Guide
Call-out fees: how to set and explain them
Every job starts with driving there, and someone has to pay for that time. A call-out fee is the fair way to charge for it, as long as the customer knows before you knock.
Updated · General information, not legal advice. Check your contract, the official source and, if it matters, a lawyer.
What a call-out fee pays for
Getting to a job costs you before you pick up a tool: the drive, fuel, wear on the vehicle, finding a park, carrying gear in, and working out what is wrong. On a big job that disappears into the price. On a ten-minute fix it is most of the job, and without a call-out fee you work for nothing.
A call-out fee also sorts out the time-wasters. People who would happily have three tradies come round to look at a dripping tap tend to think twice when each visit has a price.
Ways to structure it
| Approach | How it works | Suits |
|---|---|---|
| Flat call-out fee | One fee to attend, then your hourly rate from the start | Service and repair work, most trades |
| Call-out including the first period | The fee covers attending and the first half hour or hour on site | Quick fixes, where most jobs finish inside it |
| Travel by zone | A different fee for local, outer and country jobs | Businesses covering a wide area |
| After-hours call-out | A higher fee for nights, weekends and public holidays | Emergency work: burst pipes, power out, no cooling |
| Inspection or quote visit fee | A fee to look and quote, often taken off the job if they go ahead | Jobs that need a proper look before a price |
Keep it simple enough to say in one sentence on the phone. Two or three fees that cover most jobs (business hours, after hours, outer areas) are easier for customers to understand, and for the crew to explain, than a table of exceptions. Review them when your rate changes.
Whatever you choose, work it out from your own costs rather than copying a figure. Your charge-out rate and the average time a visit takes before you can start are the place to begin; how to work out your charge-out rate walks through it.
Tell them before you go
Most arguments about call-out fees happen because the customer found out on the invoice. Say it when they book, on your website, in the booking confirmation and on the quote. Use the same words everywhere.
Consumer Affairs Victoria's guidance for tradespeople lists call-out fees, and weekend or public holiday rates, among the things to tell a customer about when you quote. Being clear about every fee up front is also what consumer law expects: a price that leaves out a fee the customer will have to pay is a misleading price.
What to tell the customer
- What the fee is, and whether it includes GST
- What it covers: attending only, or attending and the first part of the work
- When the hourly rate starts
- Different fees after hours, on weekends or for outer areas
- Whether it is charged if the customer is not home or cancels late
- Whether it comes off the job if they accept a quote
Words that work
A short line on your booking confirmation does most of the work. For example: "Our call-out fee is $X including GST and covers getting to you and the first half hour on site. After that it is $Y an hour, in 15 minute blocks. If you go ahead with a quote we give you on the day, the call-out comes off the job."
On the doorstep, if someone baulks, explain what it pays for rather than apologising for it. Most people understand that the drive costs money once they hear it.
Missed appointments
If you charge when nobody is home or a booking is cancelled at the last minute, say so when the booking is made, and keep a record of it. A reminder the day before saves most of these anyway. Booking reminders by text, with the customer able to reply, cut down the wasted trips.
Setting it up in the app
In Crewzy a call-out fee is a Fee item on your price list, and the starter price list for most trades already has one to change to your own price. It drops onto quotes and invoices like any other line, and when the assistant drafts an invoice from a finished job that called for a call-out nobody added, it can add yours from the price list for you to check. Booking reminders by text are under Customer texts.
Sources
Official pages this guide relies on, read on 23 October 2026. Rules change; check them before you rely on anything here.