Plumbing Estimating and Takeoff Services

We quantify CSI Division 22 from your plumbing drawings and riser diagrams — fixtures by type, waste and vent and domestic water piping by size and material, gas, equipment and specialties — and deliver an itemized Excel workbook with a marked-up plan set. Flat-quoted from your plan set before we start.

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What We Take Off

Plumbing quantities are governed by material and joining method as much as by length. Two hundred feet of four-inch waste is one number in PVC, another in cast iron with no-hub couplings, and another again in service-weight cast iron with lead and oakum joints in a rated shaft. Pipe length without material, joint type and hanger spacing is not a takeoff.

Fixtureswater closets, urinals, lavatories, sinks, service sinks, showers, tubs, drinking fountains and bottle fillers, counted by schedule type mark with flush and flow rates carried

Fixture carriers and supportsfloor and wall-hung carriers, chair carriers, backing plates and blocking interface, quantified separately because they are bought separately

Fixture trim and stopsfaucets, flush valves, traps, supplies, stops, escutcheons and seats, by fixture type, with sensor and battery or hardwired variants distinguished

Sanitary waste and ventLF by size and material, separating PVC, ABS, cast iron with hub or no-hub joints, and copper DWV, with slope and invert requirements noted

Domestic waterhot, cold and recirculating LF by size and material across copper types L and M, PEX, CPVC and press-fit systems, with the joining method stated because it changes the labor unit

Storm drainageroof drains, overflow drains, area drains, trench drains, leaders and horizontal storm mains by size, with insulation on interior leaders

Natural gas and fuelLF by size and material, meters, regulators, seismic and earthquake valves, appliance connections and pressure zones

Specialty and lab pipingcompressed air, vacuum, deionized water, acid waste and medical gas where present, kept separate under their own divisions and certification requirements

Valves and specialtiesgate, ball, butterfly, check and balancing valves, backflow preventers, pressure-reducing stations, mixing valves, water hammer arrestors and expansion compensators, all by size and type

Cleanouts and accessfloor, wall and grade cleanouts, and access panels required to reach concealed valves and cleanouts

Equipmentwater heaters and boilers, storage and expansion tanks, circulating pumps, booster packages, sump and sewage ejectors, grease interceptors, water softeners and filtration, by schedule tag

Hangers, supports and seismic bracingby pipe size and spacing per code, with seismic restraint quantified where the jurisdiction requires it rather than assumed absent

Pipe insulationLF by pipe size, insulation type and thickness, separating domestic hot, recirculating, cold-water condensation control and storm leaders

Sleeves, firestopping and penetrationsby size and rated assembly at every wall, floor and shaft crossing

Underslab and site interfacepiping below slab by size and depth, with the excavation, bedding and backfill boundary stated, and the point where the site utility contract takes over identified

Trenching within the building footprintLF by depth for underslab runs, including saw-cutting and slab patching on renovation work

Testing, sterilization and commissioninghydrostatic test, chlorination of domestic water and the documentation the specification requires

How Plumbing Quantities Are Measured

Every quantity below is reported in the unit the scope is actually bought and bid in — not converted into a single convenient unit that hides where the cost sits.

FixturesEA by type markAgainst the fixture schedule, with trim and carrier listed as their own items rather than folded into a fixture allowance.

Waste and vent pipingLF by size and materialMaterial and joint method carried with every length — cast iron no-hub and PVC of the same diameter are not interchangeable line items.

Domestic water pipingLF by size and materialHot, cold and recirculating kept separate, because the recirculating loop adds length, insulation and a pump that a combined figure hides.

Gas pipingLF by sizeBy pressure zone and material, with regulators, meters and appliance connections counted individually.

Valves and specialtiesEA by size and typeCounted individually. Backflow preventers and pressure-reducing stations are assemblies, not single items, and are quantified as such.

Pipe insulationLF by size and thicknessAgainst pipe size and insulation thickness, not pipe length alone — a one-inch line and a four-inch line take different jacket quantities per foot.

