Free Plumbing Bid Template

A bid is a price you are submitting into a competitive process, usually against other contractors and usually to a deadline. What wins it is rarely the number on its own, it is how completely the scope and the exclusions are written down.

Bid, quote or estimate: this is the same document

It is one form with one word changed on it, and that is deliberate. A bid is a price submitted into a competitive process, a quote is normally a fixed price you are committing to, and an estimate is a considered approximation that can move with the scope. Owners and general contractors use all three interchangeably.

The longer version, including what belongs in the exclusions and why every price you send needs a valid until date, is in estimate vs quote vs bid. The plumbing contractor estimate template is this same form with the other word on it, and the same plumbing line items.

What a contractor bid should contain

• Your business details and license number where required
• The customer name and the job address
• A bid number and the date you submitted it
• The project or solicitation it answers, so it can be matched to the right package
• A valid until date, because a bid held open indefinitely is a price you never agreed to
• Scope in plain language, line by line, so it can be compared against the other bids
• What is explicitly excluded, which is where a low bid and an honest bid differ
• A line saying scope changes are priced in writing and approved before the work is performed
• Subtotal, tax, any deposit required to book the work, and the total

What goes on a plumbing contractor bid

These are the lines a plumbing job usually needs. They are already in the template and in the generator, so you edit rather than start from an empty page.

• Service call and diagnosis
• Replace water heater, 50 gal
• New shutoff valve and supply lines
• Haul away old unit
• Permit and inspection

Delete what does not apply, add what does. The point is that a customer looking at an itemized plumbing bid can see where the money went, which is what stops the argument before it starts.

Plumbing is billed as a service call plus labor and parts, or as a flat price for a defined job such as a water heater swap. The service call line is the diagnosis, so it stays on the bill even when the fix turns out to be small.

What to settle before the Plumbing bid goes out

The permit line is there because a water heater replacement is permitted work in many places. If yours does not require one, delete the line. If it does, keep the fee and the inspection visit in the price rather than adding them to the invoice later.

Related pages for Plumbing work

• Trenching and excavation toolbox talk
• Confined space toolbox talk
• Fire and hot work toolbox talk

The rules that hold for every trade

These are on the contractor bid template page, with the questions people ask about the template:

• Write an exclusions line, it wins arguments before they start
• Put an expiry on every price you send

Other trades