What home services cost

Before you ask anyone for a quote it helps to know what the job normally goes for. These guides collect the rates providers advertise in each city — call-out fees, hourly rates, typical job prices — and link the source of every figure so you can check it. Each one also answers the local question a price cannot: who has to approve the work, and when it needs a licence.

None of these are our prices. HandyMan does not set rates: you describe the job, pros quote it themselves, and you pick one. In the UAE you pay through HandyMan: the price of the work plus a service fee shown before you pay, and HandyMan keeps 7.7% from the pro. In the US you settle up with the pro directly.

United Arab Emirates

Five emirates, and a different authority approving the work in each — which is the thing a national price guide cannot tell you.

Handyman by the hour

The hourly rate is what you pay when the job is a list rather than a single task — a few shelves, a door that binds, a curtain rail, the three things you have been meaning to sort since you moved in. It is the cheapest way to buy small work and the most expensive way to buy one small job, because almost every provider charges a minimum.

Handyman by the hour — Dubai Rates, call-out fees and what moves them Handyman by the hour — Abu Dhabi Rates, call-out fees and what moves them Handyman by the hour — Sharjah Rates, call-out fees and what moves them Handyman by the hour — Ajman Rates, call-out fees and what moves them Handyman by the hour — Ras Al Khaimah Rates, call-out fees and what moves them

Plumbing

Most residential plumbing call-outs are small, and the price of a small one is dominated by the visit rather than the work. The exception is the emergency: a burst feed or a leak coming through a ceiling is billed on a different scale entirely, and that gap is the single biggest thing to understand before you call.

Plumbing — Dubai Rates, call-out fees and what moves them Plumbing — Abu Dhabi Rates, call-out fees and what moves them Plumbing — Sharjah Rates, call-out fees and what moves them Plumbing — Ajman Rates, call-out fees and what moves them Plumbing — Ras Al Khaimah Rates, call-out fees and what moves them

Electrical work

Electrical pricing splits cleanly in two, and the split is legal rather than technical. Work on an existing circuit — a socket, a switch, a light, a fan — is ordinary maintenance and priced like it. Work on the supply itself needs a contractor the local authority has approved, and that is a different market at a different price.

Electrical work — Dubai Rates, call-out fees and what moves them Electrical work — Abu Dhabi Rates, call-out fees and what moves them Electrical work — Sharjah Rates, call-out fees and what moves them Electrical work — Ajman Rates, call-out fees and what moves them Electrical work — Ras Al Khaimah Rates, call-out fees and what moves them

Furniture assembly

Assembly is the most predictable thing on this list to price, because the item tells you the answer: the box has a part count, and the part count is the job. What catches people out is the second half of a move — a wardrobe has to come apart before it travels, and taking one apart properly costs about what building it did.

Furniture assembly — Dubai Rates, call-out fees and what moves them Furniture assembly — Abu Dhabi Rates, call-out fees and what moves them Furniture assembly — Sharjah Rates, call-out fees and what moves them Furniture assembly — Ajman Rates, call-out fees and what moves them Furniture assembly — Ras Al Khaimah Rates, call-out fees and what moves them

Cleaning

Cleaning is priced two different ways and the two are not comparable. Regular cleaning is sold by the hour and the hourly figure is low. Deep and move-out cleaning is sold by the property, because it is a fixed scope with a checklist behind it, and the number reflects a team and most of a day rather than a person and an hour.

Cleaning — Dubai Rates, call-out fees and what moves them Cleaning — Abu Dhabi Rates, call-out fees and what moves them Cleaning — Sharjah Rates, call-out fees and what moves them Cleaning — Ajman Rates, call-out fees and what moves them Cleaning — Ras Al Khaimah Rates, call-out fees and what moves them

Air conditioning

Air conditioning is the most common thing to go wrong in a UAE home and the hardest to price before somebody looks, because the same symptom — it runs but does not cool — covers a dirty filter, a slow leak and a failed compressor, and those are three different bills. The useful thing to understand before calling is which of the three you are probably buying.

Air conditioning — Dubai Rates, call-out fees and what moves them Air conditioning — Abu Dhabi Rates, call-out fees and what moves them Air conditioning — Sharjah Rates, call-out fees and what moves them Air conditioning — Ajman Rates, call-out fees and what moves them Air conditioning — Ras Al Khaimah Rates, call-out fees and what moves them

Moving

A quote for a move is mostly a guess about volume and access. The same two-bedroom apartment can cost 1,800 or 3,500 depending on how much furniture there is, whether the crew packs it, how many floors there are to carry, and whether the building gives you the service lift for the whole morning or only for an hour. The useful thing to settle before you call is what you will pack yourself, and what your building’s move permit says.