Hangers and supportsEADerived from code-required spacing for each pipe size and material, rather than taken as a percentage of pipe cost.

EquipmentEA by tagBy schedule tag with capacity, so a substitution can be priced against the specified unit.

Cleanouts and drainsEA by typeFloor, wall and grade cleanouts and each drain type counted separately; roof and overflow drains are distinct items.

Sleeves and firestoppingEABy penetration size and rated assembly at every rated wall, floor and shaft crossing.

Underslab trenchingLF by depthDepth bands matter — a shallow branch and a deep main through the same slab are different excavation costs.

Who This Is For

General contractors carrying this trade directly, or checking a subcontractor's number before it goes into the bid.

Subcontractors pricing their own scope in this division.

Developers and owners validating a number they've already been given.

Material suppliers and distributors verifying a customer's order.

What You Receive

An itemized Excel takeoff, organized by division
A marked-up plan set — every quantity traces back to a location on the drawings
Labor, material and equipment split out separately
Waste and overage factors shown as visible line items
An assumptions and exclusions schedule

Marked-up plumbing plan crop

What Moves the Number on Plumbing

Pipe material and joining method. This is the largest single variable in Division 22. Copper versus PEX versus CPVC on domestic water, and cast iron versus PVC on waste, change both the material buy and the installation rate — and the specification often permits one in some locations and requires another elsewhere, particularly in rated shafts and plenums.

Fixture specification and trim. The fixture is rarely the whole cost. Carriers, flush valves, sensor operation, thermostatic mixing and the specified manufacturer all move the installed price, and a schedule that lists a fixture by model number is pricing a specific assembly, not a category.

Riser configuration and building height. The same fixture count distributed across four floors of a stacked riser costs differently from the same count spread horizontally across a single story. Riser diagrams determine vertical pipe, shaft penetrations, firestopping and the number of branch connections.

Underslab and below-grade work. Piping below the slab brings excavation, bedding, backfill and — on renovation work — saw-cutting and patching. Whether that work sits in the plumbing contract or the sitework contract is a boundary worth real money, and it is set by the specification, not the drawings.

Insulation and code-required spacing. Insulation on domestic hot, recirculating and condensation-prone cold lines, and hanger spacing set by pipe size and material, are both code-driven quantities that scale with the system rather than with the building. Neither is a reliable percentage of pipe cost.

Seismic restraint and jurisdiction. Where the adopted code requires seismic bracing for piping, the restraint scope is a real line item with real engineering behind it. Assuming it away because the drawings do not detail it is one of the more expensive assumptions available in this trade.

What We Need From You

A complete set is ideal, but rarely what exists. Send what you have — we will tell you at quote stage what can be quantified firm and what has to be an allowance.

Plumbing floor plans — waste, vent, domestic water and gas
Riser diagrams, which govern vertical pipe, shaft penetrations and branch counts
Plumbing fixture schedule with type marks and model numbers
Equipment schedule — water heaters, pumps, tanks, interceptors
Specification sections for Division 22, especially permitted pipe materials by service and location
Architectural floor plans and enlarged toilet-room plans, for fixture locations and chase geometry
Site utility plan, so the point of connection and the contract boundary are unambiguous
Structural drawings, where underslab routing or slab penetrations affect the work

How It Works

1 Send your plans — PDF, DWG, DOC, images or ZIP, up to 100MB per file.
2 Get your quote — a flat price for the scope with a delivery date, confirmed in writing.
3 Approve — nothing starts until you confirm.
4 We take it off — quantities from the drawings and schedules.
5 Delivery — workbook, marked-up set, assumptions schedule.

How Pricing and Turnaround Work

Every project is priced individually from your drawings. Send the plan set and you get a flat quote for the scope before any work starts — no hourly billing, no open-ended engagement.

Turnaround depends on the size of the package and how many trades are in scope — which is why you get a firm delivery date with your quote rather than a generic promise.

