There's a big difference between a busy trades business and a profitable one. The busiest tradespeople often spend most of their time chasing the next job. The most profitable ones have locked in a baseline of recurring work that keeps the books looking healthy even in quiet months.
Maintenance contracts are one of the best tools for getting there.
What Is a Maintenance Contract?
A maintenance contract is a formal agreement with a customer to carry out regular, scheduled work — usually inspections, servicing, or preventive maintenance — at a fixed price over a set period.
For a heating engineer, that might be an annual boiler service and safety check. For an electrician, a quarterly inspection of a landlord's rental properties. For a plumber, a biannual check of all pipework and appliances in a commercial kitchen.
The customer gets peace of mind and predictable costs. You get predictable income and a relationship that renews year after year.
Why Recurring Revenue Changes Everything
Most tradespeople live month to month. A slow January can cause real stress even if December was fantastic. Maintenance contracts smooth that out.
If you have 30 customers on annual contracts worth £150 each, that's £4,500 in guaranteed income — income you don't have to market for, quote for, or chase. It's already yours.
As you build more contracts, your baseline revenue grows. You need fewer new customers to hit your income targets. Marketing becomes less stressful. You can be more selective about one-off jobs.
Which Trades Suit Maintenance Contracts?
Almost any trade can offer some form of maintenance contract, but they work especially well for:
- Heating engineers — annual boiler services, system flushes, landlord certificates
- Electricians — PAT testing, periodic inspection and testing (EICR), landlord safety checks
- Plumbers — commercial kitchen checks, water softener servicing, drain maintenance
- Air conditioning engineers — routine filter changes, annual servicing
- Builders and property maintenance — quarterly or annual property inspections for landlords
- Gas engineers — commercial appliance servicing for pubs, restaurants, care homes
If any part of your work involves something that needs doing regularly, there's a contract in it.
How to Price a Maintenance Contract
Pricing is where most tradespeople get nervous. Keep it simple:
- Calculate your time — how long does the service take, including travel?
- Add your materials cost — consumables, replacement parts if any
- Add your overhead — van costs, insurance, tools allocation
- Apply your margin — typically 20–30%
- Discount slightly for commitment — the customer is giving you guaranteed work; a small discount is reasonable and makes the contract feel like good value
Many tradespeople find that a modest discount (5–10% off standard rates) is enough to make a contract attractive without significantly eating into margin.
Getting Your First Contracts
The easiest place to start is your existing customer base. You've already done a job for them. They trust you. Reach out after completing a job and explain what a maintenance contract looks like and what it covers.
A simple message works well:
"I offer an annual service package that covers [X, Y, Z]. It means you don't have to think about it — I'll get in touch when it's due and book it in. Interested?"
Most customers who liked your work will say yes if the price is reasonable.
Landlords are a particularly good target market. They have regulatory obligations (gas safety, electrical safety), multiple properties, and strong motivation to have a reliable tradesperson they don't need to find fresh every year.
Managing Contracts Without the Headache
The practical challenge with maintenance contracts is keeping track of them. Knowing who's due for a service when, making sure reminders go out at the right time, and ensuring nothing slips through.
This is where a proper job tracking system pays for itself. When you can log a contract, set a renewal date, and have the system automatically remind you when it's coming up, you're not relying on memory or a spreadsheet that you probably won't update.
TradeTrackHQ is built with this kind of recurring work in mind — start a free trial and see how it handles ongoing customer relationships.
