Duration Rules
Some jobs take longer than others, and the difference often depends on details the customer can tell you up front. Duration rules let you automatically adjust appointment length based on answers to booking questions — so a small repair gets 1 hour and a large one gets 2, without any manual scheduling.
How duration rules work
A duration rule has two parts:
A condition — Based on a customer's answer to a booking question (e.g., "If roof size is over 3,000 sqft").
An adjustment — Additional minutes added to the base duration (e.g., "add 60 minutes").
When a customer books and their answers match a condition, Driive adds the extra time to the base duration. Multiple rules can stack if multiple conditions are met.
Example
Appointment type: Roof Inspection Base duration: 60 minutes
Condition | Additional minutes |
|---|---|
Roof size > 3,000 sqft | +60 minutes |
Roof type is "Flat/TPO" | +30 minutes |
Multiple stories: "Yes" | +30 minutes |
A customer with a 4,000 sqft, two-story, flat roof would trigger all three rules: 60 + 60 + 30 + 30 = 180 minutes (3 hours).
A customer with a 1,500 sqft, single-story, asphalt shingle roof triggers no rules: 60 minutes base duration.
Where to configure duration rules
Navigate to the Appointment Types page.
Click the appointment type you want to configure.
Open the Duration Rules section.
Creating a duration rule
Click Add Rule.
Select the booking question that the condition is based on. Only questions that have already been added to this appointment type are available.
Set the condition — Choose the answer value(s) that trigger the rule:
For single select / multi select questions: Select the answer option(s) that trigger the rule.
For number questions: Set a comparison (e.g., greater than, less than, equals) and a value.
Set the additional minutes — Enter the number of minutes to add when the condition is met.
Save.
How duration rules interact with scheduling
Duration rules affect what customers see on your booking page:
Before the customer answers questions: Driive uses the base duration range from Scheduling Settings to calculate available time slots.
After the customer answers questions: Driive recalculates the actual duration based on any triggered rules. The available time slots update to reflect the adjusted duration.
This means a customer might see a slot available at 2:00 PM initially, but after answering questions that add 60 minutes, that slot might no longer work if it conflicts with a later appointment. Driive handles this recalculation automatically.
Important: The adjusted duration must still fall within the minimum-maximum duration range you set in Scheduling Settings. If a duration rule would push the appointment beyond the maximum, the duration is capped at the maximum.
Multiple rules and stacking
When multiple rules are triggered by a customer's answers, the additional minutes stack (add together). This lets you build nuanced duration calculations:
Rule 1: Large property → +45 minutes
Rule 2: Urgent timeline → +0 minutes (no extra time needed)
Rule 3: Multiple service areas → +30 minutes
If rules 1 and 3 are both triggered, the total added time is 75 minutes.
Tips for effective duration rules
Start with your most common variables. What's the single factor that most affects how long this job takes? Build your first rule around that.
Use number questions for continuous ranges. "Square footage" and "number of rooms" work well with greater-than/less-than conditions.
Test your rules. Walk through a few realistic customer profiles mentally. Do the resulting durations match how long those jobs actually take?
Keep the maximum duration realistic. If all your rules could stack to 6 hours but no job actually takes that long, tighten your rules or adjust the maximum duration in Scheduling Settings.
Review periodically. As your team gets faster or your service process changes, revisit your rules to make sure durations still match reality.
Next steps
Booking Questions — Set up the questions that feed into duration rules.
Scheduling Settings — Configure the base duration range and buffer times.
Lead Scoring and Qualification — Use the same booking question answers for automatic lead qualification.