Moving — Dubai Rates, call-out fees and what moves them Moving — Abu Dhabi Rates, call-out fees and what moves them Moving — Sharjah Rates, call-out fees and what moves them Moving — Ajman Rates, call-out fees and what moves them Moving — Ras Al Khaimah Rates, call-out fees and what moves them

Mobile car detailing

Car detailing at home is easy to price for a clean and hard to price for anything more, because the same word covers a twenty-minute waterless wipe-down and a three-hour shampoo and extraction of every seat. What moves the number is the cabin, not the paint: how dirty it is, whether there is a third row, and whether there is a smell to get out. Washing a car with a hose in a Dubai street or car park is not allowed, so everything on this page is waterless or steam.

Mobile car detailing — Dubai Rates, call-out fees and what moves them Mobile car detailing — Abu Dhabi Rates, call-out fees and what moves them Mobile car detailing — Sharjah Rates, call-out fees and what moves them Mobile car detailing — Ajman Rates, call-out fees and what moves them Mobile car detailing — Ras Al Khaimah Rates, call-out fees and what moves them

Painting

Painting looks like the easiest job to price, and the published figures for the same one-bedroom flat still run from about AED 550 to 2,500. The difference is mostly in what a listing cannot show: how many holes and cracks need filling, whether a dark colour has to be covered back to white, and whether the ceilings and the paint itself are in the price.

Painting — Dubai Rates, call-out fees and what moves them Painting — Abu Dhabi Rates, call-out fees and what moves them Painting — Sharjah Rates, call-out fees and what moves them Painting — Ajman Rates, call-out fees and what moves them Painting — Ras Al Khaimah Rates, call-out fees and what moves them

Appliance repair

An appliance that has stopped working tells you almost nothing about what it will cost, because “it won’t drain” can be a clogged filter, a failed pump or a dead control board — a hundred-dirham job, a few-hundred-dirham job, and a question of whether to buy a new machine. The number that matters is the diagnosis, and the first thing to find out is whether you pay for it twice.

Appliance repair — Dubai Rates, call-out fees and what moves them Appliance repair — Abu Dhabi Rates, call-out fees and what moves them Appliance repair — Sharjah Rates, call-out fees and what moves them Appliance repair — Ajman Rates, call-out fees and what moves them Appliance repair — Ras Al Khaimah Rates, call-out fees and what moves them

United States

Five cities under five different licensing regimes. What decides whether your job needs a licensed contractor is the state you are in, and sometimes the price of the job itself.

Handyman by the hour

The hourly rate is the wrong number to shop on, and almost everyone shops on it. A short repair may still have a minimum charge or service-call fee, so ask what the minimum covers, whether the trip fee is separate or credited, and what happens if the work takes longer than expected.

Handyman by the hour — New York Rates, call-out fees and what moves them Handyman by the hour — Los Angeles Rates, call-out fees and what moves them Handyman by the hour — Chicago Rates, call-out fees and what moves them Handyman by the hour — Houston Rates, call-out fees and what moves them Handyman by the hour — Miami Rates, call-out fees and what moves them

Plumbing

Plumbing is priced in three layers and confusing them is how people end up feeling overcharged: a service call fee to get someone to the door, an hourly rate that depends on which licence they hold, and — for common jobs like drain cleaning — a flat price that ignores both.

Plumbing — New York Rates, call-out fees and what moves them Plumbing — Los Angeles Rates, call-out fees and what moves them Plumbing — Chicago Rates, call-out fees and what moves them Plumbing — Houston Rates, call-out fees and what moves them Plumbing — Miami Rates, call-out fees and what moves them

Electrical work

Electrical work is the category where the licence question has the least ambiguity and the highest stakes. It is also the one where a homeowner most often pays for a whole visit to solve something that took ten minutes — so the rule of thumb is to save electrical jobs up and buy them together.

Electrical work — New York Rates, call-out fees and what moves them Electrical work — Los Angeles Rates, call-out fees and what moves them Electrical work — Chicago Rates, call-out fees and what moves them Electrical work — Houston Rates, call-out fees and what moves them Electrical work — Miami Rates, call-out fees and what moves them

Furniture assembly

Assembly quotes may use a fixed price per item or an hourly rate. The published averages below describe different units: individual items, an hour of work, or a whole booking. Compare the same item list and included work before choosing.

Furniture assembly — New York Rates, call-out fees and what moves them Furniture assembly — Los Angeles Rates, call-out fees and what moves them Furniture assembly — Chicago Rates, call-out fees and what moves them Furniture assembly — Houston Rates, call-out fees and what moves them Furniture assembly — Miami Rates, call-out fees and what moves them

Cleaning

Regular cleaning and move-out cleaning are sold as if they were the same product and they are not. One is judged by you and priced by the hour. The other is judged by a landlord or a property manager against a checklist, priced by the property, and is the one with your deposit attached to it.

Cleaning — New York Rates, call-out fees and what moves them Cleaning — Los Angeles Rates, call-out fees and what moves them Cleaning — Chicago Rates, call-out fees and what moves them Cleaning — Houston Rates, call-out fees and what moves them Cleaning — Miami Rates, call-out fees and what moves them

Get a price for your job

Use these price references to prepare your questions. Describe the work you need, review any offers you receive, and confirm the scope, inclusions and total directly with the professional before agreeing to the work.

Post your job Read the service guides