HVAC
HVAC Labor Cost Calculator
Work out what an hour of technician time costs once burden, vehicle and unsold hours are all counted.
Result
A planning estimate, not a quote. Access, the age of the equipment, what is found once it is opened up and local labour rates all move the real figure, sometimes a long way.
Get a Free Business AuditWhat moves the number
- Employer burden, which varies by state and by benefits package.
- Unsold hours: travel, training, shop time and waiting on parts.
- Vehicle and tools, which follow the technician rather than the job.
Where this one goes wrong
Costing at the wage. The wage is often around half of what the hour actually costs once burden, vehicle and unsold time are counted, and pricing from it loses money on every hour sold.
Questions
About this calculator
What should labour burden include?
Payroll taxes, workers compensation, general liability, benefits, holiday, training and any allowances. It varies enough by company that a borrowed percentage is worth replacing with your own.
Should the van be in the labour cost?
It has to be recovered somewhere, and attaching it to the technician hour is the most common approach because the van follows the technician. What matters is that it is counted once.
How do I find my real billable hours?
From invoices rather than from timesheets. Hours actually sold last year divided by technicians gives a figure most owners find lower than expected.
The formula
total = hours x people x rate + parts + call-out, then sales tax
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How to use this calculator
- Hours on site (h). Enter your own figure; the page starts at 3 h.
- People needed. Enter your own figure; the page starts at 1.
- Labour rate charged ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $145.
- Parts and materials ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $0.
- Call-out or diagnostic fee ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $0.
- Sales tax (%). Leave at zero if you are quoting before tax.
The result updates as you type, so you can try a figure, see what it does to estimated total, and change it back. Nothing you enter is sent anywhere or saved.
A worked example
These are the figures the calculator opens with. Every number in the results column below is produced by the same calculation the page runs, so you can follow it through before putting your own figures in.
What goes in
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
| Hours on site | 3 h |
| People needed | 1 |
| Labour rate charged | $145 |
| Parts and materials | $0 |
| Call-out or diagnostic fee | $0 |
| Sales tax | 0% |
What comes out
| Result | Value |
|---|---|
| Estimated total main result | $435 |
| Labour | $435 |
| Before tax | $435 |
| Sales tax | $0 |
About $435: $435 of labour, $0 of parts and a $0 call-out.
How sensitive the answer is
Holding everything else steady and changing only labour rate charged, this is what happens to estimated total. It is worth knowing which of your inputs the answer actually hinges on, and which barely move it.
| Labour rate charged ($) | Estimated total |
|---|---|
| $73 | $219 |
| $109 | $327 |
| $145 example above | $435 |
| $218 | $654 |
| $290 | $870 |
Every other input is held at the example value while this one changes, which is not how a real job behaves. Treat it as a guide to which number matters most, not as five separate quotes.
What each figure means
- Hours on site (h)
- Measured in h, between 0 and 400, starting at 3 h.
- People needed
- A number, between 0 and 40, starting at 1.
- Labour rate charged ($)
- A money amount, starting at $145.
- Parts and materials ($)
- A money amount, starting at $0.
- Call-out or diagnostic fee ($)
- A money amount, starting at $0.
- Sales tax (%)
- Leave at zero if you are quoting before tax.
What the results tell you
| Result | What it is |
|---|---|
| Estimated total | The headline result. A money figure. |
| Labour | A money figure. |
| Before tax | A money figure. |
| Sales tax | A money figure. |
Before you rely on this number
Sizing, capacity and load figures here are planning estimates. A real installation depends on the manufacturer's data for the specific equipment, the duct system it is going into, and a proper load calculation for the building. Use this to sanity-check a number or price a job, not to select equipment.
Estimating is the easy part
The jobs you never hear about cost more than the ones you mis-measure. BDEVY builds the marketing, systems and automation that bring them in.