Tools and Standards

Takeoffs are produced in Bluebeam, PlanSwift, Trimble, STACK, organized against CSI MasterFormat divisions — this scope is specified under Division 22 — Plumbing.

Quantities and assemblies are read against the published standards that govern this trade, because the standard is what decides whether two apparently identical items are actually the same line item:

International Plumbing Code (IPC) or Uniform Plumbing Code (UPC), by adopting jurisdiction
MCAA labor units and estimating guidance for piping systems
ASME A112 series — plumbing fixture and fitting standards
ASSE standards for backflow prevention and water-safety devices
ASTM standards for pipe and fitting materials (copper, PVC, CPVC, PEX, cast iron)
NSF/ANSI 61 and 372 — drinking-water system components and lead content
NFPA 54 / National Fuel Gas Code — fuel gas piping

Pricing is built on RSMeans cost data localized to your project's market, then reconciled against current supplier quotes and our own completed project costs. Every estimate states its pricing basis and the date it was priced.

Why Plumbing Is Estimated Wrong

Pipe measured without material or joint method. A single linear-foot figure for four-inch waste is not enough information to price. Cast iron with no-hub couplings, PVC with solvent weld, and service-weight cast iron in a rated shaft carry different material costs and different installation rates, and the specification assigns them by location.

Recirculating loop omitted from domestic water. A hot-water recirculating system adds a full return loop, its insulation and a circulating pump. Taking domestic water as hot and cold only leaves out pipe, insulation and equipment simultaneously — an error that compounds across every floor.

Carriers and trim treated as part of the fixture. Wall-hung fixtures need carriers, and every fixture needs stops, supplies, traps and a flush valve or faucet. These are bought separately, they are frequently specified by a different manufacturer, and they can add materially to a fixture line that was priced as a bare fixture.

Hangers and insulation taken as a percentage. Both scale with pipe size and code-required spacing, not with pipe cost. A system that is mostly small-diameter branch piping and a system that is mostly large mains have very different hanger counts for the same total footage.

Underslab excavation assumed to belong to someone else. Interior below-slab piping usually brings its own trenching, bedding and backfill, and on renovation work it brings saw-cutting and patching too. If neither the plumbing nor the sitework estimate claims it, it is missing from the bid entirely.

Related Estimating Services

Frequently Asked Questions

Do you quantify fixture carriers and trim separately from fixtures?

Yes. Carriers, stops, supplies, traps and flush valves or faucets are listed as their own items against each fixture type, because they are usually bought from different suppliers and a fixture priced bare is a fixture priced short.

How do you handle pipe material where the specification allows alternatives?

We quantify to what the specification requires by location and state the assumption for anything ambiguous. Where two materials are genuinely permitted for the same service, we can report the footage once and let you price it both ways.

Is pipe insulation included?

Yes — by pipe size, insulation type and thickness, separated by service. Domestic hot, recirculating return and condensation-control cold lines are listed apart because they carry different specifications and often different thicknesses.

Do you include hangers and seismic bracing?

Hangers are derived from code-required spacing for each pipe size and material, counted rather than allowed for as a percentage. Seismic restraint is quantified where the adopting jurisdiction requires it, and if we cannot determine that from the set we flag it instead of assuming it away.

Where does your scope stop relative to site utilities?

At whatever boundary the drawings and specification define — commonly five feet outside the building line — and we state it explicitly in the assumptions schedule so the plumbing and site utility bids do not either double-count or gap.

Can you take off medical gas or lab piping?

Yes, quantified as separate systems under their own divisions, with the certification and testing requirements noted. These are not general plumbing scope and rolling them in would misrepresent both packages.

Do you work from riser diagrams as well as plans?

Always. The riser diagram governs vertical pipe, shaft penetrations, firestopping and branch connection counts, and a plan-only takeoff systematically understates all four on a multi-story building.

Do you price the work or only quantify it?

Either. Quantities alone suit contractors with their own supplier pricing and labor rates. Priced estimates use published labor units with the condition assumption stated, and we will use your own rates in place of a published average if you provide them.

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