Most elevator contractors already have a price book. It’s just scattered: a labor-rate memo from the last renewal, a distributor price sheet in someone’s inbox, and the repair estimates your senior estimator builds from memory. That works until two estimators quote the same door-operator repair to the same property manager at different numbers, or an after-hours callback gets billed at straight time because nobody flagged it.
This guide is for US and Canadian elevator service contractors who quote commercial repairs and run maintenance agreements: what belongs in the price book, how to structure labor, how to keep parts costs current, and what to require from software. We build Forz, so the last section says plainly where it fits and where it doesn’t.
What goes in an elevator price book (and what it isn’t)
A price book is the controlled list of everything you sell, the unit you sell it in, and the rules for when each line applies. For an elevator shop that usually means:
- Labor lines by role and time window: mechanic, helper or apprentice, straight time, overtime, premium time.
- Travel lines: per trip, per hour, or by zone, depending on how your agreements are written.
- Parts lines: stocked truck parts, special-order OEM parts, and aftermarket equivalents, each with a cost and a sell price or markup rule.
- Materials and consumables: lubricants, fasteners, wire, and shop supplies, if you bill them separately instead of folding them into labor.
- Coverage flags: whether a line is covered by the building’s agreement or billable on top of it.
This differs from the flat-rate books residential trades use, where “replace water heater” is one price. The same door-restrictor job takes different time on an older hydraulic than on a newer machine-room-less traction car, and the same part can be covered in one building and billable in the next. So elevator price books are built from components (hours, parts, travel) assembled per unit and per procedure, not finished task prices.
What a price book is not: a code document. A parts and labor price book is a commercial operations tool. ASME A17.1/CSA B44 does not require one. What the code addresses in Section 8.6 (ASME A17.1-2025/CSA B44:25 is the current published edition; your jurisdiction may enforce an earlier one) is the Maintenance Control Program (MCP) for each unit and the maintenance records that go with it. The MCP, those records, and the inspection checklists your mechanics work through on site are separate artifacts with separate owners. Keep them separate in your process and in your software. Our elevator maintenance checklist covers the MCP-aligned record side. This post is about pricing the work.
Labor-rate structure: overtime, travel, mod vs repair
Labor is usually the most disputed part of an elevator invoice, so structure matters more than any single rate. Build it as separate lines along four dimensions.
Time window. Straight time, overtime, double time, and weekend or holiday premium should each be their own line, not a multiplier someone remembers to apply. Define the windows in writing (which hours count as straight time, when overtime starts, which days are holidays) and make them match your agreements and any labor agreement your mechanics work under. Callbacks and entrapments outside the standard window are where unbilled premium time leaks most often.
After-hours test witnessing. Some shops carry an overtime line for periodic tests that an inspector or third-party witness can only attend outside normal hours. Treat it as a line you have available, not a rule. Whether a witness is required, who it is, when they attend, and which code edition applies all vary by jurisdiction, sometimes city by city within one state. Our guide to ASME A17.1 Category 1 vs Category 5 testing explains how witnessing differs. Don’t build your price book around one city’s practice.
Travel. Decide whether you bill travel per trip, per hour (portal to portal), by mileage, or by zone, and use one method per agreement. Different methods across buildings are fine; mixing methods on one invoice is how disputes start. If callbacks inside a set radius are included in a maintenance price, the price book should say so, so the office doesn’t add a travel line the agreement already covers.
Work type and crew. Modernization runs as a scheduled project with its own crew and often its own rate; repair and callback labor is reactive and priced for response. Keep separate lines for mod labor and repair labor even if the numbers start out equal, because they will drift and you’ll want to report on each. Within each, separate licensed mechanic and helper or apprentice rates, and record who was on site so the invoice reflects the crew that showed up.
Sample elevator price book table (structure only)
This is a starting structure, not a rate card. We left every rate and price out on purpose: they depend on your market, your labor agreement, and your vendors, and any figure we printed would be wrong for most readers.
| Line type | Unit | When used | Notes / exclusions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Straight-time mechanic | hour | Standard repair window | Window defined in writing |
| Overtime / premium mechanic | hour | After hours, weekends, holidays; after-hours test witnessing where your AHJ’s practice calls for it | Witness practice and adopted edition vary by jurisdiction |
| Helper / apprentice | hour | Second person on site | Record the role on the job |
| Modernization labor | hour | Scheduled mod project work | Kept separate from repair labor |
| Repair / callback labor | hour | Reactive work | Check the agreement before billing |
| Travel | trip, hour, mile, or zone | Callbacks and repair visits | One method per agreement |
| Stocked part (by SKU) | each | Truck or warehouse stock | Vendor cost + markup field; cost as-of date |
| Special-order OEM part | each | Non-stocked, quoted per job | Dated vendor quote attached |
| Consumables | each or per visit | Only if billed separately | Don’t double-bill inside labor |
| Covered vs billable | flag | Every line on a job | Set from the building’s agreement (full-maintenance, parts-and-labor, inspection-only, etc.) |
Here is how the table becomes a quote. A property manager asks you to price a door-operator repair on one car in a two-car building. The estimator adds a repair-labor line at the estimated hours, a helper line if the job needs two people, one travel line using that building’s method, the operator part from stock (or a special-order line with the dated vendor quote), and a consumables line if you bill them. Then the coverage check: under this building’s agreement, which lines are covered and which are billable? If that answer lives in someone’s head instead of on the site record, fix that first.
