Fencing is one of the few trades where two jobs on the same street get different CIS treatment.
Inside CIS: heavy duty fencing, fencing set in concrete foundations, and any fencing forming part of a wider construction project.
Outside CIS: isolated light duty fencing.
That split comes from HMRC’s own guidance at CISR14140. It turns on what you are putting in and what else is going on around it, rather than on who is paying you.
So a run of close-board panels swapped out in a back garden, on its own, usually sits outside the scheme. A 2.4 metre weldmesh perimeter round a distribution unit, posts set in concrete, sits inside it. A firm doing both is on both sides of the line every week.
Security fencing is still fencing
CIS excludes the installation of security systems, including burglar alarms and closed circuit television. Plenty of fencing contractors assume palisade, weldmesh and anti-climb work rides in on that exclusion.
It does not. HMRC’s position is that fencing is a normal feature of a building and its surrounds, and is not a “system” in the sense the exclusion means. Security fencing is assessed under the ordinary fencing rules.
Which usually means it is inside CIS, because security fencing tends to be heavy duty and set in concrete. If a customer has told you your perimeter work is excluded because it is security work, they are wrong, and the exposure is yours.
The firm on both sides of the line
Most fencing companies at this size have a domestic side and a commercial side. Panel replacements and garden work on one hand, perimeter contracts, site hoarding and highways work on the other.
That puts you on both ends of the scheme at once. You are a subcontractor on the commercial work, so deductions come off your applications, and you are a contractor on the labour you pay out, so you have verification and monthly returns to run.
Then the domestic side sits outside all of it, which means a chunk of your turnover follows a completely different set of rules to the rest.
Getting this wrong in either direction is expensive. Blanket CIS on everything means overpaid deductions sitting with HMRC. No CIS at all means unpaid deductions, interest and penalties on work that was always in scope.
Where the money actually goes in this trade
Materials up front. Posts, panels, concrete and mesh get bought before a penny comes in. On a busy month that is serious working capital tied up, and it is the single most common reason a profitable fencing firm runs short of cash.
Your yard. Storage, security, stock that walks, timber that sits outside and degrades. Real cost that rarely makes it onto a job sheet.
Weather and seasonality. Frost stops post setting, wind stops panel work, and a wet fortnight moves revenue into the next quarter while wages carry on. Forecasting has to assume lost days rather than hope for none.
Plant hire. Post knockers, diggers and dumpers. Hire with an operator is inside CIS. Dry hire is not. Worth getting right, because it changes what you deduct from the hire invoice.
Pricing per metre without knowing your cost per metre. Ground conditions, muck away, access and travel are what separate a good run from a bad one, and they are what usually goes unrecorded.
What we do
Work out which of your jobs are inside CIS and which are not, and set your invoicing and applications up so the treatment follows the work.
Register you as a contractor and run the returns where you need it, and tell you plainly where you do not.
VAT handled properly across mixed work, including the reverse charge on the commercial side and standard VAT on domestic customers.
Job costing that gives you a true cost per metre by fence type, with materials, plant and lost days included.
Cash flow planning built round a seasonal business that pays for materials before it gets paid.
Plus the ordinary compliance. Year end accounts, corporation tax, VAT returns, payroll and self assessment.
Who we work with
UK fencing and perimeter security limited companies turning over between £500,000 and £5 million, anywhere in the country.
Common questions
Does CIS apply to fencing?
Sometimes. Heavy duty fencing, fencing set in concrete foundations and fencing forming part of a larger construction project are inside the scheme. Isolated light duty fencing is outside it.
Is security fencing excluded as a security system?
No. HMRC treats fencing as a normal feature of a building and its surrounds rather than a system, so it is judged on the ordinary fencing rules and is often inside CIS.
I only replace garden panels. Do I need to register?
For that work alone, often not. But if you pay subcontract labour to do it, you may be a contractor under the scheme regardless of what your own customers are.
Do I charge VAT on a perimeter contract?
Where the work is inside CIS and your customer is VAT registered and not the end user, the reverse charge applies and you do not charge VAT.
Is hired plant inside CIS?
Hire that comes with an operator is. Dry hire without an operator is not.
Book a call. We will take a run through your last twelve months of jobs and tell you which ones were inside CIS and whether your registration matches the work you actually do.
Common questions
Does CIS apply to fencing contractors?
Inside CIS: heavy duty fencing, fencing set in concrete foundations, and any fencing forming part of a wider construction project. Outside CIS: isolated light duty fencing. That split comes from HMRC’s own guidance at CISR14140. It turns on what you are putting in and what else is going on around it, rather than on who is paying you.
Does the VAT domestic reverse charge apply to fencing contractors?
It follows the CIS answer above. Where the work falls inside CIS and your customer is VAT registered, registered under CIS and is not an end user, the reverse charge applies and you do not charge VAT. Where the work falls outside CIS, or the customer is an end user or a homeowner, you charge VAT as normal. Two jobs in the same week can be treated differently.