How much to charge for plumbing
Plumbing service prices from a $75 to $200 call-out, with hourly at $75 to $160 per plumber. Common jobs: water heater replacement $1,200 to $2,800, drain clearing $150 to $450, toilet or tap replacement $175 to $500.
Charge for the call-out, then credit it
The single most valuable line on a plumbing invoice is the diagnostic.
Finding the fault is the skilled part of plumbing. Anyone can fit a cartridge once you know which cartridge and why. Charging nothing for diagnosis means giving away the part of the job that actually requires you.
Charge it, show it, and credit it against the repair if they proceed. Customers accept that structure readily — it feels fair because it is.
Build a flat-rate book
Residential plumbing repeats. The same water heater swap, the same disposal install, the same main line clear.
(Typical hours × loaded hourly cost) ÷ target labour % + materials with markup.
A 50-gallon gas water heater replacement:
- 4 hours × $62 loaded = $248
- Labour at 45%: $248 ÷ 0.45 = $551
- Heater at cost $680 + 25% = $850
- Permit, disposal, fittings, expansion tank: $210
- Book price: $1,611 — inside the $1,200–$2,800 band.
Set that once and every plumber in your shop quotes the same number for the same job.
Price a plumbing job
Your numbers, the formula above. Nothing is sent anywhere — this runs in your browser.
$345 base (3 hours × $115)
This is a starting number, not a bid. Walk the property before you send it.
What changes the price
Access. A water heater in a basement next to a drain is not the same job as one in a loft up a pull-down ladder.
Age of the system. Old galvanised, old shut-offs that will not close, corroded unions. Every one adds time and none is visible from the phone call.
Permit requirements. Varies hugely by jurisdiction and should be its own line.
After-hours. 1.5× to 2×, stated with the time.
Customer-supplied fixtures. Fine to fit, but do not warrant them and charge for a return visit if the part is wrong.
The mistakes
Free diagnosis. Giving away the skilled part.
Quoting hours to homeowners. They cannot judge whether four hours is fair. A job price they can.
Hiding the after-hours premium in the total. It gets challenged every time.
No allowance for old systems. Say plainly that a repair may reveal further failed components, with a stated rate, before you touch anything.
Single payment on large jobs. Repipes and sewer lines need staged payments.
Keeping the whole shop on one price book
Housecall Pro includes flat-rate pricing from Essentials at $189/mo for five seats — the direct answer to this page. Jobber at $49/mo plus $29 per seat handles saved line items and is the cheaper option under about five plumbers. QuoteIQ at $29.99/mo covers a solo plumber’s quoting and invoicing, with financing on every tier for repipes.
Questions operators actually ask
How much should a plumber charge per hour?
$75 to $160 per plumber depending on market and licence level, with after-hours typically 1.5× to 2×. That is a charge rate, not take-home — van, tools, licence, insurance, unbillable travel and overhead come out of it first.
Should I charge a call-out fee?
Yes, $75 to $200, shown as its own line and credited against the repair if the customer proceeds. It pays for the drive and the diagnosis, which is real work whether or not they go ahead.
Flat rate or hourly for plumbing?
Flat rate for known jobs — water heater swaps, toilet replacements, disposal installs. Hourly only for diagnostics and genuinely unscoped work. Flat rate removes the customer's uncertainty and rewards you for being efficient rather than penalising you.
How much more for emergency and after-hours work?
1.5× to 2× your standard rate, stated on the document with the time recorded. An after-hours premium that appears only in the total gets challenged on Monday; one shown as 'Saturday 23:10, after-hours rate' does not.
How do I price a repipe?
By fixture count and run complexity, staged with a deposit and a progress payment. Never as a single payment at the end — you are fronting material and weeks of labour otherwise.