Plumbing Price Book: How to Build Flat-Rate Prices That Hold
A plumbing price book prices each task as hours times a billable hourly rate plus parts times a markup multiplier, and that rate has to come from your own overhead and billable hours, not a competitor’s list.
Key Takeaways
- BLS puts the May 2025 median wage for plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters (SOC 47-2152) at $30.67 an hour, or $63,800 a year.
- The 2022 Economic Census shows plumbing and HVAC contractors (NAICS 238220) spend 31.5 cents of each revenue dollar on materials and 27.0 cents on payroll, plus 7.9 cents on benefits and taxes.
- In our labeled example, a $30.67 tech billing 60 percent of 2,080 paid hours with $150,000 of overhead per tech needs a $233 billable hourly rate to keep a 20 percent profit.
- Every 10 points of billable-hour percentage moves that example rate by roughly $33 to $47 an hour.
- The BLS PPI for copper and brass mill shapes (WPU102502) rose 30.0 percent from September 2025 to September 2026; plumbing fixture fittings and trim (WPU1054) rose 5.1 percent.
What is a plumbing price book?
A plumbing price book is a catalog of fixed prices for the tasks a shop performs most, each built from a set labor time, a standard parts list and a markup. It replaces on-the-spot hourly guesses with one number per task, so every tech quotes the same job the same way and the office can see margin on every line before the van rolls.
Each line holds a task code, a customer-facing description, labor hours, a parts list with cost and the selling price. Build the first draft from the tasks that appear most often on last year’s invoices.
Jobs with real unknowns, such as a remodel or buried service line, still need you to estimate the job from scratch. The book covers the repeatable work.
How do you calculate a billable hourly rate for a flat-rate price book?
Start with the tech’s loaded wage, divide it by the share of paid hours that actually get billed, add overhead per billable hour, then divide by one minus your profit target. The result is the hourly rate every task line multiplies. Using a competitor’s hourly number skips your own overhead and billable hours, which are the two inputs that swing the answer most.
The inputs below are a labeled example, not any real company’s numbers. The wage is the BLS OEWS May 2025 median for SOC 47-2152. The burden ratio comes from the 2022 Economic Census, where benefits and payroll taxes ($23.6 billion) equal 29.3 percent of payroll ($80.4 billion) for NAICS 238220.
- Loaded wage. $30.67 x 1.2926 = $39.64 per paid hour.
- Billable hours. 2,080 paid hours x 60 percent billable = 1,248 billable hours a year.
- Wage cost per billable hour. $39.64 / 0.60 = $66.07.
- Overhead per billable hour. $150,000 example overhead per tech (truck, insurance, office staff, rent, software, marketing) / 1,248 = $120.19.
- Cost per billable hour. $66.07 + $120.19 = $186.27.
- Billable rate at a 20 percent profit target. $186.27 / 0.80 = $232.83, rounded to $233.
Pull billable percentage from timesheets as invoiced hours divided by paid hours. Drive time, supply runs and callbacks all count against it.
| Example input | 50% billable | 60% billable | 70% billable |
|---|---|---|---|
| Billable hours per tech per year | 1,040 | 1,248 | 1,456 |
| Wage cost per billable hour | $79.29 | $66.07 | $56.63 |
| Overhead per billable hour ($150,000) | $144.23 | $120.19 | $103.02 |
| Cost per billable hour | $223.52 | $186.27 | $159.66 |
| Billable rate at 20% profit | $279.40 | $232.83 | $199.57 |
The Census offers an overhead check. After materials, payroll, benefits, subcontracts and fuel, NAICS 238220 contractors kept 24.2 cents of each revenue dollar in 2022 to cover every other cost plus profit. Our plumbing contractor cost structure report breaks that down by state, from 25.4 percent materials in Washington, DC to 40.6 percent in South Dakota.
What is the flat-rate formula for a plumbing price list?
The formula is task hours times the billable hourly rate, plus parts cost times the parts multiplier. With a $233 rate, a 0.75 hour fill valve swap using $18 of parts at a 2.25 multiplier prices at $174.75 of labor plus $40.50 of parts, or $215.25. Round to your book’s price ending and every tech quotes that number.
