
Understand Call Out, Diagnostic and Minimum Charges to avoid nasty surprises.
6
Jan
What is a Call Out Charge?
HomeForce accredited tradespeople do not make Call Out Charges.
What they will charge for is worked carried out. This includes diagnostic work. They will also apply a minimum charge when they carry out work.
You might then ask “What’s the difference between a Call Out Charge, a charge for Diagnostic Work or a Minimum Charge?”
This article aims to clarify this. The intention behind this article is to prevent misunderstandings between customers and tradespeople.
A Call Out charge:
- Is made simply for attending a job.
- Work carried out at the job will be charged for in addition to the call out charge.
- A call out charge is made irrespective of whether work is successfully carried out or not.
- To have a legal standing a Call Out Charge can only be made when a customer is notified in advance that it will be applied.
A charge for diagnostic work:
- Is a charge for providing a service.
- The service will use the skills, experience, qualifications, knowledge and / or tools of the person providing it.
- Diagnostic work is almost always required to understand what is needed to address a particular issue.
- If the cause of an issue is not known then it cannot be addressed.
- A customer could pay only for a repair, and not a diagnostic charge, if they can inform the service provider:
- The exact cause of a fault
- Precisely the work and materials needed to repair the fault.
- If a customer incorrectly diagnoses a fault the service provider would still, rightfully, expect to be paid, even though the fault was not rectified.
- Read more in our “Charges for Diagnostic work” article.
A minimum charge
- Is the minimum amount a tradesperson will charge when they carry out work for a customer.
- Estimates and quotations would still be free of charge as the tradesperson is tendering to do work, not actually doing it.
- Minimum charges are calculated based on what is an economically viable amount for a tradesperson once all overheads are taken into account.
- To find out more you also might like to read our article Why Tradespeople make a minimum charge