Hourly vs Fixed Price: Why Most Gas Engineers Have Stopped Billing by the Hour
A clear pattern has been emerging: the vast majority of heating and plumbing businesses have moved away from hourly billing. The reasons are consistent, practical, and worth understanding — whether you’re setting your rates for the first time or rethinking a pricing strategy that isn’t working.
In this guide, we’ll stack hourly and fixed prices up against each other and help you determine which is right for you, and for which jobs.
HOURLY PRICING
The Problem With Charging by the Hour
Hourly pricing feels logical — you’re trading time for money, and the customer pays for how long the job takes. But in practice, it creates problems that compound over time.
The efficiency trap
The better you get, the faster you complete jobs — and the less you earn per job. An experienced engineer who fixes a boiler fault in 90 minutes earns less than a newly qualified engineer who takes three hours for the same job. You’re effectively being punished for developing your skills, and many end up charging too little.
Customer anxiety
When you quote by the hour, customers have no idea what they’re committing to. Is it one hour or five? They can’t make an informed decision — and they spend the whole job watching the clock.
Clock-watching and disputes
Hourly billing invites scrutiny. Why did it take that long? What about the merchant run? These conversations are draining, they chip away at the customer relationship, and they’re entirely avoidable.
Check out our latest figures for the average gas engineer hourly rates.
FIXED PRICING
Why Fixed Pricing Works for Most Jobs
The shift to fixed-price quoting is more than a way to earn more — it’s a change in how you position your work.
You’re selling an outcome, not your time
Customers don’t want to pay for an hour of your labour. They want their boiler fixed or installed, and so on. When you price by outcome, you align with what the customer actually cares about.
Customers can make a proper decision
A clear upfront price lets the customer immediately decide if the job is worth it to them. No anxiety, no open-ended commitment — and far fewer payment disputes.
You’re rewarded for getting better
As your efficiency improves, fixed pricing works in your favour. A job that once took four hours now takes two — but your price reflects the value delivered, not the time spent, meaning you can get on with your day.
When Hourly Still Makes Sense
That being said, fixed pricing isn’t a blanket solution for every job. Most engineers who’ve made the switch will still use hourly in specific situations, and it’s still critical to have an accurate hourly rate when deciding on fixed prices.
Reactive and callout work
When you’re responding to a fault you haven’t seen, the scope is genuinely unknown. A callout fee covering the first hour, then an agreed hourly rate after that, is a fair model most customers understand.
Unusual or complex jobs
If a job could genuinely go several ways, offering an hourly option can build trust rather than erode it. It signals honesty — you’re not padding a fixed quote to cover every eventuality.
There’s a broader point worth making: every job you do is a potential lead to future work and recommendations. A customer who trusts your pricing approach — whatever it is — is far more likely to call you back. Sometimes transparency about a tricky job matters more than winning the pricing argument.
Materials, Travel, and the Questions Customers Always Ask
On materials: the cleanest approach is building a markup into your parts pricing that covers van restocking. You’re not charging separately for the merchant run — the markup absorbs it. Simpler to invoice, easier for the customer to follow.
On travel: most engineers don’t charge for local work — it’s built into the rate. For jobs significantly outside your area, a mileage charge or increased callout fee is reasonable. Set a threshold and apply it consistently.
On “how long will it take?”: even with a fixed price agreed, customers will ask. They’re not trying to catch you out — they want to plan their day. Be ready with a rough answer.
It’s worth knowing that customers increasingly Google how long jobs should take before you arrive. If your price feels out of step with what they’ve read, expect a question. Your job is to explain the value, not just defend the number.
Making the Switch
If you’ve been on hourly rates and want to move to fixed pricing, it doesn’t have to be all-or-nothing.
Start with what you know. Gas safety inspections, annual services, straightforward installs — jobs where the scope is predictable. Build a fixed price for each based on your actual time/labour rate and typical materials.
Track your actuals. Note how long jobs take and what materials you used. Over time, you build a price book you can trust — and you’ll quickly spot where you’re under-pricing.
Quote professionally with broken down line items. A clear, detailed quote specifying exactly what’s included protects you from scope creep. If a customer adds extras mid-job, a documented quote makes that conversation much easier.
How Gas Engineer Software Can Help
One practical challenge with fixed-price quoting is producing accurate quotes quickly. The faster you get a quote in front of a customer, the better your chances of winning the job.
Gas Engineer Software lets you build and send quotes from your phone — on-site if needed. Set up your standard jobs and prices using our line item templates, and you’re not starting from scratch every time. You can track which quotes are accepted, which are outstanding, and follow up with ease.