Task hours should be a competent tech’s median time on a normal install, including setup and cleanup. The examples use the $233 rate above and the multiplier tiers below. All hours and parts costs are labeled example inputs.
| Line item (example) | Hours | Parts cost | Formula | Example price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Replace toilet fill valve | 0.75 | $18 | 0.75 x $233 + $18 x 2.25 | $215.25 |
| Replace two 1/2 in. angle stops | 1.0 | $30 | 1.0 x $233 + $30 x 2.25 | $300.50 |
| Install thermal expansion tank | 0.75 | $55 | 0.75 x $233 + $55 x 2.0 | $284.75 |
| Clear kitchen drain with cable machine | 1.0 | $0 | 1.0 x $233 | $233.00 |
| Replace kitchen faucet | 1.5 | $150 | 1.5 x $233 + $150 x 1.75 | $612.00 |
| Replace 50 gal gas water heater | 4.0 | $900 | 4.0 x $233 + $900 x 1.5 | $2,282.00 |
Once the book is built, compare a few lines against the market. Our residential rate card lists typical per-job prices, so a line far above or below it tells you to recheck the hours or the multiplier.
How much should you mark up plumbing parts in a price book?
Most flat-rate books use a sliding multiplier: cheap parts carry a high multiplier and expensive equipment a low one, so a $3 fitting still pays for the trip to the bin while a $900 water heater does not price itself out of the market. No BLS, Census or code source sets a standard markup. The schedule below is an example method, not an industry rule.
| Parts cost per line (example tiers) | Multiplier | Gross margin on parts | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| $0.01 to $10.00 | 3.00 | 66.7% | $4 cost, $12.00 price |
| $10.01 to $50.00 | 2.25 | 55.6% | $18 cost, $40.50 price |
| $50.01 to $100.00 | 2.00 | 50.0% | $55 cost, $110.00 price |
| $100.01 to $500.00 | 1.75 | 42.9% | $150 cost, $262.50 price |
| $500.01 and up | 1.50 | 33.3% | $900 cost, $1,350.00 price |
A 2.00 multiplier is a 100 percent markup but a 50 percent gross margin. Convert with margin = 1 minus (1 divided by the multiplier). Use landed cost, including freight, not list price.
How do good-better-best options, warranties and trip charges fit in a plumbing price book?
Each is a separate line or a set of linked lines priced with the same formula. Good-better-best means two or three task lines for one problem at rising scope. Warranty cost is a reserve added to labor. Trip or dispatch charges price the unbilled drive. Writing all three down stops driveway discounts.
For a running toilet, an example option set at $233 an hour looks like this:
- Good. Replace fill valve only, 0.75 hour, $18 parts, $215.25.
- Better. Fill valve, flapper and supply line, 1.0 hour, $40 parts at 2.25, $323.00.
- Best. Full tank rebuild plus new angle stop, 1.5 hours, $70 parts at 2.00, $489.50.
ServiceTitan’s Pricebook Pro FAQ says its auto proposals build “Good/Better/Best estimate templates in one click.” The New Flat Rate uses “five pre-built service or replacement options” per job instead of three tiers.
Warranty labor is real cost. If your callback log shows 2 percent of billable hours go to unpaid returns, add 2 percent to the labor portion of each line, so a $233 rate becomes $237.66 in the formula. A trip charge works the same way. At the example cost of $186.27 per billable hour, a half-hour drive costs $93.13 before profit. Charge that as a posted dispatch fee, or fold it into every task line, but pick one and print it.
How often should you update a plumbing price book?
Reprice parts when the Producer Price Index for what you buy moves more than about 5 percent since your last update, and reprice labor once a year when wages, insurance and overhead reset. Parts move faster than labor. The BLS index for copper and brass mill shapes rose 30.0 percent in the twelve months to September 2026, which means copper-heavy lines priced a year ago are now short.
Two BLS series cover most plumbing parts. WPU102502 tracks copper and brass mill shapes, the raw input for tube and fittings. WPU1054 tracks plumbing fixture fittings and trim, which covers faucets and valves. WPU1054 rose 5.1 percent from September 2025 to September 2026 and 33.3 percent from September 2020. BLS marks recent months preliminary and revises them for up to four months after first release.
A simple update routine for a small shop:
- Each month, note the latest WPU102502 and WPU1054 values.
- When either moves more than 5 percent since your last update, pull fresh supplier costs and rerun the formula on the affected lines.
- Once a year, rebuild the billable rate and rerun every line.
Which plumbing price book software and vendors should you look at?
