Guides · Pricing guide · Facts checked 2026-09-05
How much to charge for plumbing jobs
Dispatch fees, flat-rate books vs time and materials, ranges for the common calls, after-hours rates, and how to write an estimate a homeowner will accept.
Plumbing has the clearest pricing structure in the trades: a dispatch fee for showing up, then either a flat rate from a price book or time and materials for the unknowns. The disputes come from mixing the two, or from a fixture nobody agreed on. Ranges below are starting points from the plumbing invoice template; your market, your license class and your overhead set the real number.
Typical ranges
| Job | Common range | Usually priced |
|---|---|---|
| Service call / dispatch fee | $75–$150 | Flat, often credited against the job |
| Drain cleaning — kitchen or bath branch line | $150–$350 | Flat |
| Water heater replacement — 40 gal gas, installed | $1,100–$2,200 | Flat, unit included |
| Toilet rebuild — fill valve, flapper, supply | $100–$250 | Flat |
| Faucet replacement — customer-supplied fixture | $125–$300 labor only | Flat labor; fixture separate |
| Camera inspection of main sewer line | $200–$450 | Flat |
| Hose bib replacement | $125–$300 | Flat |
| After-hours / weekend labor | $150–$250 per hour | Hourly, labeled as such |
Rough starting points, not quotes and not a survey. Water heater pricing in particular moves with the unit and the code work required.
The dispatch fee
Charge it, put it on its own line, and decide up front whether it is credited if the customer goes ahead with the work. The truck, the fuel and the hour happened whether the fix took ten minutes or three. Hiding it inside a suspiciously high labor charge for a ten-minute fix is what generates the angry review; a visible $95 dispatch line generates a shrug.
Flat rate or time and materials?
Flat rate for the jobs in the book — the customer sees a number, it does not grow while they watch, and your speed is your margin. Time and materials for unknowns: a slab leak, a mystery in the wall, a sewer line until the camera has been down it. What you must never do is quote flat and invoice hourly. Write on the estimate which one the job is.
Whose fixture is it?
If you supply the water heater, the water heater is a line at your price, and you warranty the install. If the customer hands you a faucet from a big-box store, the line says 'customer-supplied' and the warranty conversation is already settled in writing. Say your labor warranty period on the estimate; say the manufacturer's warranty is theirs.
After-hours and emergency
A higher hourly rate, labeled as after-hours on the estimate and the invoice, plus the normal dispatch fee. The label is the point: a customer who called at 11pm expects to pay more and will, as long as the invoice does not look like a normal call priced high.
Writing the estimate
Dispatch fee first. Then the job as a flat line, or labor and materials as separate lines. Permit as a pass-through at cost if you pulled one. What is excluded ('does not include drywall repair'). Your license number in the header. Thirty days' validity. The plumbing estimate template has these lines ready; the customer accepts on their phone and it becomes the invoice.
Common questions
Should the dispatch fee be waived if they go ahead?
Either answer works; the mistake is not deciding. Many shops credit it against the job for exactly the goodwill it buys. Say which on the estimate.
How do I price a job I can't see yet?
Quote the diagnostic as a flat line, then a range for the likely repair with a sentence about what settles it. Once it is open, re-quote before continuing. The estimate should say you will do this.
Do I have to put my license number on the invoice?
In most states, yes — it belongs on the paperwork, not just the truck. Check your state board's rule and put it in the header of every estimate and invoice.