Electrical and plumbing contractors trade on the same core question: how much of the book is service work billed at service margins, and how much is project work won by bid? Two businesses with identical revenue can sit a full turn of SDE apart on that mix alone.
Wide-banded starting ranges from the same table our free valuation calculator uses — a broker review narrows them after seeing real financials:
| Segment | Typical range | What moves it |
|---|---|---|
| Electrical contracting | 2× – 3.5× SDE | Service/recurring mix lifts the multiple; pure project work compresses it. |
| Plumbing contracting | 2× – 3.5× SDE | Service/recurring mix lifts the multiple; new-construction work compresses it. |
Dispatch-driven service and repair work carries better margins, repeat customers, and pricing power; bid-won new-construction work compresses the multiple because the backlog has to be re-won continuously. Shifting the mix toward service in the years before a sale directly moves the band.
As with every licensed trade, the qualifying license needs a transition plan. Buyers will also pull the permit history — it's the public record of what the business actually does, and it should match the story the P&L tells.
Standing commercial service agreements, property-management relationships, and tight geographic density are what consolidators underwrite. A scattered residential bid book is revenue; a dense service territory is an asset.
Service vs. new-construction revenue, each with its own gross margin. A blended margin hides exactly the thing that determines what you should pay.
For the construction side of the book, the work-in-progress schedule is the truth serum: over-billed jobs inflate today's earnings at the expense of the months you will own.
Property managers and GC relationships are often personal to the seller. Assignment clauses and a real transition plan for the top ten accounts belong in the deal, not in the hope.
Both commonly trade around 2–3.5× SDE, with service/recurring mix lifting the multiple and pure new-construction work compressing it. The free valuation calculator gives a personalized starting range from your own numbers.
The business sells; the license qualification has to be re-established — the buyer employs the existing qualifier, becomes one, or hires one. Designing that path early is one of the first things a competent broker addresses.
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