Plumbing software for new construction and reno work
Plumbing on new builds and renovations is project work — bids, rough-ins, fixtures, and progress billing. BuildersBridge gives plumbing contractors fast AI estimates, job costing, and a client portal so bigger jobs are quoted right and billed on time.
The challenge
Plumbers doing new-construction and renovation work juggle GC deadlines, material orders, and progress billing. Without job costing, a fixed-price rough-in that runs long quietly eats the margin.
How BuildersBridge helps plumbing contractors
- AI estimates for rough-ins, fixtures, and full project scopes
- Job costing against the bid so fixed-price work stays profitable
- Progress billing and invoicing with automatic tax
- Purchase orders to suppliers, tracked as committed cost per job
What a plumbing rough-in estimate actually contains
The structure below is what a bid for a two-bathroom renovation rough-in tends to look like. The quantities and rates are illustrative — they are there to show the shape of the estimate, not to tell you what to charge, because rates move by city and by year.
- Demolition and access — opening walls and floors to reach existing lines
- Drain, waste and vent — ABS or PVC by the metre, fittings, hangers
- Water supply — PEX or copper runs, manifolds, shutoffs
- Fixture rough-ins — one line per fixture, because that is how the GC counts them
- Fixture set and trim — a separate visit after finishes, and a separate line
- Permits and inspection attendance — often forgotten and rarely free
- Contingency for what is behind the wall
The line that decides whether the job made money
That last one. On renovation plumbing the cost you cannot see when you bid is the cost that hurts: cast iron where the drawings said ABS, a vent that does not exist, a joist you are not allowed to notch. A fixed-price rough-in with no contingency is a bet on the building being what somebody drew.
Job costing is what turns that from a feeling into a number. Supplier POs become committed cost the day they are issued, approved bills become actual cost, and on the Pro and Enterprise plans logged labour hours land on the job too, so the variance against the bid is visible while the job is still open rather than after it closes.
Service work is a different business
If most of your revenue is callouts and repairs — several stops a day, invoiced on completion — you are running a service business, and dispatch-and-routing software fits it better than project software. We have written the comparison rather than pretend otherwise.
Many plumbing companies run both divisions and keep two systems on purpose. That is a more honest answer than forcing service calls through a tool built for progress billing.
Worked example: a two-bathroom renovation rough-in
A fictional Ontario renovation, priced as project work with two visits. Rates are illustrative. Each line carries a type (labour, material, subcontract, equipment or other); BuildersBridge has no separate cost-code list, so the type is how cost is grouped.
| Line | Type | Qty | Unit cost | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Open walls and floor for access | Labour | 6 h | $85.00 | $510.00 |
| Drain, waste and vent rough-in | Labour | 18 h | $105.00 | $1,890.00 |
| DWV pipe and fittings | Material | 1 lot | $640.00 | $640.00 |
| Water supply: PEX, manifold, shutoffs | Material | 1 lot | $520.00 | $520.00 |
| Supply rough-in | Labour | 10 h | $105.00 | $1,050.00 |
| Fixture set and trim, second visit | Labour | 8 h | $105.00 | $840.00 |
| Permit and inspection | Other | 1 ea | $280.00 | $280.00 |
| Contingency: what is behind the wall | Other | 1 lot | $600.00 | $600.00 |
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Labour | $4,290.00 |
| Material | $1,160.00 |
| Other | $880.00 |
| Cost | $6,330.00 |
| Pre-tax price at 22% markup | $7,722.60 |
| HST 13% (Ontario) | $1,003.94 |
| Total to the client | $8,726.54 |
The contingency is a visible line, not hidden markup, so when the wall hides cast iron you are spending an amount the client already saw. Once the job runs, supply POs count as committed cost and approved bills as actual, against the cost on this bid.
What it does today, and what it does not
- Works todayProject plumbing: bids, POs to suppliers as committed cost, change orders, and deposit, progress and final invoices with tax.
- Not built forNot dispatch software: no routing, technician scheduling by stop, or service agreements. Service-first shops are better served by field service tools.
- You do thisLine types group cost; there is no separate cost-code list to map to your accounting.
- Plan limitLabour hours from timesheets reach job cost on the Pro and Enterprise plans, where time tracking is included. On Team and Growth, labour cost comes in through bills or is tracked outside the app.
Frequently asked questions
- What software is best for plumbing contractors?
- Plumbing contractors doing construction and renovation work need software for estimating, scheduling, job costing, and invoicing. BuildersBridge covers all of it with AI-assisted quotes and Canadian/US tax built in.
- Does it work for progress billing?
- Yes. You can bill deposits, progress draws, and final invoices, with country-aware tax calculated automatically.
- Can I track material purchase orders?
- Yes. Issue POs to your suppliers against a job; their totals become the job's committed cost and vendor bills roll into actuals.
Built for your trade, priced for your shop
Flat pricing, AI included, 14-day free trial — no sales call required. No charge until your trial ends.