Time and materials

Home / Glossary

A pricing method where the customer pays for the hours worked and the materials used, instead of a fixed price.

Time and materials, T and M, fits work that cannot be scoped up front: diagnosis, repairs inside walls, the job where nobody knows what they will find. The bid states the hourly rate, the markup on materials, and often a not-to-exceed number so the customer has a ceiling.

Customers accept it when the bid explains why: "hourly for the leak search because we cannot see the pipe; fixed price for the repair once we find it." They resist it when it is the whole bid, because an open-ended number is a scary one.

Related: Fixed price · Labor rate · Markup

All terms · Bidding guides · Estimate templates · Check a bid