How much does robot repair cost in North America? Diagnostic, travel, labor and parts explained
Short answer: A robot repair bill in Canada or the US is never just "the hourly rate". It is diagnosis + call-out or travel + on-site labour + parts + freight and duties + downtime. At KeepRobots' current published rates (before tax), a typical approved on-site repair of one robot in the Greater Vancouver core zone, two hours on site, comes to C$400 plus parts: C$100 call-out + 2 × C$150, with the C$200 diagnostic fee credited. In the US it is US$150 per hour plus travel quoted per project. Sending the robot back to the factory looks cheaper on labour, but two international shipments, two customs entries, two local visits and weeks of downtime usually make it the most expensive option. What actually cuts repair cost: remote triage before anyone drives, common spare parts already in North America, and several jobs combined into one visit.
This page is for robot makers and fleet operators budgeting after-sales in North America. Example totals use KeepRobots' current rates and are labelled as examples; hours in the examples are assumptions to show the arithmetic, not records from a specific job. Freight and duty rules are summarised from official sources listed at the end; this is not customs or tax advice. For what a service call includes, see robot repair and maintenance.
What goes into a robot repair bill
| Line item | What it covers | Usually paid by |
|---|---|---|
| Diagnostic | Confirming the fault on site: error codes, logs, photos, a call with the maker's second-line engineers | Maker during warranty; per contract after warranty |
| Call-out or travel | A fixed charge per visit inside a core zone; travel (mileage, flights, hotel) outside it | Same as above |
| On-site labour | Removing and fitting parts, calibration, testing, handover to the site | Same as above |
| Parts | The module itself, plus shipping it from the factory and import charges | Maker or customer, per warranty terms |
| Freight and duties | Only when the whole robot or a large assembly goes back to the factory: crating, two international shipments, export and import entries | Per contract and trade terms |
| Downtime | The days the robot isn't working: the customer's lost output, SLA penalties if any, renewal risk | Nobody invoices it, but it lands on the maker's reputation |
The first five lines show up on invoices. The last one often costs the most. A hotel, hospital or warehouse in North America that loses a robot for a week tends to conclude the brand is unreliable, whatever the repair invoice said.
How KeepRobots bills a repair visit
- Diagnostic fee: C$200 in Canada, US$200 in the US, per robot, per visit. Credited in full against the repair if you approve the work. Two robots diagnosed on one visit means two diagnostic fees, each credited if that robot's repair is approved. Remote triage that resolves the fault costs nothing.
- Call-out fee: C$100 per visit in the Greater Vancouver core zone. One call-out covers every robot we look at on that visit. Outside the core zone and for US jobs, travel is quoted per project before we book.
- On-site labour: C$150/hour in Canada, US$150/hour in the US, from arrival, billed in 30-minute increments after the first hour.
- Parts are listed on the quote before installation. Warranty parts can come through the maker's RMA process.
- All prices are before tax and confirmed in writing before billable work begins. Maintenance-contract customers don't pay call-out fees.
Worked examples at KeepRobots rates (before tax, parts extra)
| Scenario | Calculation | Example total |
|---|---|---|
| Greater Vancouver core zone, 1 robot, repair approved, 2 h on site | $100 + 2 × $150 (C$200 diagnostic credited) | C$400 |
| Same, but you decide not to repair after diagnosis | $200 diagnostic + $100 call-out | C$300 |
| Core zone, 2 robots on one visit, both approved, 3 h in total | $100 + 3 × $150 (both C$200 diagnostics credited) | C$550 |
| Core zone, wrong part on the first visit, so a second visit (2 h each) | 2 × ($100 + 2 × $150) | C$800, plus days or weeks of extra downtime |
| United States, 1 robot, repair approved, 3 h on site | 3 × $150 (US$200 diagnostic credited) | US$450 + travel quoted per project |
The jump from C$400 to C$800 is the most avoidable cost in field repair. It almost always comes from the right part not being in North America, or from the fault being guessed instead of triaged before the visit.
Three ways to handle a failure, and what each costs
1. Hourly on-site repair (swap the module locally)
Fits: faults that can be traced to a field-replaceable unit (drive wheel, motor, lidar, sensor, battery, main board) when the part is in North America or a few days away.
Flow: the site reports the fault; the maker's second line reviews logs and photos remotely and names the likely module; a local engineer brings that part, confirms against the maker's fault tree, swaps, calibrates and tests, and sends back photos, logs and a written report; the faulty part goes back under the maker's RMA process. Cost is the examples above: usually a few hundred dollars of labour per incident plus the part.
2. Return to factory (RMA of the whole robot or a large assembly)
Fits: faults that can't be found on site, need factory equipment or rework, or sit inside a sealed assembly that must not be opened in the field.
