Maintenance contract or one-off call-outs: which is worth it

Mis vahe on lepingul ja eraldi tellimusel

A one-off call-out is exactly that: something breaks, you ring, we come, we fix it, you get an invoice. There is no ongoing relationship and no obligation on either side beyond that job. This is how most homeowners and many small landlords use us, and for a property with occasional problems it is the simpler arrangement.

A standing maintenance agreement is a recurring arrangement, usually monthly, where we take on a building or a set of properties as an ongoing responsibility. Instead of starting from zero each time, we already know the layout, the fittings, the recurring niggles, and often have a running list of small jobs to work through on each visit. It suits buildings with steady, low-level demand rather than one big problem a year.

Mida hooldusleping tavaliselt sisaldab

A typical agreement covers a regular visit, weekly, fortnightly or monthly depending on the building, during which we handle a list of small jobs: sticking doors, dripping taps, loose handrails, light bulbs in stairwells, minor lock adjustments, checking communal areas. It also usually includes priority response for anything urgent that comes up between visits.

It does not typically include major works. A bathroom renovation, rewiring a flat or replacing a roof section is priced and agreed separately, whether or not there is a standing agreement in place. The agreement covers the steady drip of small maintenance, not the occasional large project.

• Scheduled visits at an agreed interval
• A running list of minor repairs handled each visit
• Priority booking for urgent issues between visits
• Larger jobs quoted and agreed separately
• One point of contact who already knows the building

Kuidas arveldamine kahel juhul erineb

One-off jobs are billed per call-out: our building and office maintenance work starts from 49 € per hour, and general odd jobs from 39 € per hour, minimum one hour then in 30-minute steps, with a 25 € call-out fee within Tallinn deducted from the bill if the work goes ahead. You pay for exactly what was done, itemised on the invoice, nothing more.

A standing agreement is usually billed as a fixed monthly amount for the agreed scope, sometimes with hours beyond that scope billed separately at the standard rate. This makes costs predictable for budgeting purposes, which matters to apartment associations working from an annual plan, but it means paying something even in a quiet month when little needed doing.

Either way, invoicing works the same underlying principle: itemised by email, payable within seven days, no VAT added since we are not VAT registered, and any materials we buy carry a 10 % handling fee unless you supply them yourself.

Millal leping tasub end ära ja millal mitte

The maths is fairly simple once you know your own building. If small jobs come up roughly weekly or more often, a fixed monthly rate usually works out cheaper than paying a call-out fee and minimum hour each time, and you avoid the delay of arranging a separate visit for every little thing.

If problems come up only a handful of times a year, a standing agreement is a false economy: you would be paying every month for visits that mostly find nothing urgent to do. In that case, calling us as things happen, and treating each one as a normal call-out, costs less over the year.

There is a middle case worth mentioning: buildings with a mix of frequent small snags and one or two larger jobs a year, such as a flat renovation between tenants. Those larger jobs, from 180 € as a fixed quote, sit outside either arrangement and are priced on their own regardless of whether a maintenance agreement is in place.

Mida meie valiksime tüüpilise Tallinna maja puhul

For a small apartment association in an older building, Soviet-era panel block or a 1930s wooden house in a district like Kalamaja or Nõmme, where the same handful of issues recur, a standing agreement usually pays off. Older buildings tend to have a steady trickle of small faults rather than none at all, and having someone already familiar with the stairwell wiring or the state of the windows saves time on every visit.

For a single flat, whether owner-occupied or rented out, we would usually suggest sticking with one-off call-outs. Even a well-kept flat rarely generates enough small jobs each month to justify a fixed fee, and landlords with just one or two properties are better served paying only when something actually needs doing.

Mida enne otsustamist läbi mõelda

Before choosing either way, it is worth counting how many separate repair jobs the building actually generated over the last year, even roughly. That single number tells you more than anything else about which arrangement will cost less.

It is also worth being honest about what an agreement is for: predictability and a familiar tradesman, not a discount on every hour worked. Any agreement we set up can be described in a description or set of photos beforehand so the scope is clear from the start, and either arrangement can be cancelled or adjusted with notice if the building's needs change.