Charging for a helper

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Mule

Senior Member
Location
Oklahoma
Ok, Im considering going up on helper rates, and Im curious how much the rest of you get for a 1-2 year aprentice??? So what percentage of jman rates do you charge??

example 1....jman $65 x 54% = $35 aprentice

example 2....jman $100 x 45% = $45 aprentice
 

cadpoint

Senior Member
Location
Durham, NC
Ah, In English ? It's an apprentice at journeyman wages, no wonder I didn't stay with my first vocation!

Besides, I thought you were working through you reduced winter rates ?

I also have to confess here that I don't understand what your asking?

Mule, I have to say I enjoy your threads, and somehow you always come out smelling like a Rose, carry on... :rolleyes:
 

stickboy1375

Senior Member
Location
Litchfield, CT
Ok, Im considering going up on helper rates, and Im curious how much the rest of you get for a 1-2 year aprentice??? So what percentage of jman rates do you charge??

example 1....jman $65 x 54% = $35 aprentice

example 2....jman $100 x 45% = $45 aprentice

Most guys dont think you charge enough as it is, why are you worried about a helpers rate? :roll:
 

Mule

Senior Member
Location
Oklahoma
Ah, In English ? It's an apprentice at journeyman wages, no wonder I didn't stay with my first vocation!
lost me there

Besides, I thought you were working through you reduced winter rates ?
That was only one client

I also have to confess here that I don't understand what your asking?
Oh, come on ...its not that hard...:smile:

Mule, I have to say I enjoy your threads, and somehow you always come out smelling like a Rose, carry on... :rolleyes:
Sorry to bore you:grin:,
 

Mule

Senior Member
Location
Oklahoma
Most guys dont think you charge enough as it is, why are you worried about a helpers rate? :roll:

Ok, that's the reason I asked for a percentage......the question is about the helper rates, not jman rates. Your arguement is with this area and its rates, not me...Im just trying to play in the sand box just like you...its just that your area is different, we've wore that out, how many times??..come on....:smile:
 
Mule,
If I have extended service work that requires 2 guys, and 1's a helper, my Journeyman goes out at $68 / hour and my apprentice goes out at $45 / hour.

I won't go any less than that. And I have charged full rate for my helper many times. I don't list it as Journeyman and Apprentice unless asked to do so.

Right now on a government job, it's $66.xx and $51.xx for their rates at the USAFA... and they start tomorrow for 2 weeks.

Hope that helps.
Greg
 

Mule

Senior Member
Location
Oklahoma
Mule,
If I have extended service work that requires 2 guys, and 1's a helper, my Journeyman goes out at $68 / hour and my apprentice goes out at $45 / hour.

I won't go any less than that. And I have charged full rate for my helper many times. I don't list it as Journeyman and Apprentice unless asked to do so.

Right now on a government job, it's $66.xx and $51.xx for their rates at the USAFA... and they start tomorrow for 2 weeks.

Hope that helps.
Greg

Yes that helps thanks......for your first statement that's about 66% of your jman rate.....So how seasoned is that apprentice?
 

iwire

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Massachusetts
Ok, Im considering going up on helper rates, and Im curious how much the rest of you get for a 1-2 year aprentice??? So what percentage of jman rates do you charge??

example 1....jman $65 x 54% = $35 aprentice

example 2....jman $100 x 45% = $45 aprentice

The two companies I have worked for over the past 12 years charge the same for either in the service divisions. But we never use green guys, always at least a couple years in on the four year apprenticeship.
 

Minuteman

Senior Member
Apprentices with less than 2 years experience = 50%

Apprentices with more than 2 years experience = 100% (If they pretty much know what's going on and are motivated)
 

Fulthrotl

~Autocorrect is My Worst Enema.~
Ok, Im considering going up on helper rates, and Im curious how much the rest of you get for a 1-2 year aprentice??? So what percentage of jman rates do you charge??

example 1....jman $65 x 54% = $35 aprentice

example 2....jman $100 x 45% = $45 aprentice

mostly around here, it's simply labor units, in bidding, no discount.
the difference between journeyman and apprenticle pay in theory
is to offset the difference in knowledge and productivity. after a
couple years however, an apprentice can do stuff about the same
as a journeyman, not all of it, but a lot. that's the incentive for
the contractor to hire an apprentice.

pay scales for an apprentice in a four year apprenticeship started at
50%, and went up in 5% increments to 90%, then to 100% when you
passed the journeyman's test.

a 5 year apprenticeship starts at 35% and moves upward the same way.
 

360Youth

Senior Member
Location
Newport, NC
I generally do not charge full rate for a helper simply because they do not do the same amount of work in the same amount of time. And I have had GC's ask me about. Not in an accusing manner, but if I charge 85/hr for 8 hours of my work and a helper spends 12 hours doing the same work, I am not going to charge the customer more than what it should take to do the job. Of course it varies from job to job. If I have a job that requires one man in an attic or crawl space and another on a main floor, or a man on each end of a piece of conduit pulling wire, than the rates are the same all the way around because the same work is being accomplished no matter what your skill level.
 

tonyou812

Senior Member
Location
North New Jersey
I generally do not charge full rate for a helper simply because they do not do the same amount of work in the same amount of time. And I have had GC's ask me about. Not in an accusing manner, but if I charge 85/hr for 8 hours of my work and a helper spends 12 hours doing the same work, I am not going to charge the customer more than what it should take to do the job. Of course it varies from job to job. If I have a job that requires one man in an attic or crawl space and another on a main floor, or a man on each end of a piece of conduit pulling wire, than the rates are the same all the way around because the same work is being accomplished no matter what your skill level.
So how do you break things into man hours? a job takes a Jman 2 hours and a apprentice with a "classified" skill level .85 percent of Jman.....? Sounds like your just making it more difficult than it needs to be.
And for what its worth Ive worked for EC'S that couldn't bend a stick of rigid 3/4 to save their lives so what would he charge for himself.....? you see what I mean...your way leaves too many questions for the customer, builder IMO. But if it works for you .......se la vee
 

Mule

Senior Member
Location
Oklahoma
0-1000 hours = 55%

1000-2000 hours= 65%

2000-3000 hours = 75%

3000-4000 hours = 85%



Apprentices with less than 2 years experience = 50%

Apprentices with more than 2 years experience = 100% (If they pretty much know what's going on and are motivated)

Thanks this is exactly what I searching for......I'v been watching my helper really close on task that Im sure that he knows. He is probably around 50% slower than myself, with some of that difference being character differences and the rest of it being skill differences. So I've been charging just less than 50%, but Im wanting to raising it.

I just want the value to the customer to be fair and equitable. So, he's been at it nearly a year now, getting more confident and I'm going to raise his billable rate.
 

Cow

Senior Member
Location
Eastern Oregon
Occupation
Electrician
Our shop charges about $10/hr less than the journeyman rate for apprentices regardless of their experience. Service calls, bids, whatever, the price stays the same.

Not saying this is right, just what our shop charges.:smile: We also have a shop guy too, if we decide we can use him as manual labor, digging trenches, cleaning up the jobsite etc, sometimes we'll bill him out at apprentice rates too if he saves us from having to do the work.
 
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