A single-device visit is the easy case. Most real property visits are not: a strip mall can carry six assemblies across its fire lines, domestic service, and irrigation meter, and a hand-priced job is where the multi-device discount, the per-device filing fee, and a retest line most often go wrong.
First device at full price. Every device after it on the same visit gets your additional-device discount. Every device — discounted or not, passed or failed — gets the per-device filing fee. Any device that fails also gets the retest fee. Add your one-time travel fee once for the whole visit, not once per device.
Three domestic and fire-line RPZ assemblies, two irrigation double-checks, and one landscape PVB, with a 20% additional-device discount, a $15 report-filing fee per device, a $40 one-time travel fee, and a $35 retest fee for the one device that fails:
| Device | Test fee | Discounted fee | Filing | Retest | Line total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Domestic RPZ — first device | $65.00 | $65.00 (no discount) | $15.00 | — | $80.00 |
| 2. Fire line RPZ #1 | $65.00 | $52.00 | $15.00 | — | $67.00 |
| 3. Fire line RPZ #2 — failed | $65.00 | $52.00 | $15.00 | $35.00 | $102.00 |
| 4. Irrigation double-check #1 | $55.00 | $44.00 | $15.00 | — | $59.00 |
| 5. Irrigation double-check #2 | $55.00 | $44.00 | $15.00 | — | $59.00 |
| 6. Landscape PVB | $45.00 | $36.00 | $15.00 | — | $51.00 |
| Subtotal | Amount |
|---|---|
| Testing (discount saved $57.00 across 5 devices) | $293.00 |
| Report filing (6 devices × $15.00) | $90.00 |
| Retest (1 device) | $35.00 |
| Travel (one-time) | $40.00 |
| Total | $458.00 |
| Average per device | $76.33 |
Compare that to pricing the visit at a flat per-device rate. Six devices at the first device's own $65 rate, with no filing fee, no travel fee, and no retest line, would quote $390.00 — $68.00 below this visit's real $458.00 total, before whatever the filing fee and retest were actually worth on their own ($125.00 between them). The gap is not the discount; it is everything a flat per-device number has no line for.
Charge the first device full price, since it carries the trip's travel and setup cost. Apply your additional-device discount to every device after it. Add your report-filing fee to every device regardless of the discount, since most water utilities require a separate submitted report per device. Add a retest fee for any device that fails, and your one-time travel fee once for the whole visit.
No. The discount reflects travel and setup time shared across the visit, and the first device is what pays for that time. Discounting it too would undercharge every single-device visit's worth of setup cost baked into the trip.
Yes, both. The filing fee covers the report a water utility requires per device, which is separate paperwork whether or not that device's testing rate was discounted, and whether it passed or failed. In the worked example on this page, all six devices carry the filing fee, including the one that failed.
This calculator assumes the retest happens on the same visit, billed at a flat retest fee with no added travel charge. If a failed device needs a separate return trip — waiting on a repair part, for instance — add that trip's own travel fee separately rather than folding it into the retest fee.
It only totals the fee schedule you enter against the devices you list. It does not test anything, does not determine whether a device passed or failed, and does not know your water utility's required report form, filing deadline, or device-type requirements — those vary by state and by utility. Confirm them against your local cross-connection control program before invoicing or filing.