How to Phase a Plumbing Project again.
again. If you start setting toilets, you are much
Phase 1: Total General and Special
Conditions
Transfer your totals from the General and Special
Conditions page to this page and extend.
Phase 2: Total Fixtures
We usually combine Fixtures and Mechanical
Equipment. However, if the job is massive, you
can separate. Separating the two on a big project
helps to put together the schedule of values on
your billing paperwork. Here is what we consider
plumbing fixtures: toilets, lavatories, urinals,
bidets, kitchen sinks, bathtubs, showers, mop
basins or slop sinks, drinking fountains or water
coolers, hand sinks, and emergency eye washes.
Basically, these are all plumbing fixtures and their
related faucets, P-traps, supplies, strainers, etc.
Phase 3: Mechanical Equipment
For the sake of this piece, mechanical equipment
consists of floor drains, roof drains, floor
cleanouts, wall cleanouts, floor sinks, RPZs, sump
pumps, ejector pumps, house pumps, water
heaters, boilers, re-circulating pumps, mixing
valves, grease separators, triple oil basins, fixture
carriers, flashings, etc..
Phase 4: Demolition
This encompasses only plumbing demolition.
Phase 5: Underground Piping
No explanation necessary.
Phase 6: Rough-In Typical Floors
This is your waste and vent material in a typical
floor situation. A typical floor is a floor in a
multiple floor building where the plumbing is the
same on each floor. It is much easier to put an
estimate together if you have typical floors. On
the material side, you take off one floor and
multiply it by the number of typical floors in the
building.
With regards to labor, you do have to consider
what we call the “experience factor”. The
“experience factor” is the experience your labor
force gets by doing something over and over
copper, steel, scrap metals are all affected by
better and faster on the last one than you were on
the first. It is the same with rough-in. Your
plumbers are much better on the 5th floor rough-
in than they were on the first. At least they should
be better, your estimate can depend on it.
Phase 7: Waste & Vent Non-Typical Floors
You will probably use this phase more than the
one above. It is your waste and vent material and
labor for non-typical plumbing.
Phase 8: Water Piping Typical Floors
No explanation necessary.
Phase 9: Water Piping non-Typical Floors
No explanation necessary.
Explaining the Rest of the Plumbing Recap
Sheet
After Phase 9 you’ll notice “Add 3% to the total
of phases 5, 6, 7, 8, 9." After a ton of analysis
spanning 40 years or so, we have found that the
majority of the takeoff mistakes (between the
estimator and the man in the field) happen in
these phases for an average of 3%. Therefore,we
add a line item to cover the over-site. This is also
an easy number to shave if you’re trying to cut
costs.
The next line item that needs explaining is
“Deduct Buying.” I do not like this line item, but
the reality of the construction climate is that it is
valid. This is the amount of money you can buy
out of your material vendors. This should be a
vehicle for you to make more profit.
Unfortunately, it is now a way to shave your
plumbing estimate and win a job.
Pre-markup adjustments or “R” (Revision)
sheets is just a line item to insert in any over-sites
you may catch while putting the number together.
Another very important line item is “Escalation.”
If you are new to this game, you may not even
think to escalate the pricing if the job spans
material and/ or labor increases. In our business,
we are dealing with materials that have a direct
correlation to the commodities markets, resins,
world supply and demand.
Several years ago, we had 17 increases in copper
in less than a year. If you had a project that
spanned better part of a year and you didn’t have
escalation in the bid, you would lose more money
every time the price went up. Please do not for
one second think that a general contractor or
Owner will reimburse you for the increases. We
have never seen it happen. Therefore,be in close
contact with your purchasing agent or material
supplier to make sure you have at least an idea of
where the market is going.
Review Adjustment is another line item to add
overlooked things during an estimate review.
When we carried out very large projects, the
estimate was always reviewed by a senior
estimator. If a senior estimator did the estimate, it
was reviewed by the president of the company. In
the end, the president and owner reviewed each
other’s estimates.
Overhead and Profit are terms every estimator
should be familiar with. The owner should instruct
its estimators on what the overhead should be and
the amount of profit that should be added.
The last line item that we believe needs explaining
is, “Permits, Bonds, and Fees.” This is a spot for
you to add any additional costs for permits and
such. Most times on large projects, the sub-
contractors are not responsible for these costs.
