hi, yes the costs can soon escalate, looks like gasfitter and apprentice did the work, looks like retail costs of materials/gas cert could have been a lot higher. On the face of it I think it is ok but maybe you should have got a quote first. Cheers
    p.s. are you in Christchurch?

Quotes indeed, we normally insist on a quote. This was a small job so didn't bother, even so I said to the wife don't be surprised if it hits $400 - $500.

I've asked them for clarification, they've said the hours cover time getting materials and time on the road. We're 7 minutes drive from their base, all items were standard out of the van gas fitting supplies (no material trips were required) so they're spinning a standard line a little.

The apprentice charges are an interesting one. Ultimately the customer pays for the training of apprentices but that cost needs to be spread across all invoices otherwise the few customers lumped with it will quite rightly get the hump. I probably wouldn't have questioned 3 hours for the gas fitter and perhaps a token hour for the apprentice.

Gear markup is high, I've checked the same prices at the plumbing supplies:

6m Length of 20mm copper pipe, retail is $49 inc.gst, invoiced $110 inc gst
20mm copper tee, retail $3.85 inc.gst, invoiced $18.40 inc gst
20mm copper 90deg bend, $3.10 inc gst, invoiced $11.50 inc gst

Having said that I appreciate the business overheads need to be covered somewhere on the invoice, it seems they've squeezed a little more in on this one than is due, but as you've both said, not massively. They turn up and do a good job..

Anyway, many thanks for the feedback, I'll go pay the bill

Yeah fair call, doesn't sound like I'm comparing apples. I'll pull my head in..

hence is one reason why few apprentice opportunities are going, costs back on employer again

Craftsman, nobody here is suggesting the employer should pick up the bill for apprentice training. Apprentice training is a business overhead which should be spread across all clients like every other overhead. Charging fictional hours is highly questionable.

Interesting you bring up IT geeks, I did 7 years in a trade then spent $20k qualifying to get into IT. Staying competitive in this game never ends and the cost of training is most certainly built into that $120 / hr.