Plumbing estimating software for commercial fixtures and pipe

Plumbing estimating software takes off fixtures, pipe, fittings and valves from the plumbing drawings, by system, size and material, and prices them with material costs and labor units. Commercial plumbing contractors commonly use trade-specific programs such as FastPIPE, QuoteSoft Pipe, Trimble AutoBid Mechanical or McCormick, which include large pipe and fitting catalogs and MCAA or PHCC labor units¹³⁵⁴. General takeoff tools such as PlanSwift or STACK can measure the plans⁶⁷, but you build the assemblies and labor yourself.

By Agustín Policano, founder of AmpCount, which makes electrical takeoff software. Facts about other products and statistics link to their source, checked November 3, 2026.

What a plumbing takeoff measures

Item	Unit	What to watch
Fixtures	EA by type	Water closets, lavatories, sinks, urinals, showers, drinking fountains, mop sinks. Count from the plans and check against the fixture schedule; each fixture carries a rough-in and trim assembly.
Sanitary waste and vent pipe	LF by size and material	Separate underground from above ground: they differ in material, excavation, testing and labor.
Domestic water (cold, hot, recirc)	LF by size and material	Copper, PEX, CPVC or press fittings change both material and labor. Keep each system on its own line.
Fittings and valves	EA by type and size	Generated from the pipe runs in good software. Valves, check valves and balancing valves come off the details as well as the plans.
Drains and cleanouts	EA	Floor drains, roof drains, overflow drains, trench drains and cleanouts, each with its own connection.
Equipment	EA	Water heaters, booster pumps, backflow preventers, grease interceptors, sump and sewage ejectors, often with a pre-built hookup assembly.
Gas piping	LF by size	Often on its own sheet or in the mechanical set. Easy to miss if you only read the plumbing floor plans.
Hangers, sleeves and firestopping	EA / per LF	Hangers come from pipe length and spacing. Sleeves and firestopping depend on wall and floor penetrations, which the plans rarely count for you.

How a plumbing estimate is built

Read the plumbing specs and scope: pipe materials by system, joining methods, what is by others (excavation, insulation, gas service, fixtures furnished by the owner).
Count fixtures first from the plans and reconcile them with the fixture schedule. The count drives rough-in assemblies, trim and much of the labor.
Take off underground waste and vent, then above-ground waste and vent, by size and material.
Take off domestic cold, hot and recirculation piping by size, then gas, storm and any process systems.
Add drains, cleanouts, valves, specialties and equipment with their hookup assemblies.
Let the software generate fittings and hangers, then review labor hours by system and floor before pricing.
Price material from supplier quotes, apply labor rates and job factors (height, underground conditions, phasing), add testing, permits and sleeves, and produce the bid summary.

What to look for in plumbing software

A plumbing pipe and fitting catalog

Pipe, fittings, valves and fixtures from the manufacturers you buy from, with current pricing and a way to load your supplier quotes.

Labor units you trust

Industry labor units (MCAA or PHCC) or a national-average set you can adjust, applied per fitting and per foot, with job factors for height and conditions.

Auto pipe between fittings

Programs that add pipe between fittings as you click¹³, or generate fittings at changes of size and direction⁵, reduce misses on busy restroom layouts.

Assemblies for fixtures and equipment

Pre-built rough-in and hookup assemblies for fixtures, water heaters, pumps and backflow preventers, editable to match how your crews install.

Software plumbing estimators use

Tool	What it does for plumbing	Price
FastPIPE FastEST	Plumbing and mechanical estimating with a catalog of over 150,000 items, MCAA and PHCC labor estimates, Auto Connect pipe between fittings, built-in assemblies, and export to Excel.¹²	$4,995 one time (first application) or $250/mo lease; 60-day money-back guarantee
QuoteSoft Pipe QuoteSoft (ConstructConnect)	Pipe, valve and fitting estimating built around a database of over 110,000 items, with labor and material shown during takeoff, automatic pipe between fittings and import from AutoCAD and Revit MEP.³	Quote only
McCormick Plumbing McCormick Systems	Cloud-based plumbing takeoff and estimating with over 40,000 items and 20,000 prebuilt assemblies, supply house pricing updates, and national-average labor units with an option to add MCAA or PHCC units.⁴	Quote only
Trimble AutoBid Mechanical Trimble	Estimating for commercial mechanical, piping and plumbing contractors, with over 100,000 items, pre-built assemblies, autofitting generation and MCAA and PHCC labor units.⁵	Quote only
PlanSwift ConstructConnect	All-trade takeoff and estimating with assemblies you build, plus Auto Count for repeated symbols. Fits plumbers who also bid other trades or want one tool for the office.⁶	Essential $2,000/yr, Core $3,000/yr (first seat)
STACK STACK Construction Technologies	Cloud takeoff and estimating with a pre-built item and assembly library, symbol search and drawing overlay. Has a free plan limited to one active project a month.⁷	Free plan; Premium $299 and Pro $349 per user/mo, billed annually

As described on each vendor's own pages, checked November 3, 2026. Prices change; check with the vendor.

