Plumber pricing: how to charge correctly for materials and labour

Most plumbers don’t charge the wrong amount because they don’t know the market. They charge the wrong amount because they’ve never worked out what an hour of work costs them — so the price comes from “what the competition charges” rather than from their own numbers.

This guide shows how to arrive at your hourly rate, how to charge for materials and which charges need to be listed separately so they don’t eat into your margin.

The first number: how many hours are really billable

An eight-hour day isn’t eight billable hours. Take away travel, picking up materials, quoting, phone calls and paperwork, and you’re usually left with four to five. If you calculate your rate by dividing your costs by eight, you’re charging almost half of what you need.

The calculation in four steps:

1. Add up your monthly fixed costs: van and fuel, insurance, tools, phone, accountant, social security contributions, subscriptions.
2. Add the salary you want to pay yourself — it isn’t profit, it’s a cost.
3. Divide by the month’s genuinely billable hours (e.g. 21 days × 4.5 hours ≈ 95).
4. Add the profit margin you want. The result is the minimum for your hourly rate.

How to charge for materials

Materials aren’t resold at cost price. Transport, storage, paying for them up front and the guarantee you give all have value. In practice there are three common policies:

• A mark-up on cost price (typically 1.2–1.5× on small parts, lower on expensive items). Simple and transparent.
• Net cost price plus a separate handling charge. Suitable for large jobs where the customer sees the supplier invoices.
• A price list with fixed prices for the twenty materials you fit all the time. The fastest day to day.

Whichever you choose, keep it consistent. The problem isn’t the size of the mark-up — it’s charging the same customer on a different basis each time.

The charges that get forgotten

• Call-out charge: covers the journey and the time to get to the job. Always stated in advance on the phone.
• Minimum charge: a ten-minute job costs the call-out charge, not ten minutes of labour.
• Out-of-hours emergency call-out: evenings, weekends, bank holidays — with a surcharge announced before the work starts.
• Second operative: when the job needs two people, two are charged.
• Return visit for extra materials that couldn’t have been foreseen.

Emergency or planned: two different prices

An emergency breakdown disrupts the day’s schedule and often cancels other work. The surcharge isn’t exploiting someone’s need; it’s the cost of being available. As long as it’s known in advance, before the customer says “come over”.

From billing to getting paid

Pricing is finished when the money comes in, not when the invoice is issued. Two practices that reduce open balances: payment on the spot as soon as the job sheet is signed, and a balance visible per customer so you don’t have to hunt for who owes what.

When materials and labour are logged on the job sheet on site, the charge is calculated automatically and the customer’s balance updates without a second entry — that’s how PlumbPro works.

Conclusion

Start from your genuinely billable hours, set a consistent policy on materials and announce fixed charges before you start. A price built on your own numbers defends itself; a price copied from the market changes with every haggle.