Price per working hour of a technician. Often set in the framework or service contract, yet invoices still deviate from it.
The hourly rate is the price per working hour of a technician. It is usually in the framework agreement or the price sheet of the service contract and applies to work outside the flat fee. On the invoice, it often still differs from the contract. The reasons are qualification levels with their own rates, surcharges for nights, weekends, holidays or emergency service, travel flat fees, minimum billing times and price adjustments since the contract was signed.
Legally, what was agreed comes first. If the amount of the remuneration has not been specified, § 632(2) of the German Civil Code deems the tariff remuneration agreed where a tariff exists, and otherwise the customary remuneration. A dispute over “customary” prices is costly, so the rate should be in the contract, broken down by qualification and time. To check an invoice, you need the times: start, end, breaks and travel. They should be in the service report, not just on the invoice. Anyone who sees only the invoice cannot check duration and rate against each other.
In a price comparison, total effort counts, not the rate alone. A low hourly rate with a high travel flat fee, long minimum times or markups on material can cost more than a higher rate with clear extras. So check the invoice in this order: time, rate, surcharges, travel, material. With long-term contracts, the price escalation clause adds to this, so the rate in year four is no longer the rate of the quote. vi reads hourly rates in contracts and compares them with the invoices so that deviations stand out.
What matters
- Have hourly rates set in the contract by qualification and time window.
- Clarify whether travel is billed as a flat fee or by time and miles.
- Require arrival, departure and a signature on every service report.
- Compare invoices with the price sheet and the service report before you approve them.
Suppose the service report shows a technician on site from 2:10 p.m. to 3:40 p.m. The invoice shows three hours at the rate of the highest qualification level, plus a surcharge. The contract has a lower rate for service technicians and no surcharge for that day of the week. The operator disputes hours, rate and surcharge, citing the report and the price sheet.
In the original wording
“If the amount of the remuneration is not specified, then, if a tariff exists, the tariff remuneration, and in the absence of a tariff, the customary remuneration is deemed agreed.”
Unofficial translation
In vi
- Quotes & invoices: Every quote checked against the market and your contract