A guide to call out rates please

[ejamalem]

Hi
Im about to leave the building maintenance company I currently work having now achieved my F-Gas.
Im going to set up myself and have some clients lined up already so all good so far.
However, new to self employment I am unsure what the rates should be for call outs, service and repairs etc and was hoping someone could drop in a list of all the 'general popular' rates and quote prices for various jobs, do you price it all per hour? whats the call out rate? what about after call out and for example a filter drier needs replaced - how do you cost this.
If i can get my head around what I should be charging then this would put me on my way.
Air Con and Refrigeration please.
City: Edinburgh
Clients: Mainly offices, some retail and hopefully more beyond this!
I am very grateful for the time you will take to reply!

[monkey spanners]

Some people do call out charges, others like me do time and mileage, depends on your customers and the equipment you work on. I work on dairy farm cooling equipment mostly and can do 200 mile round trips to some customers, so a £30 call out would leave me out of pocket, but if most of your work is within a few miles of each other then a fixed call out charge may suit you better.

For install i work on a day rate with maybe a mileage suppliment if its miles away.

What you need to do is work out how much you need to live on, then work out how you can make that and some, from the work you hope to do. You need to allow for holidays, accountants, sick days, down time due to the van being broke/servicing, office work, pension, insurance, training, bad debts, etc.

Jon

[Crypton]

Everone charges different prices. In this current market you just have to be competitive. A call out charge usually will cover your first hours work and then a lower hourly rate from then on. Some people charge €110 call out and then €40 an hour after that. Some companys charge a lot more. It all depends on wheather you can get away with charging higher prices. Good luck with your new business. Just be careful there are so many shams out there that will rip you off at the drop of a hat. It might be different in Edinburgh but in Ireland its very hard to get paid off people.

[taz24]

Look at it this way..

If you want to earn £30.000 ayear wage
that is £100 a day for 300 days a year.

So to pay for your van and fuel and insurance
and whatever you might need £50 a day.

So £150 a day 300 days a year will earn you £30.000
and pay for your other expences.

A 10 hour day is £15 and hour. You will not be able to charge for every hour of every day so you need to allow for down time, quotation work, admin and other things that do not earn money.

So at a minimum you need to double the £15 and hour. £30 an hour for 5 hours work a day 300 days a
year = £45.000 enough for a wage and expences.

Just rough figures.

taz

[S_Line]

At the moment We charge £40 call out and £40 a hour to all existing customers.
All new people who phone are £ 50 call out.

We have a local business who dont charge for a call out, but i say to people, nothing is free, so they make it up on the cost of repairs.