How much of the price is labour?

Roughly 650-700 per square metre of a 1,400-1,800 laid rate, a little under half. That covers excavation, cart-away, sub-base compacted in layers, bedding sand, laying and cutting, edge restraint, jointing and vibration.

How long does a driveway take?

A 60m² domestic driveway is typically three to five working days depending on the excavation and whether drainage is involved. It is not a one-day job, and anyone promising one is not compacting the sub-base in layers.

Can it be laid in the rainy season?

Cabro itself can, but the base cannot be built properly on saturated subgrade: it will not compact and it loses bearing capacity. On black cotton we will postpone rather than lay onto ground we know will move. We would rather tell you that than take the deposit.

What is the single biggest cost people do not expect?

Excavation and cart-away on black cotton. The dig is deeper because the subgrade needs replacing with more sub-base, and the spoil is heavy and has to leave site. On a large area it can rival the cost of the blocks.

Cabro Installation Cost in Kenya: What the Labour Actually Buys

What you are paying the labour for

Roughly KES 650 – 700 per square metre, being the difference between blocks at 750–1,100 and laid at 1,400–1,800. Here is what that actually covers.

Excavation to the right depth, deeper for vehicles than for a path, and deeper again where the subgrade is soft. Plus carting the spoil away, which on black cotton is heavy and voluminous.

Sub-base laid and compacted in layers. This is the step that separates paving that lasts from paving that ruts. A 200mm sub-base placed in one lift and rolled is not compacted through its depth, whatever it looks like on the surface.

Bedding sand screeded to consistent depth. Not used to level out an uneven sub-base: that just relocates where the settlement appears.

Laying and cutting, including cuts at edges, curves and around gullies.

Edge restraint bedded and haunched, without which the field spreads regardless of everything above.

Jointing sand and plate vibration, which is what makes the blocks interlock and share load.

Time

A 60 m² domestic driveway is three to five working days. Excavation and drainage extend it.

Anyone offering to complete it in a day is not compacting in layers, and that is the corner that cannot be seen and cannot be undone.

Season

The blocks do not mind rain. The base does. Saturated subgrade will not compact and loses bearing capacity, so paving laid onto it in the long rains settles once the ground dries and moves again.

On black cotton we postpone rather than lay onto ground we know is wrong. That is an inconvenient thing to say to a client with a deadline and it is cheaper than doing it twice.

Rates

Work	Rate	Notes
Plain cabro, supply only	KES 750 – 1,100 / m²	60mm and 80mm; blocks alone, nothing laid
Plain cabro, supplied and laid	KES 1,400 – 1,800 / m²	Excavation, sub-base, bedding, blocks, compaction
Coloured or 3D cabro, laid	KES 1,800 – 3,200 / m²
Kerbs, edging and drainage channels	Quoted at survey	Installation often equals or exceeds the product cost

Rates reviewed 2026-08. Every job is confirmed with a written quotation before work starts.

What a cabro quote usually leaves out

Every one of these sits under the surface, which is exactly why cheap quotes omit them. They are itemised here rather than discovered once the blocks are already down.

Excavation and cart-away of spoil, which on black cotton is the largest hidden cost
Additional sub-base depth where the subgrade tests soft
Geotextile membrane over soft or clay subgrades
Drainage: channels, gullies and connection to an outfall
Kerbs and edge restraint, without which the field will creep regardless of block quality