However, if it is a private project where you are
intimately involved in the permit process, you my
need to be responsible for the above.
Our Philosophy on Estimating Plumbing
Labor
 You will see that our labor unit is always broken
down into Man Days. There is a logical reason for
that. It is much easier to think about how to labor
a phase in man days than if you figure it in hours.
There aren’t many jobs you’ll lose because you
had a half hour or one hour too many in your
estimate.
When it comes to labor, you might lose the job
because you had too many man days. Take this
into consideration when you are analyzing the
estimate for possible mistakes or if you’re trying
to shave the number. Labor is the area we find
difficult to transfer to a computer estimating
program. Most estimating software assign labor
factors to each fitting and piece of pipe, every
hanger, and plumbing fixture.
There needs to be a ton of oversight on your
estimates to make sure your labor matches your
estimating software. We have a good friend that
moved his company to computer estimating and it
took him over a year to feel confident the software
was laboring the way he wanted it to.
Common Plumbing Estimate Exclusions
Over the years, we’ve had the opportunity to read
many plumbing contractor bid proposals. It always
baffles us how little clarification is included in the
proposals. Therefore, we wanted to include a list
of common exclusions and how they are written to
limit your exposure during and after the bid
process is complete. Obviously, you don’t need
every exclusion on every job. Some are very
specific so they don’t even fit into some proposals.
As a result, use this list as another check list to
make sure you’ve got things covered.
 Permits, bonds or fees - We will include if
necessary. However, if none are clarified, we
cover ourselves by excluding them.
 Furnishing of a Performance and Payment
bond - Please see the above. Keep in mind, if
you have to have a performance and payment
bond, include the added costs.
 Furnishing of dumpsters for the removal of
debris - we prefer it when the general
contractor furnishes dumpsters. It doesn’t
always happen, but we try to exclude.
 Off-site spoil removal - We usually say that
we will take spoils to an on-site barrow pile for
final removal by others.
 Furnishing of any kitchen equipment - This
is not usually something a plumber handles, but
we will make the final connections.
 Furnishing of any temporary work - This
encompasses temporary toilets, temporary
connections, etc. We exclude them if none are
asked for. This way, the customer doesn’t
attempt to make you do something not called
for on the bid documents.
Correction of existing pluming code
violations we may encounter while
performing our work - This is relevant when
doing plumbing repair or rehab work. While
performing, you may encounter plumbing that
is a code violation that is not part of your scope
of work. This is just letting everyone know you
aren’t repairing things not called for to be
repaired.
 Coordinated shop drawings prior to the
installation of our piping. We will
coordinate on the job - Coordinated shop
drawings are being required more and more.
However, on small projects, they are an
expense that isn’t necessary. Tradesmen are
more efficient at coordinating while installing.
 Furnishing of any appliances - There have
been times where we provide dishwashers or
ice makers, but not very often. This is another
exclusion to limit exposure.
 Protection of Owner’s or tenant’s fixtures,
furniture, equipment,(FF&E) i.e.
computers, carpeting, etc. - We always
exclude temporary protection, let the company
responsible for the entire job worry about
protection.
 X-raying of floors prior sawcutting or hole
coring.
 Responsibility for damage (while sawcutting
or hole coring) to concrete embedded conduits.
 Furnishing of any backflow prevention
devices not clearly delineated on the plumbing
documents.
 Removal or replacement of walls or ceiling
that may be necessary for us to install our
work - Again, we will do some of this work if
it’s insisted upon. Nonetheless, the GC usually
takes care of removing spline ceilings and
opening walls.
 Removal or replacement of deteriorated
piping we may encounter while performing our
work.
 Rodding of any existing waste or storm
piping.
 Shut down, drain down, and subsequent
refilling of domestic water piping. This
applies mainly to rehab work. Moreover, this is
very important when it comes to hospitals.
Final Word
Obviously, this is to be used as a learning tool to
visualize how plumbing estimate works. You
shouldn't take this guide as the Bible and follow it
line by line. We like to think of it as a framework
to be adding to or to be pared down as necessary.
We hope you can take away something useful
from the piece. Thanks for reading and please post
any comments or questions you have regarding
any of the concepts written above.
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