Free plumbing estimate generator

How to write a plumbing estimate

A plumbing estimate has to cover what you can see and be honest about what you cannot. The form above opens as an estimate, so you can build it on site while the customer is still in the room.

• 1. Add your business details and your plumbing license number if your state requires it on proposals.
• 2. Add the customer and the service address, then set the valid-until date.
• 3. Put the main job on its own labor line, such as the water heater swap or the repipe.
• 4. List the unit and the code parts separately: expansion tank, connectors, valves, venting.
• 5. Add the permit, haul-away and any trip charge as their own lines so nothing looks hidden.
• 6. Add optional work, like a camera inspection, as a separate line marked "Option".
• 7. Write your deposit and exclusions in the notes, then print or save as a PDF.

Pricing the unknowns behind walls and under slabs

Plumbing is full of things you only see once you start: a seized shutoff, galvanized pipe hidden behind a copper stub, a vent that does not meet current code for the new appliance, a collapsed section of sewer line. Your estimate should say what you checked and what you assumed.

Write the assumption into the notes, such as "price assumes existing vent is usable". Then list what happens if it is not: you stop, show the customer, price the extra work and get approval before you continue. A sewer camera inspection before quoting a drain or sewer repair turns a guess into a price you can stand behind.

Water heaters, repipes and sewer work: what to list

Customers often compare a plumbing quote with a cheaper install price that leaves out the code work or adds it later. Itemizing shows why your number is higher and what they get for it.

• Water heater: tank size and fuel, venting type, expansion tank where your local code calls for one, gas connector or electrical work, drain pan, haul-away and the permit.
• Tankless conversion: gas line sizing, venting, condensate drain and electrical outlet, each on its own line.
• Repipe: material (PEX or copper), number of fixtures, wall openings, and whether drywall patching is yours or the customer's.
• Sewer and drain: camera inspection, locating, the repair method you plan to use, excavation and restoration of lawn or concrete.
• Fees: permit, inspection, after-hours or emergency rates, and any diagnostic fee you are crediting.

Give options, not one take-it-or-leave-it price

A homeowner with a leaking tank does not want a lecture, they want to choose. Two or three options let them pick instead of shopping you against another plumber: repair the valve, replace like for like, or upgrade to a larger tank or a tankless unit.

Repipes work the same way: quote the full house, or the kitchen and baths only. List each option on its own line and state in the notes that the customer picks one.

From signed estimate to finished job

When the customer approves, flip the Invoice or Estimate switch at the top of this page. Your lines stay, so you only update what changed and set a due date.

If you quote every day, the free ToolBerry app keeps estimates, jobs and clients in one place. Build estimates, called proposals in the app, from your saved list of services, add good, better and best options and record which one the customer picked, and capture their signature on your phone. Turn the accepted estimate into a job or an invoice without retyping. It works offline in basements and crawl spaces, and runs on iPhone, Android and the web.