First-time fix rate (FTFR) is the percentage of service jobs completed on the first visit, without a return trip for parts, a second technician or rework.
How to calculate first-time fix rate
First-time fix rate = Jobs resolved on the first visit ÷ Total jobs requiring a fix × 100
Say your crews ran 200 repair calls last month and 30 of them needed a second visit. FTFR is 170 ÷ 200, or 85%.
Two definitions need to be fixed before the number means anything:
- What counts as a job. Exclude jobs that were never meant to be one visit, such as an estimate followed by a scheduled install. Including them drags the rate down for no real reason.
- What counts as a return. Decide whether a return for a part the customer chose to order later counts. Most companies exclude it. Write the rule down and keep it.
Why it matters for scheduling
Every missed first fix creates a second truck roll: another drive, another arrival window, another slot taken from a customer who has not been served yet. The cost does not appear on the job that failed. It appears as capacity missing from a day next week.
FTFR is partly a scheduling input, too. Sending the wrong skill level, or booking a slot too short for the work, pushes a technician to leave before the job is done. Accurate job duration estimates and matching the right technician to the job both raise it. The field service scheduling KPIs post covers where FTFR sits next to the other numbers worth tracking.
A common mistake
Confusing first-time fix rate with callback rate. A planned return for a part is a first-time fix failure. A customer calling back three weeks later because the repair did not hold is a callback. They have different causes. The first points to diagnosis, parts and skill matching. The second points to workmanship. Mixing them makes both numbers useless.
Related terms
- Callback rate measures repairs that failed after the job was closed.
- Truck roll is the unit of cost that each missed first fix adds.
- Technician productivity falls when the same job takes two visits to finish.
Common questions
What is a good first-time fix rate?
It depends heavily on trade and job mix. Install-heavy and diagnostic-heavy businesses will never compare cleanly. Measure your own rate with a fixed definition and track the trend by job type.
How do you improve first-time fix rate?
Collect better information at booking, stock trucks for the most common failures, send the technician with the right skill, and give the job enough time on the board to be finished.
Does a return visit for an upsell count against FTFR?
Usually not. If the original problem was fixed and the customer chose additional work, most companies count the first visit as a fix. State the rule in your report.