steadicam operator From £950
- Gimbal operator £529–656
- Drone operator From £750
Data and playback 02
- DIT £527
- Video playback £334–518
Sound 01
- Sound recordist £550
Hair, make-up and costume 02
- Hair and make-up £398
- Costume £519–694
Art department 02
- Art director £675–878
- Set builders This page £341–512
Post-production 01
- Editor From £350
How our rates work: crew rates across the UK. In one city? London, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol and Cornwall have their own role pages.
Production support
Everything around the crew
A build needs a stage, materials, a truck and sometimes a permit for the street, so here’s how each works on a UK shoot.
01
Crew rates in the UK
Day rates for every role, the APA/Bectu card, overtime and what a day covers.
02
Kit and equipment hire
Rental houses across the UK, wet hire and dry hire, and the crew’s own kit.
03
Insurance for a UK shoot
Employers’ liability, public liability, kit cover, and what can leave you uninsured.
Questions
Hiring set builders in the UK: questions
How much does a set build cost?
It depends on the build. Builders are priced per person per day, at £341–512 on the APA/Bectu card from carpenter to master carpenter, paid in full; materials, workshop, transport and waste are at cost. Our 10% booking fee and 2% insurance go on top, so one builder for one day starts at £381.92 + VAT. A simple wall can be a day for two; a room set, a week for a team. The rate is the same in every city we crew.
What does the insurance on a crew booking cover?
Two things. Employers’ liability for every crew member we book, up to £10m, and insurance on the kit we hire in for you. That’s what the 2% pays for. A large kit rental may need extra insurance, as its own line on the quote. The 2% doesn’t insure the rest of the shoot: public liability, the location, your own kit and anything you book yourself stay with you, because you’re the producer of record. If you’d rather we were, it’s quoted as a full production, and our insurance covers the whole shoot, public liability included.
How long is the day, and what about overtime?
A day is 11 hours, ten of them working and one for lunch. After that, overtime is paid by the hour at the APA card’s rate for the role: 1.5×, 1.25× or single time on an hourly rate of a tenth of the day rate, graded by day rate, and we agree it with you before it happens. Between wrap and the next call there are at least 11 hours. Film crew rates in the UK
How are build and strike days paid?
Each is its own line on the quote, so you can see the whole build before anything is booked. As a benchmark, the APA’s recommended terms for commercials set build and strike days at 8 hours at the hourly rate, with overtime after 8, and a prep day at 8 or 10 (APA crew terms, checked October 2026). See film crew rates in the UK.
Do I need an art director as well?
For anything more than a simple piece, yes: the art director designs it and draws it, the builders build it.
Where can we build a set?
On a hired stage, or on location with permission. London has drive-in stages in Acton and coves in Park Royal, Space Studios in West Gorton rents stages and construction workshops in Manchester, and Curzon Street Studios hires its stages in Birmingham. Ask the studio about load-in and its floor before the build is drawn. Our studio guides: London, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol and Cornwall.
Who drives the set to the stage?
A driver with the right licence for the vehicle. A car licence, category B, covers up to 3,500kg; a 7.5-tonne truck needs C1, which licences issued before 1997 normally include (GOV.UK, checked October 2026). The truck, the driver and any clean air zone charge are lines on the quote. See travel, hotels and vans for a UK shoot.
How far ahead should I book a set build?
Our team reads every brief within 2 working hours, and the build sets the rest: a small build needs about a week from drawings to shoot, a room set two or three. On location, add the council’s notice: four weeks for a City of London hoarding, and 12 weeks for a road closure in the City or in Cornwall (checked October 2026).
More on crew across the UK
- Film crew hire UK
- Film crew rates in the UK
- Set builder hire in London
- Set builder hire in Manchester
- Set builder hire in Birmingham
- Set builder hire in Bristol
- Set builder hire in Cornwall
- Set builder hire in New York
- Art director hire UK
- Grip and key grip hire UK
- How we select our crew
- Our crew hire case studies