Proposals · Glossary

What is a call out fee?

A call out fee is a fixed charge a tradesperson or technician makes for coming to a job, separate from the labour and parts for the work itself. It covers travel, vehicle and the time spent getting to the site, and often includes a short first period of work, such as the first 30 minutes on site.

Call out fees cause more argument than their size deserves, mostly because customers do not know about them until the invoice. Stated clearly before the visit, they are an ordinary part of trade pricing.

Nuwan Madhusanka · Co-founder

4 min read · Published 21 October 2026

Call out fee, service fee and minimum charge compared
Charge	What it covers	When it is charged	Fictional example
Call out fee	Travel and attendance, sometimes the first part of the work	On every visit, whether or not work proceeds	$120 including the first 30 minutes
Service fee or inspection fee	Diagnosing a fault and giving a quote	When the technician assesses and quotes	$95, credited if the quote is accepted
Minimum charge	The smallest job the business will invoice	When the work done is worth less than the minimum	One hour of labour, even for a ten minute fix
After hours call out	Attendance outside business hours	Evenings, weekends and public holidays	$180 including the first 30 minutes

What the fee pays for

A trade business pays for the time its staff spend driving, the vehicle, fuel and the jobs it cannot fit in because of the trip. On a long repair those costs disappear into the labour charge. On a short visit they would not be covered at all, so the call out fee recovers them up front. Many businesses fold the first 15 or 30 minutes of work into the fee, which means a quick fix costs the call out and nothing more.

Telling customers the full price

Australian Consumer Law has a component pricing rule: a business that advertises a price made up of parts, to consumers, generally has to state a single total price as prominently as the parts. For trades, the practical lesson is to state the call out fee, what it includes and the rate for extra time before the visit, on the website, the booking confirmation and the quote. Business.gov.au's pricing guidance makes the same point about being clear and upfront about costs.

When the customer cancels or nobody is home

Decide the rule and write it down before it happens. Some businesses charge the full call out when the technician arrives and cannot get in, others charge a reduced fee or nothing if the customer cancels with notice. A booking confirmation that says the call out applies if the site cannot be accessed at the booked time avoids most disputes.

Common mistakes

Mentioning the call out fee only on the invoice. Calling it a service fee in one place and a call out in another, so the customer cannot tell whether two charges apply. Not saying whether the fee includes GST. Charging a call out and a full first hour of labour for the same thirty minutes. And forgetting to credit an inspection fee against an accepted quote when that was the promise.

Where it shows up in the product

The proposals module ships 18 templates, six of them quotes, and one is a trades call out quote. Each line has a name, a unit label and a unit price, so a call out, an extra 15 minute block and parts sit on separate lines, and the pricing table shows Tax and the Includes GST line when prices are tax inclusive. The client can accept with a click, a name and a drawn signature, which records the agreed call out fee before anyone drives out.

Questions people ask

Is a call out fee legal in Australia?

Yes. Businesses are free to charge for attending a job as long as the charge is not misleading and the customer is told about it before agreeing to the service. Problems arise when the fee is hidden or described inconsistently, which can raise misleading conduct and component pricing issues under consumer law.

Should the call out fee be waived if I accept the quote?

Some businesses do this to win work, crediting the call out or inspection fee against an accepted quote. It is a pricing choice, not a rule. If you offer it, say so in writing, because a customer who was promised the credit verbally and does not see it on the invoice will dispute the whole bill.

Do call out fees include GST?

If the business is registered for GST, the call out fee is part of the taxable supply, so GST applies to it like any other charge. Prices to consumers are normally quoted including GST. The tax invoice should show the fee on its own line, with the GST included in the total.

Why are after hours call out fees higher?

After hours work usually means paying staff penalty rates or overtime, disrupting their time off and keeping someone on call. The higher fee reflects those costs and the urgency the customer is paying for. Publishing both the business hours and after hours rates up front lets customers decide whether it can wait until morning.

Can a call out fee be charged if no work is done?

Usually yes, if the customer agreed to it beforehand, because the business has already spent the time and travel. The clearest arrangements say that the call out covers attendance and assessment, and that any work beyond the included time is charged at the stated rate only with the customer's agreement.

Should a call out fee be different for regional or remote jobs?

Many trades charge more for jobs outside their usual service area, because travel time and fuel rise with distance. A simple approach is a standard call out within a radius or list of suburbs, and a travel charge per kilometre beyond it, both stated before the customer books the visit.

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Sources

Written and checked by the OneCraft team. Last checked 21 October 2026.