Setting Handyman Rates

Handyman rates are fixed and are placed by the hour. By going the per hour route, handymen are charged by the volume of work that they do. Additional costs like purchase of materials and transportation are billed to the home owner with the per hour charges.

Varying Charges

A per hour labor rate and billing statement varies for every independent handyman or handyman business. This is because there are numerous factors that determine the charges for handyman rates. Among these are:

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Handyman Franchisor. If the handyman enterprise is under a franchise contract, then the major factor to its service rates would be the franchise provider. The various franchisers in the handyman industry have set policies on how much franchisees are going to collect from clients for their services. Material and transportation are also set by these companies.

Business Location. Another factor in determining handyman labor rates is the location of the handyman business enterprise. An operation located within a rural area generally charges lower than that located in urban communities or cities.

Type of Service. Handyman services are varied. They can be in the form of professional services like electrical wiring installation and plumbing. These types of services require the handyman to be licensed or certified and thus, incur higher rates. Other simpler services like wiring installation assistance and painting jobs are charged lower.

Home Supplies. The kind and amount of needed materials for a home improvement or repair project does a lot to set the costs that a client would pay. There are varying home projects and thus, a need for differing materials. Also included in the billing statement are the costs for transporting these materials.

Handyman Rate Overview

As mentioned earlier, handyman rates are varied. Per hour labor rates in rural and sub-rural communities can be from $50 to over a $100 per hour and per worker. Other handymen have a slightly different practice, where they charge an additional 20 to 50 percent of their regular rate for the first hour; they revert to the regular rate for the succeeding hours.

For example, the regular per hour labor rate of Handyman A is $50. He was contracted to do a three-hour home project. For the first hour, he charges an additional 40%. In the three-hour project, he would then earn $70 for the first hour and $50 per hour for the succeeding two hours, adding up a total of $170. If an additional handyman was contracted, Handyman B, then each worker would be charged individually. However, the time for accomplishing the home project would be reduced—and in this case, to one hour. So, with the 40% additional for first hour principle, each handyman would be charged $70 each, bringing the billing statement to $140.

In home projects requiring the additional material purchases, handymen usually impose a 40 to 100 percent mark-up on the materials. There are also instances where mark-up rates depend on the labor costs of the home project. For example, home projects that fall in the $2000 and below range have a material mark-up rate of 90%. Home projects that are over $2000 have lower mark-up rates, say, 50%.

Rural handyman labor rates are significantly lower. They can be as low as $15 per hour. This goes for the mark-up rates for additional home materials.