Flow: robot stops → crating → export entry → international freight → import into the maker's country → factory queue → re-export → freight back → North American customs entry → delivery to site → re-deployment, re-mapping and testing. What it costs:
- Freight: air freight is billed on the greater of actual and volumetric weight, commonly length × width × height in cm ÷ 6,000 (ask your forwarder which divisor applies). A crated service robot often bills well above its scale weight, and you pay it twice. Rates move weekly, so get a door-to-door quote from a forwarder rather than using a per-kilogram rule of thumb. Ocean is cheaper but adds weeks each way.
- Duties on the way back into the US: under HTSUS 9802.00.40 (warranty repairs) and 9802.00.50 (other repairs) and 19 CFR 10.8, articles exported for repair and returned are dutiable only on the value of the repair, provided the repair didn't turn them into a new article and the export is documented. Any additional tariffs that apply to the goods' origin can still apply to the repair value; check with your customs broker.
- Duties and tax on the way back into Canada: CBSA Memorandum D8-2-10 says goods repaired outside Canada are, by default, subject to duty on the value of the good unless they qualify for full or partial relief (free-trade-partner repairs under tariff item 9992.00.00 are one route). Goods returned after warranty repair are non-taxable for GST/HST; for non-warranty repairs that meet the conditions, GST/HST is payable on the value of the work done abroad, including added parts. Which case applies depends on the goods and the paperwork; ask your broker.
- Local labour still happens twice: someone has to de-install and pack the robot and, when it comes back, re-deploy and test it. Example at KeepRobots rates in the core zone: two visits, 2 h packing + 4 h re-deployment = 2 × $100 + 6 × $150 = C$1,100 before freight and duties (hours are assumptions).
- Downtime: two shipments, two customs entries and a factory queue are counted in weeks. The customer either goes without a robot or you lend them one.
The common trap: shipping the robot out as an ordinary export with no repair documentation. Without proof of export and an invoice that states the repair, the return can be treated as a new import and taxed on its full value. Declare it as goods exported for repair before it leaves, and keep the export record and the repair invoice. More on who pays which leg in robot warranty and RMA in North America.
3. Your own field engineer (fly-in or hired locally)
Fly-in from the factory: flights, visa lead time, several nights of hotel and the engineer's days away often cost more than many hours of local labour, and the robot waits while the trip is arranged.
Hired in North America: our estimate of the fully loaded cost of one full-time robot field service engineer is roughly US$139,000–144,000 or C$124,000–132,000 a year, built from BLS and Job Bank wage data with the method shown in what a robotic field service engineer costs in North America. Divide by US$150 and that is about 930 hours of hourly on-site work a year before hiring breaks even on labour alone (simple arithmetic, ignoring call-outs and travel on both sides). Most makers with a handful of robots per city are nowhere near that. Once one metro area has enough visits to keep an engineer busy, hiring there makes sense.
Side by side
| Dimension | Hourly on-site repair | Return to factory | Own engineer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Customer downtime | Short when the part is local | Long, usually weeks | Short if the engineer is in that city; long if flying in |
| Cash per incident | Lowest: labour by the hour plus the part | Two freight legs + customs + two local visits | Low per incident, high fixed cost per year |
| Set-up needed | A local partner, local spares, a fault tree | Forwarder, customs broker, export-for-repair process | Hiring, vehicle, insurance, tools, management |
| Best for | Faults traceable to a module | Faults that need factory equipment | Cities with enough robots to fill the calendar |
Most makers end up with a mix: common faults fixed locally by module swap, hard cases returned to the factory, and a spare unit for customers who can't tolerate downtime (swap first, repair the faulty robot later without the clock running).
How to cut robot repair costs in North America
- Triage remotely before anyone drives. Ask the site for fault codes, a short video and logs at the moment they report the fault, and have your second line review them. A correct diagnosis means one visit with the right part.
- Put spare parts in North America. Wheels, brushes, batteries and the sensors that fail most often, held on consignment by a local partner so ownership stays with you. See consignment spare parts in Canada.
- Combine jobs into one visit. Maintenance and small repairs at the same site or in the same city on one trip pay one call-out or one travel bill.
- Design for module swaps. Every module that can be replaced on site in an hour or two moves a failure from "return to factory" to "local repair". This is an after-sales cost decision made in R&D.
- Do preventive maintenance. Brushes, filters, batteries and wheels wear on a schedule. See the robot preventive maintenance schedule.
- Write who pays into the contract. In warranty, out of warranty, and damage from misuse: who pays the diagnostic, the call-out, the part and the freight. Otherwise every ticket turns into a negotiation.
Questions to ask before you accept a repair quote
- Is the diagnostic fee per robot or per visit, and is it credited if I approve the repair?
