Reviewed against PHCC (Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors) cost-of-doing-business surveys
Plumbing Tech Productivity Calculator
Tracks plumbing technician utilization and revenue-per-tech — the key operational metric for growing a plumbing company. Computes actual utilization rate vs. a target, weekly revenue at actual vs. target utilization, the weekly and annual revenue gap, and profit per billable hour. Benchmarked against PHCC (Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors) operations benchmarks — industry-typical target utilization is 65-80% for residential plumbing service.
Calculator
Adjust the inputs below; the result updates instantly.
Team
Utilization
Revenue
Actual utilization rate
- Weekly revenue (at target utilization)
- $18,144.00
- Weekly revenue gap (target minus actual)
- $504.00
- Profit per billable hour (billed rate minus burdened cost)
- $152.00
- Annual revenue gap
- $26,208.00
- PHCC 65-80% utilization band guidance
- Within PHCC 65-80% utilization band at 70.0% — consistent with residential plumbing service operations benchmarks.
- Summary
- 3 technician(s) × 28.0 billable hr/week of 40.0 worked hr. Actual utilization: 70.0% (PHCC band 65-80%). Weekly revenue (actual): $17,640 (3 × 28.0 hr × $210/hr). Weekly revenue (at 72.0% target): $18,144. Revenue gap per week: $504; annual: $26,208. Profit per billable hour: $152 (billed $210 minus burdened cost $58). Within PHCC 65-80% utilization band at 70.0% — consistent with residential plumbing service operations benchmarks. PHCC benchmark: industry-typical billable hours per tech ~5.5/day at 68% utilization of an 8-hour day. Tool, not advice — for operations consulting commission a PHCC cost-of-doing-business analysis.
How this calculator works
This calculator tracks plumbing technician utilization and revenue-per-tech — the key operational metric for growing a plumbing company. It computes the actual utilization rate (billable hours divided by worked hours), weekly revenue at actual utilization, weekly revenue at the target utilization, the revenue gap between the two, and profit per billable hour. The annual revenue gap shows the total revenue left on the table by operating below the target utilization.
What is technician utilization and why does it matter
Utilization rate is the percentage of on-the-clock time that a technician spends doing work that bills to a customer. A technician working 40 hours per week with 28 billable hours has a 70% utilization rate. The non-billable 12 hours are consumed by: drive to the first call of the day, between-call drive, callbacks and warranty visits that do not generate new revenue, parts procurement runs to the supply house, vehicle fueling and maintenance, and administrative and meeting time.
PHCC cost-of-doing-business surveys report that the best-run residential plumbing service operations achieve 5.5-6.0 billable hours per tech per 8-hour day (68-75% utilization). Operations below 5.0 billable hours per day (62.5% utilization) typically have one or more of: poor dispatch routing, excessive drive time between calls, high parts-run frequency due to inadequate truck stock, or elevated callback rate.
The revenue gap — the most underappreciated number in plumbing operations
For a 3-tech operation working 40 hours per week at $210/hr average effective hourly rate: a 10-percentage-point gap between actual and target utilization represents 40 × 0.10 × $210 × 3 = $2,520 per week of revenue, or $131,040 per year — without adding a single technician, truck, or tool. Most operations can close 50-70% of their utilization gap through dispatch software investment, truck-stock optimization, and callback-rate reduction programs. This calculator surfaces the dollar magnitude of that opportunity.
Sources
- PHCC (Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors). Cost-of-doing-business surveys — target utilization band 65-80% for residential plumbing service; industry-typical billable hours per tech approximately 5.5/day.
- NECA (National Electrical Contractors Association). Cross-trade productivity benchmarks.
- BLS SOC 47-2152. Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters — OEWS May 2024 median hourly wage approximately $30.62.
Last reviewed: 2026-05-19 against the sources above.
Billable hours are the labor-clock hours that generate customer-facing revenue — the time from when the technician starts work at the customer site to when the job is complete. Non-billable time includes: drive to the first call of the day (typically 20-45 minutes), between-call drive (15-30 minutes per gap), callback visits (warranty calls that do not generate new revenue), parts procurement runs to a supply house (20-60 minutes), vehicle fueling and maintenance (15-30 minutes per week), shop time and team meetings, and administrative time. PHCC cost-of-doing-business surveys report that the best-run residential plumbing service operations achieve 5.5-6.0 billable hours per tech per 8-hour day (68-75% utilization) — with excellent dispatch routing, aggressive truck-stock management, and tight FSM workflow. Operations below 5.0 billable hours per day (62.5% utilization) typically have one or more of: poor dispatch routing, excessive drive time, high parts-run frequency, or elevated callback rate.
Resources
Links marked sponsoredmay earn The Fennec Lab a commission. They do not affect the calculator's output. See disclosures.
- PHCC — Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors National Association — PHCC publishes cost-of-doing-business surveys including technician utilization benchmarks (target 65-80% for residential service), billable hours per tech data (industry-typical 5.5/day), and operations management guidance for growing plumbing companies.
- NECA — National Electrical Contractors Association (Cross-Trade Benchmarks) — NECA cost-of-doing-business publications include cross-trade technician productivity benchmarks for comparison; the 65-80% utilization band in this calculator is consistent with NECA residential electrical service benchmarks for the mechanical trades.