Charging part of an hourly rate?

[peterhyper]

I realised that I was being too kind (or stupid) and not charging customers any extra when I went a little over and into the next hour, and I am now charging them half of the next hour's labour charge if I go over 10 minutes into the next hour but work for less than 30 minutes.

I am curious if others on here immediately charge when they go into the next hour's labour, and if they charge the full hour even for say 20 minutes labour into that hour.

I am more referring to callouts when I go into the second or 3rd hour of labour as opposed to working for 8 hours for someone and worrying about charging for 5 minutes extra labour?

 

[elsparko]

when its callouts i charge my boss a full hour for anything over 5 minutes into a new hour, not getting out of my bed for pennies.

if it cant be fixed in the first hour (after travel) then it can be quoted for and booked in for a later date.

most of the "emergencies" arent emergencies

i got called out to a faulty shower switch on xmas eve, shirley just have a bloody bath till after the new year?!?!

 

[HappyHippyDad]

I think this is a good question Peter, and i'd like to hear what others say. I dont talk about wages on the open part of the forum but as we're not actually mentioning how much we charge I guess its ok.
If I go over the hour (5-30 mins over), I charge for half an hour. Anything over the 30 mins and its a full hour.

 

[The Ghost]

I charge per hour, or part thereof. i.e. anything over an hour and it's another hour. I only make exceptions to that when I am replacing lamps where I may charge by the half hour or part thereof. If you think about what you have paid out just to be at the site in training, tools, petrol, insurance, book fees, pro. membership (CPS) and on the list goes, how can you afford to charge less? You won't be making a profit if you do anything else.

 

[Octopus]

First hour then by the quarter hour.

First hour rate is higher than subsequent hour rate.

 

[peterhyper]

I absolutely take your point and I don't usually find callouts to be that great financially. I did 2 callouts last last week. These weren't emergency call outs as such but things like replacing ceiling lights etc that can be difficult to estimate so I charge by the hour (I always confirm my hourly charges with my customers in advance not just verbally but also by text or email). One job was 2 hours and that was my day's work and the other 3 hours labour and that was also my day's work mainly because the 3 hour job appeared from all the odds and sods the customer described could have been a full day's work but it was straightforward. That said I am sure some unscrupulous sparks would have still hung it out for the best part of a day.

I am increasing my charges at some point in the new year, because as you mentioned the overheads are high and the time getting all the tools and bits together, driving to and from the job and doing the work mounts up.

In the past I used to get a lot of additional work from a callout for one small job as it often lead to bigger work, but this year that has rarely happened for some reason which I guess is just down to luck (hopefully 2018 will be more productive).

 

[Dannyg8810]

Charge what you yourself deem appropriate if you work for yourself

I imagine there will be different points of views on this

 

[Midwest]

I charge by the hour on day rate job. But as I only do domestic work, I wouldn't charge anything if I ran over by 5 mins or so, but then I don't have a stop watch running.

 

[SJD]

After the first hour, in quarter hour increments.

And sometimes I'll ignore the odd few minutes over.

 

[elsparko]

my view is they can have my hour at the rate i set or they can call joe blogs who will take 5 hours on a 1 hour job

premium services come with the costs attached.

 

[elsparko]

i pay my mechanic around 50 an hour, he is superior to the main dealerships but still has the experience without the extreme overheads.

for that £50 an hour i get experience, a job well done, never ripped off, good advice on existing condition of the underside of my car etc

i tend to find the customers with alot of dosh just want a tradesman they can trust that wont try and empty their accounts

several weeks ago i was working in one of the queens own estates , some of the houses are rented out, we travelled quite a bit to this job as the local sparkies just took the ---- when they seen the size of the house

i was complimented for merely doing my job, i like a 5 minutes to stand and shoot the ---- but not before my work is done

 

[elsparko]

 

[Gavin John Hyde]

It is never a simple black and white line this one, some jobs you are best giving a fixed inclusive price, a lot of customers prefer this and it can be the most transparent. it does require however for you to be able to gauge your skills and efficiency well and foresee possible snags that come with experience. In these parts though most areas have resident parking permits which tradesman can get from the council and you need ot factor a couple of quid for parking too.
This is often also the best idea for things like connecting a cooker to existing circuit or replacing a pendant with a new light. i will typically charge around £30+vat for a simple cooker connection and do 4 or 5 of these a month as I have an agreement with a local appliance retailer..
If i am charging by the the hour then i would generally charge for the first hour then subsequent hours at 80% of the first hourly rate and charged in quarter of hour increments. My hourly rate will go up or down depending on the nature of the job and access, amount of testing etc... again though for somethings customers prefer a fixed price in which case I will generally go for how many hours i think it will take plus 1 on top. on some jobs you might go over but normally with experience i find you can be done quicker than you anticipated. it balances it self out.

 

[AJshep]

If I were jobbing like you I'd probabley charge £50 first hour £35 per hour after that.
Where possible I'd be looking to give the customer a price though.
I have a simple spreadsheet in which I list each room, and item and how much I want to charge for that item. It's an easy way of simply adding up a scheduling work. I then work out what I want to charge per man per day with mileage materials added and how long I think it will take, and compare the 2 prices.

With materials added they should be pretty close, In the past I've slipped up slightly by under estimating materials, but I work for someone so hopefully I learnt by that.

 

[123]

my view is they can have my hour at the rate i set or they can call joe blogs who will take 5 hours on a 1 hour job

premium services come with the costs attached.

I thought you worked for someone? Post #2 gives that indication.

 

[Octopus]

If you do decide to charge by the quarter hour make sure the rate is easily divisible by 4 - E.g. £36 rather than £35

 

[Deleted member 104825]

If you do decide to charge by the quarter hour make sure the rate is easily divisible by 4 - E.g. £36 rather than £35

Price needs to be quarter of the second hour rate or somewhere between 1st/2nd hour prices or you're effectively just charging 1st hour rate twice for a 119 mins.

 

[elsparko]

I thought you worked for someone? Post #2 gives that indication.

i do

 

[Octopus]

Price needs to be quarter of the second hour rate or somewhere between 1st/2nd hour prices or you're effectively just charging 1st hour rate twice for a 119 mins.

Read post #5 again!

 

[peterhyper]

Thanks for the feedback, I must admit that I hadn't thought about charging by the quarter hour but that is worth considering as it all adds up over the year.

My second hour charge is less than my first and then my 3rd hour and subsequent hours are the same hourly rate.

I know someone mentioned they don't have a stopwatch, in fact neither do I, but I can't fairly charge someone for my labour if I haven't noted what time I started the job.