For tools that cover every trade on one plan set, see the construction takeoff software and construction estimating software guides.

Plumbing takeoff software and labor units

A plumbing takeoff is mostly two things: counts of fixtures, drains and equipment, and lengths of pipe by system, size and material, with the fittings that connect them. The counts set the scale of the job and the pipe sets most of the labor, which is why plumbing takeoff software that generates fittings and hangers as you trace saves more time than one that only measures length.

The labor database matters as much as the takeoff. FastPIPE lists MCAA and PHCC labor estimates in its catalog¹, Trimble AutoBid Mechanical lists MCAA and PHCC units⁵, and McCormick preloads national-average labor units with an option to add MCAA or PHCC units⁴. FastEST's pricing page notes that PHCC, MCAA and SMACNA labor rates can be added for an additional cost², so confirm which set is in your quote. Whatever the source, calibrate labor to your own finished jobs before you trust it on a tight bid.

Water heater circuits, pipe bonding and other electrical tie-ins

Plumbing equipment drives more circuits than the plumbing sheets suggest. Electric water heaters, recirculation and booster pumps, sump and sewage ejectors, interceptor alarms and sensor-operated faucets and flush valves all need power, usually carried by the electrical contractor from your fixture and equipment schedules. For storage-type water heaters of 120 gallons or less, NEC 422.13 requires the branch-circuit conductors and overcurrent device to be rated at least 125% of the heater's rating, so a 28.8 A heater needs a 40 A circuit⁸. A submittal that swaps a gas heater for an electric one, or a small tank for a bigger one, changes the electrical price and the service load calculation with it.

Bonding is the other tie-in. NEC 250.104(A) requires metal water piping installed in or attached to a building to be bonded, for example to the service equipment enclosure, the grounded conductor at the service or a grounding electrode conductor of sufficient size⁹. If the spec allows PEX or CPVC instead of copper, ask which material your number carries so the electrical estimator knows how much metal piping there is to bond. Sinks also pull GFCI receptacles, hand dryers and water coolers onto the electrical sheets, and those move whenever the countertop and vanity layout moves.

Underground is shared ground. Sanitary and storm lines, the water service and electrical conduit often cross or share trenches, and the sitework estimate is where excavation and backfill for all of them should be settled before two trades both price the same trench.

Where plumbing takeoffs go wrong

Counting fixtures from the schedule only, or only from the plans. The two disagree more often than they should; reconcile them.
Missing fittings when pipe is measured by hand. On short, busy runs in restroom groups, fittings outweigh the pipe in labor.
Pricing underground and above-ground waste at the same rate, ignoring excavation, bedding and testing.
Overlooking storm drainage and roof drains on the roof plan, or gas piping shown on mechanical sheets.
Using a material that differs from the spec (for example PEX where copper is required) because it was the default in the database.
Forgetting sleeves, firestopping, access panels and testing, which do not appear as lines on the plans.

Trades that bid the same job

A plumbing bid rarely stands alone. The trades next to it on the schedule read the same drawings and often share scope lines, so it pays to know how they take off too: HVAC estimating software, fire sprinkler estimating software and insulation estimating software.

Where AmpCount fits

AmpCount only counts electrical devices and fixtures, so it does not take off plumbing fixtures, pipe or fittings. It is relevant when you or a partner also bid the electrical work on the same building: water heaters, pumps and other equipment connections drawn as symbols on the electrical sheets get counted there, and the plumbing scope stays in your plumbing estimating software.

How electrical takeoff software counts a plan set

Questions

What is the best plumbing estimating software?

For commercial plumbing, most contractors compare trade-specific programs: FastPIPE, QuoteSoft Pipe, McCormick and Trimble AutoBid Mechanical. They differ in catalog size, labor units, cloud vs desktop and price model. Run one of your own recent bids through each before deciding.

How much does plumbing estimating software cost?

FastEST publishes FastPIPE at $4,995 one time or $250 a month on a lease². QuoteSoft, McCormick and Trimble quote on request³⁴⁵. General tools start at $2,000 a year for PlanSwift Essential⁶, and STACK has a free plan limited to one active project a month⁷.

Can I do a plumbing takeoff in Bluebeam or a free tool?

You can measure pipe and count fixtures in any PDF takeoff tool, and STACK's free plan works for an occasional small bid⁷. Our guide to free takeoff software compares the no-cost options and where each one stops. What you lose is the plumbing database: fittings, valves, hangers and labor units are then a spreadsheet job.

Do plumbing programs read the fixture schedule automatically?

Most plumbing estimating software expects you to count fixtures from the plans and enter or check them against the schedule. Treat the schedule as a cross-check, not the source of the count.

Guides and tools for any trade

Sources

Product names are trademarks of their owners. AmpCount is not affiliated with any vendor on this page.