Four vendors sell or include plumbing price book content: ServiceTitan Pricebook Pro, Profit Rhino, Housecall Pro’s built-in price book and The New Flat Rate. They differ on prebuilt content and update schedule. The table uses only what each vendor states on its own product page.
| Vendor | What its page says it includes | Updates and integrations stated | Price stated |
|---|---|---|---|
| ServiceTitan Pricebook Pro | Plumbing, HVAC and electrical; Smart Start adds “a few hundred common services”; Regional Pricing Averages; Good/Better/Best templates | Regular content updates to costs, images, descriptions and sold hours | Not listed on page |
| Profit Rhino | Prebuilt book it says covers “90% of common repairs”; custom rates, markups, tasks and images | Quarterly updates; says it works with over 300 plumbing and HVAC manufacturers | Not listed on page |
| Housecall Pro price book | Built into every account; rates, durations and discounts by job, bundles and recurring pricing | Import from QuickBooks or Profit Rhino, or by CSV or Excel | 14-day free trial stated |
| The New Flat Rate | Menu-based pricing app with five options per job; HVAC, plumbing, electrical, chimney and IAQ | Says it works with over 250 field service platforms, including ServiceTitan and Housecall Pro | From $99 per month per tech |
Swap any vendor’s default rate for your own billable rate before the first quote. If you are still choosing dispatch software, our field-service software comparison covers how each platform handles quotes and invoices.
Is flat rate pricing better than time and materials for plumbing?
Flat rate pricing wins on repeatable service tasks, because the customer approves a firm price before work starts and the shop keeps the gain when a tech works fast. Time and materials wins on jobs with hidden conditions, because the customer pays for the hours the job really takes. Many shops run both, with a written rule for which jobs leave the book.
| Factor | Flat rate (price book) | Time and materials |
|---|---|---|
| Price known before work | Yes, one number per task | Estimate only, final bill varies |
| Who carries overrun risk | Shop | Customer |
| Reward for a fast, skilled tech | Shop keeps the saved hours | Faster work bills less |
| Best fit | Fill valves, faucets, water heaters, drain clearing | Slab leaks, buried lines, remodels, seized or corroded systems |
| Upkeep | Book needs PPI-driven and annual updates | Hourly rate and parts markup only |
Write the exit rule into the book. An example rule: if visible conditions, such as a seized galvanized nipple, push a job past 1.5 times book hours, the tech stops and quotes the added work.
How we sourced this
Wages are BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics May 2025 national estimates for SOC 47-2152, pulled from the BLS public API in October 2026. Cost shares are from the Census Bureau 2022 Economic Census basic tables (EC2223BASIC) for NAICS 238220, as compiled in our cost structure report. Price indexes are BLS PPI series WPU102502 and WPU1054, September values 2020 to 2026, retrieved October 2026; 2026 values are preliminary. Vendor details come only from each vendor’s own product page, read in October 2026. We found no BLS PPI series labeled copper fittings, so we used copper and brass mill shapes plus plumbing fixture fittings and trim. All wage, overhead, billable-hour, task-hour, parts-cost and multiplier inputs in the worked examples are illustrations, not any real company’s prices.
Frequently asked questions
What is a plumbing price book?
A plumbing price book is the shop’s catalog of fixed task prices. Each line names one job, such as replacing a toilet fill valve, and carries a set number of labor hours, a standard parts list and a selling price. Two techs pricing the same job quote the same number.
How do plumbers calculate flat rate prices?
Multiply the task hours by your billable hourly rate, then add parts cost times your markup multiplier. In our worked example, a 0.75 hour fill valve swap at a $233 billable rate with $18 of parts at a 2.25 multiplier comes to $215.25. The rate comes from loaded wages plus overhead per billable hour.
What is a good markup on plumbing parts?
No federal source sets a standard markup. Many shops use a sliding multiplier that falls as part cost rises, so a $5 fitting may carry 3.0 times cost while a $900 water heater carries 1.5 times. Set tiers so parts margin helps cover overhead and profit.
How often should a plumbing price book be updated?
Review parts pricing whenever the BLS Producer Price Index for the materials you buy moves more than about 5 percent since your last update, and review the labor rate once a year. The copper and brass mill shapes index rose 30.0 percent from September 2025 to September 2026.
How much does plumbing price book software cost?
Prices vary by vendor and most do not post them. The New Flat Rate lists pricing from $99 per month per tech. Housecall Pro says every account includes a built-in price book. ServiceTitan and Profit Rhino do not list prices on the product pages we reviewed.
Should a plumbing company charge a trip fee?
Many shops do, because the drive is real cost that no task line pays for. In our example, a half-hour drive costs $93.13 at a $186.27 cost per billable hour. You can charge that as a dispatch fee, or build it into every task. Either way, print it in the book.
Is flat rate better than hourly for plumbers?
Flat rate gives the customer a firm price before work starts and pays the shop for speed, but the shop eats overruns on a hard job. Time and materials protects the shop on unknowns like buried lines or seized fittings. Many shops use both, by job type.
