Illustrative cost

£17,000 to £42,000 ex VAT

Typical: £27,000
Duration: About 12 weeks
Effort: 31 to 58 days

Illustrative estimate, not a quote. Real prices vary.

Worked out from UK freelance contractor day rates in job adverts, with no consultancy or agency margin added. Consultancies and agencies usually charge more.

Source: IT Jobs Watch. Rates read on 15 November 2026; costs computed on 15 November 2026.

What is included

Inventory and classification of AI systems
Gap analysis against the EU AI Act obligations that apply and ISO/IEC 42001
A remediation plan with owners
Core documentation for an AI management system

Deliverables

AI system inventory and classification
Gap analysis
Remediation plan
AI management system document set

Assumptions

Up to four AI systems in scope
Client legal counsel reviews the classification
Certification audit fees are separate

Not included

Legal advice or a legal opinion
Certification audit
Technical remediation work

Project plan

Phases run one after another, about 12 weeks in all.

Phases, their length and main tasks
Phase	Weeks	Main tasks
Scoping and inventory	3	Find AI systems; Classify by risk
Gap analysis	3	Assess against obligations; Assess against ISO/IEC 42001 controls; Security review
Remediation plan	3	Prioritise gaps; Plan with owners and budgets
Documentation	3	Policies and procedures; Records and templates

Who does the work

Person-days per role in each phase, low and high effort.

Days by phase and role
Phase	Role	Days (low to high)
Scoping and inventory	AI governance consultant	5.5 to 9 days
Scoping and inventory	Business analyst	3.5 to 5.5 days
Gap analysis	AI governance consultant	7 to 12.5 days
Gap analysis	Cyber security consultant	2 to 5.5 days
Remediation plan	AI governance consultant	5.5 to 9 days
Remediation plan	Project manager	2 to 5.5 days
Documentation	AI governance consultant	5.5 to 11 days

How the cost adds up

Cost by role: low, typical and high, before rounding
Role	Low (days × 25th percentile)	Typical (days × median)	High (days × 90th percentile)
AI governance consultant	23.5 × £563 = £13,232	32.5 × £625 = £20,312	41.5 × £743 = £30,835
Business analyst	3.5 × £425 = £1,488	4.5 × £500 = £2,250	5.5 × £662 = £3,641
Cyber security consultant	2 × £520 = £1,040	3.75 × £581 = £2,179	5.5 × £675 = £3,713
Project manager	2 × £451 = £902	3.75 × £540 = £2,025	5.5 × £714 = £3,927
Total, rounded	£17,000	£27,000	£42,000

How these estimates are worked out

Effort: for each phase we estimate how many days each role works, as a low and a high case. These are our estimates for a typical project of this kind, not measured data.

Rates: each role's daily rate comes from UK contract job adverts over the last six months, as published by IT Jobs Watch. These are freelance contractor rates as advertised, not what was paid, and not what a consultancy or agency charges.

Low end: the low-effort days at each role's 25th-percentile rate. We use the 25th percentile, not the 10th, because the lowest effort at the cheapest rates gives a floor few buyers would ever meet.

Typical: the mid-point between low and high effort, at each role's median rate.

High end: the high-effort days at each role's 90th-percentile rate.

Totals are rounded to the nearest £500 below £10,000 and the nearest £1,000 above, and exclude VAT. Phases run one after another.

Not included:

Software licences, model and hosting fees
Travel and expenses
Your own staff's time
A consultancy's or agency's margin, overheads and risk

Real prices vary with the supplier, the state of your data and systems, how much of the work your own team does, where the work happens and how much risk the supplier carries. Consultancies and agencies usually charge more than these contractor rates, and a fixed price usually costs more than time and materials because the supplier takes the risk.

Sources

Source: IT Jobs Watch: UK contract job adverts quoting a daily rate, 6 months to 15 November 2026. Each role's page was read on 15 November 2026. Published under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.

Day rate sources, one row per role, read on 15 November 2026
Role	IT Jobs Watch page	Rates quoted	25th percentile	Median	90th percentile
AI governance consultantIT Jobs Watch has no "AI Governance" contract title with daily rates; mapped to the closest title, Data Governance Consultant. Small sample (14 rates): treat as indicative.	Data Governance Consultant	14	£563	£625	£743
Business analyst	Business Analyst	1,394	£425	£500	£662
Cyber security consultant	Cybersecurity Consultant	86	£520	£581	£675
Project manager	Project Manager	1,226	£451	£540	£714

EU AI Act and ISO/IEC 42001 readiness for a mid-sized engineering firm with EU customers