- When does labour start: at departure or on arrival? What is the billing increment?
- Does one call-out cover several robots at the same site?
- How is travel charged outside the core zone and in the US, and is it confirmed in writing before departure?
- Will the report be detailed enough for my factory engineers: root cause, part numbers, photos, logs? In which language?
- Can you hold my spare parts locally, and how are they tracked?
For a fuller checklist, see how to choose a robot field service partner.
What KeepRobots can do
KeepRobots is a robot field service company based in Vancouver, serving Canada and the United States in English and Mandarin. We don't make or sell robots and we are not an exclusive agent for any brand. For robot makers and fleet operators, we can do hourly on-site diagnosis and module swaps following your fault tree and RMA process, de-install and re-deploy robots around a return to factory, hold spare parts and spare units, and run preventive maintenance visits. Our engineers read Chinese technical documents and can join calls with your factory team during their working hours.
Current rates (before tax): diagnostic C$200 in Canada or US$200 in the US, per robot, per visit, credited when you approve the repair; C$100 call-out per visit in the Greater Vancouver core zone; on-site labour C$150/hour in Canada or US$150/hour in the US; travel outside the core zone and for US projects quoted per project. See robot repair and after-sales service in Canada and robot repair and field service in the USA. If you are also planning installs, robot deployment cost and timeline uses the same rates.
To estimate the repair bill for your robot model in North America, email partners@keeprobots.com with the model, the cities your customers are in and the faults you see most.
Full roadmap: How to expand a robot company into North America.
FAQ
How much does robot repair cost in the US or Canada?
There is no single price; add up diagnostic, call-out or travel, on-site labour, parts, freight and downtime. At KeepRobots' current rates, before tax and parts, an approved two-hour on-site repair of one robot in the Greater Vancouver core zone is C$100 call-out + 2 × C$150 = C$400, with the C$200 diagnostic fee credited. In the US, on-site labour is US$150/hour, the diagnostic fee is US$200 per robot per visit (credited if approved), and travel is quoted per project.
Is the diagnostic fee charged per robot?
At KeepRobots, yes: C$200 in Canada or US$200 in the US, per robot, per visit, credited in full against that robot's repair if you approve it. The C$100 call-out in the Greater Vancouver core zone is charged once per visit however many robots we look at. Remote triage that resolves the fault costs nothing.
Is it cheaper to repair a robot locally or send it back to the factory?
When the fault can be traced to a replaceable module and the part is in North America, local repair is usually cheaper and much faster. Returning to the factory adds two international freight legs billed on volumetric weight, two customs entries, a de-install and a re-deployment visit, and weeks of downtime. It fits faults that need factory equipment or sealed assemblies.
Do I pay duty again when a repaired robot comes back to the US or Canada?
It depends on the rules and the paperwork. In the US, HTSUS 9802.00.40/9802.00.50 and 19 CFR 10.8 limit duty to the value of the repair for properly documented goods exported for repair. In Canada, CBSA Memorandum D8-2-10 says duty is assessed on the value of the good unless relief applies; warranty repairs are non-taxable for GST/HST, and qualifying non-warranty repairs pay GST/HST on the value of the work. Declare the export as a repair before shipping and ask a customs broker. This is not customs advice.
When is it worth hiring my own field engineer?
When one metro area generates enough on-site hours to keep an engineer busy. Our estimate of a fully loaded field engineer is roughly US$139,000–144,000 a year; at US$150/hour that equals about 930 hours of hourly field service a year. Below that, paying by the hour is usually cheaper.
How can I reduce robot repair costs?
Triage remotely before the visit so the engineer brings the right part; keep common spare parts on consignment in North America; combine jobs into one visit; design more modules to be swappable on site; and write who pays each cost into the warranty and service contracts.
Sources (checked 2026-10-27)
- KeepRobots current rates: robot repair and maintenance (Canada) and robot service in the USA
- US eCFR, 19 CFR 10.8, articles exported for repairs or alterations: ecfr.gov
- US CBP, HTSUS 9802.00.40 / 9802.00.50 repairs and alterations (Customs Bulletin notice): cbp.gov
- CBSA Memorandum D8-2-10, Goods Returning to Canada After Being Repaired Outside Canada: cbsa-asfc.gc.ca
- KeepRobots, what a robotic field service engineer costs in North America (BLS and Job Bank wage data, fully loaded cost method): keeprobots.com
Example totals use KeepRobots' current published rates as of 2026-10-27, before tax and parts, and may change; hours in the examples are assumptions. Customs and tax rules are summarised for orientation only; confirm with a licensed customs broker.
Chinese version: 机器人海外维修多少钱？上门、返厂、换整机三种算法