Why this list exists
Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, where no price has been fixed, you must pay a reasonable price and no more. That is a genuine backstop and a poor way to run your afternoon, because "reasonable" is decided after the argument has started. An itemised quote decides it before.
The eleven lines below are not invented. Each one is something a named London firm already publishes in its own terms, which is the best evidence that it is a real variable and not a hypothetical one. All published detail was read on 19 September 2026.
The eleven lines
1. The rate, and whether it excludes VAT
Almost every published trade rate in this market is quoted excluding VAT. Aspect's rate guide, Pimlico's rate card and 0800 Homefix's rates page all state figures plus or excluding VAT. Twenty per cent on a several-hundred-pound detection bill is not a rounding error. Ask which you have been given.
2. The unit the rate is billed in
This changes the bill more than the rate does. Aspect publishes half-hourly rates. Pimlico's rate card publishes hourly rates with 15-minute increments after the first hour. 0800 Homefix publishes hourly rates with half-hour increments. Ours is hourly. A £54 half hour and a £108 hour are the same rate and a different bill on a job that runs eighty minutes.
3. The minimum charge
A one-hour minimum is standard and entirely fair. Aspect's terms state a minimum charge of one hour, after which charges are made by the half hour rounded up to the next half hour. Pimlico's rate card states a one-hour minimum before 15-minute increments begin. 0800 Homefix publishes a one-hour minimum with half-hour increments thereafter. None of that is unusual. Discovering it on the invoice is.
4. When the clock starts and stops
0800 Homefix publishes it explicitly: they charge in half-hour increments from the point of arrival. That is a clear, checkable statement and more than most firms give you. Ask whether your quote runs from arrival, from the start of work, or from when the van left.
5. Travel, parking, Congestion Charge and ULEZ
In central London this is a real line. Aspect publishes that it does not charge for parking, fuel, the Congestion Charge or ULEZ. 0800 Homefix publishes the same. Pimlico's rate card states there is no charge for a call-out, travel time, fuel or Congestion and ULEZ. Three firms publishing it suggests it is worth asking of the ones that do not.
6. Materials, and time spent collecting them
Aspect publishes that parts and materials are charged separately. Pimlico's rate card publishes something more specific and more useful: material collection for non-stock items is kept to a minimum and will not exceed 45 minutes of the current hourly rate for that trade. That is a cap, in writing. Ask whether yours has one.
7. What happens if the leak is not found
The single most valuable line, and the one most often missing. The answers in the market range from an outcome guarantee with published conditions to no outcome condition at all. Get yours in the booking email, not the phone call. The comparison across firms is in no find, no fee at four firms.
8. Whether repair is in scope, and whether reinstatement is
Detection, repair and making good are three jobs and are frequently three invoices. This has its own article: detection only, or detect and repair.
9. Deposits
0800 Homefix publishes that all fixed price quotes require a 50% deposit prior to works commencing, with payment by card and no cheques or cash. That is a straightforward published term and worth knowing before you agree a fixed price with anyone.
10. Cancellation and abortive visits
Aspect's terms publish a short-notice cancellation charge of £50 plus VAT where an appointment is cancelled two hours or less before the slot, and state that if the tradesperson has already arrived on site the customer is liable for one hour at the standard rate. Metro Rod's terms state that an order may only be cancelled by agreement, with the customer liable for costs incurred to the date of cancellation. Neither is unreasonable. Both are the kind of thing you want to have read before the neighbour who holds the key does not turn up.
11. Whether the insurance report is charged for
Pimlico's rate card publishes that insurance reports are charged at the associated trade hourly rate plus VAT, redeemable against future work. That is a line most people do not know exists until it appears. If you are claiming trace and access, ask whether the report is included in the detection charge or billed on top.