Which agreement types cover which lines is its own topic. We’ll cover elevator maintenance contract types in a separate guide.
Keeping parts costs current
A price book with stale costs is worse than none, because it gives a wrong number authority.
Set a review cadence by source. OEM list prices and lead times change on the manufacturer’s schedule, not yours. Distributor and aftermarket pricing can move more often. Review on every vendor price notice, and on a regular schedule for your highest-volume SKUs.
Separate who updates costs from who sets prices. Purchasing usually owns costs; operations owns markup and sell prices. Estimators use the book; they don’t edit it. When everyone can change a price, nobody can explain one.
Date everything. Every cost carries an as-of date and every estimate an expiration, so a three-month-old quote isn’t accepted at last quarter’s cost. If your software doesn’t keep price history, export a dated catalog copy at each update.
Price special orders from a dated quote. Attach the vendor quote to the estimate, so when a customer accepts weeks later you can check the cost still holds before ordering.
What to require from elevator price book software
Use these as evaluation criteria in demos. Ask vendors to show you, not tell you.
- One catalog for labor and parts. Labor, travel, parts, and consumables in the same item list, each with a unit, cost, sell price, SKU, and category.
- Rate structure by role and time window. Straight, overtime, and premium time, and mechanic versus helper, as distinct lines. How does the office pick the right one on a callback?
- Estimate to job to invoice without retyping. Watch a repair estimate become a job and then an invoice with every line intact.
- Unit and site context. The quote and job tie to a specific unit at a site, so work lands on the right device history and agreement.
- Customer-specific pricing. A portfolio owner with negotiated rates shouldn’t force you to duplicate the catalog.
- Control and audit. Who can change prices, and can you tell what price a quote used on the day it was sent?
- Accounting sync. Items and invoices should match your accounting system without double entry.
- Import. Can you load your existing price list from a spreadsheet?
Residential-first tools center on flat-rate task pricing, which strains when labor is assembled per unit and coverage changes by building. For a platform comparison, see our roundup of the best elevator service software.
When Forz fits (and when it doesn’t)
Forz is field service management software for elevator contractors and other commercial trades. Against the checklist above, here is what our live product pages describe:
- Products and services sit in a shared catalog with unit price, unit cost, SKU, and categories. You can import the catalog from a CSV file or pull it in from QuickBooks Online.
- Custom price groups set customer pricing tiers as multipliers or fixed prices, assigned to specific customers.
- An accepted estimate converts to a job with every line item carried over, and the job becomes the invoice. See estimates.
- Each elevator is a device record under the customer’s site, and each building’s contract type can be recorded in custom fields so dispatch checks coverage before sending a mechanic.
- QuickBooks Online sync runs two-way for customers, items, and invoices. QuickBooks Desktop isn’t supported.
- Forz costs $50 per user per month billed annually or $60 month-to-month, with a 10-user minimum and every core module included. Details are on our pricing page.
Forz fits commercial elevator shops that want the price book in the same system as unit records, maintenance agreements, estimates, and invoices, with QuickBooks Online as the ledger.
Forz is not the right fit if:
- You only need a static rate sheet and no field service system.
- You’re an enterprise shop already running FIELDBOSS on Microsoft Dynamics with its pricing configured. Our best elevator service software roundup covers that trade-off.
- You need rates that switch automatically by time of day, or versioned catalog prices with effective dates. Our product pages don’t describe either, so test your exact workflow in a demo before you commit.
- Your books are on QuickBooks Desktop.
- You have fewer than 10 users and don’t want to pay the 10-user minimum. Check the pricing page for the Small Business Program.
Book a free 30-minute demo, bring one real repair quote and your current price list, and ask how your lines would load into the catalog.
FAQ
Does ASME A17.1 require an elevator price book?
No. A price book is a commercial quoting and billing tool. ASME A17.1/CSA B44 Section 8.6 addresses each unit’s Maintenance Control Program and maintenance records, with details set by the edition your AHJ enforces.
What’s the difference between a price book, an MCP, and an inspection checklist?
The price book is your commercial list of labor, parts, and travel lines. The MCP is the per-unit program and records referenced in A17.1/B44 Section 8.6, generally the building owner’s responsibility and typically maintained by the contractor. The inspection checklist is what the mechanic works through on site.
Can a residential FSM pricebook handle elevator labor and parts?
It can usually hold items and prices. The gaps for elevator work tend to be elsewhere: per-unit records, Maintenance Control Program (MCP) records, and test schedules. As of October 2026, Jobber’s help center describes client records organized by property, and Jobber’s own pages don’t describe a native per-equipment asset record (a third-party app in Jobber’s marketplace, AssetMinder, says it adds service history by asset). We cover where general field service software breaks for elevator work in our post on Jobber for elevator service.
