Guides / Quoting

Pricing a Field Machining Job Instead of Shop Work

October 4, 2026

A boring bar set up on a shop floor and the same bar set up on a customer’s site look similar in the cutting numbers and nowhere else. Field machining moves the job to the part instead of the part to the job, and everything that changes with that move has to be priced on purpose, not absorbed into the hourly rate.

Start with what shop pricing already covers that field pricing does not

A shop quote assumes the machine is already positioned, powered, and sitting on a floor rated for it. A field quote has none of that as a given. Before pricing the cutting time, work out what has to be trucked in, set up, and powered at a site you may only know from photos and a phone call.

Travel and mobilization

Price this as its own line, not folded into the hourly rate.

• Crew time to travel, both ways, at your normal rate. This is working time even though no metal is cut.
• Equipment transport, including a truck or trailer if the portable boring bar, generator or hydraulic pump does not travel in a service van.
• Lodging and per diem for anything beyond a day trip.
• Return trips. State up front whether a second visit for a follow-up cut or an inspection recheck is included or billed separately, so it is not a surprise on either side.

A stated mobilization fee reads as more professional than an inflated hourly rate meant to recover the same cost invisibly, and it holds up better if the same customer calls you back to the same site next quarter.

Site access and power constraints

Ask these before quoting, not on arrival:

• Can the equipment physically reach the part? A portable line boring rig still needs clearance to get in, set up, and swing.
• What power is on site, and is it adequate for the tooling you plan to bring? Bringing a generator changes both the quote and the logistics.
• Is the area confined, elevated, or does it require a permit to enter? Confined space or hot work permits change crew requirements and time.
• Who provides rigging support on site, and is it adequate for the part? A site with no overhead crane where you expected one turns a one-day job into a two-day job with rented lifting equipment.

Get this in writing or in photos before quoting. A phone description of “plenty of room and a crane overhead” is not the same as a photo showing the actual clearance, and the gap between the two is where field quotes go wrong.

Downtime pressure changes what the customer will pay for speed

In a shop, a customer waits for a part. In the field, the part is often installed and the equipment around it is down until the work finishes. That downtime cost is usually much larger than your day rate, and it changes the conversation in your favor if you price it correctly.

A customer facing a production line stopped at a known cost per hour will pay for a faster mobilization, a second technician to run parallel setups, or off-hours work that avoids a shift change. State these as options rather than assuming the customer wants the cheapest version. “Standard mobilization in five business days” next to “expedited mobilization in two days for an additional fee” lets the customer make the call with their own downtime cost in mind, and it protects your schedule from being quietly compressed for free.

Insurance and site safety requirements

Confirm what the site requires before quoting, because it belongs in the price, not in a change order after you have already committed a crew.

• Liability coverage limits. Many industrial sites require higher limits than a shop policy carries by default, and some require the site to be named as additional insured.
• Site-specific safety training or badging, which can cost real time before the crew is allowed on the floor.
• Personal protective equipment beyond your own standard, arc flash gear or site-specific PPE in particular.
• A safety plan for the specific work, if the site requires one submitted in advance. See safety and access for on-site machining crews for what usually needs documenting.

None of this is exotic, but each item takes coordination time that a shop job never requires, and coordination time is billable time.

Building the field quote

Structure it so the customer can see where the cost sits:

1. Mobilization: travel, transport, setup and teardown
2. On-site machining time, priced comparably to your shop rate for equivalent work
3. Site-specific costs: rented lifting equipment, generator, permits, additional insured coverage
4. Contingency for site conditions that differ from what was described, stated as a not-to-exceed rather than folded in silently

This structure also makes it easy to explain, on the next job at the same site, why the second visit costs less: mobilization and site setup are already known quantities.

What to do next

Pull the last field job that ran long and check whether the overrun came from the cutting time or from something on this list, site access, power, or a permit nobody priced. It is almost always the second kind, and it is the kind you can price for next time.

Related reading: on-site machining and line boring, safety and access for on-site machining crews and pricing heavy machine hours.

Frequently asked questions

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