Plumbing estimating software for plumbing and mechanical contractors. Fixtures counted from the schedules, pipe measured by size and material with fittings counted rather than factored, and underground kept separate from above-ground because they are different jobs with different crews.
Every plumbing estimator can count fixtures. The schedule says how many water closets, lavatories, sinks, showers and floor drains, and the plans say roughly where they go. If plumbing bids varied only by fixture count they would all land within a few per cent of each other. They do not, and the variation comes almost entirely from three places: how the pipe was measured, whether the fittings were counted or factored, and what was assumed about the underground.
BidcoreAI treats those three as first-class. Pipe is measured by system, size and material — domestic hot, domestic cold, sanitary waste, vent, storm, gas — with the risers taken from the riser diagram rather than inferred from a floor plan that shows none of the vertical distance. Fittings are counted from the drawings where they are drawn and applied by a stated ratio where they are not, with which of the two happened visible on the line item. Hangers, supports, sleeves and firestopping are quantified rather than absorbed.
Underground is estimated as its own scope because it is its own job. Below-slab sanitary and storm, trench depth, bedding, backfill, compaction, and the interface with the site utilities contractor are separated from the above-ground rough-in, with different crews and different productivity. Bidding underground at above-ground rates is one of the most reliable ways to lose money on a plumbing package, and it happens because the drawings make the two look like the same lines.
Fixtures themselves carry their rough-in, carriers, trim and connection scope, so a wall-hung water closet is not priced like a floor-mounted one. Equipment — water heaters, booster pumps, grease interceptors, backflow preventers, mixing valves — is counted from the schedules with its connections and its lead times noted.
Plumbing plans, riser diagrams, fixture and equipment schedules, and the underground plan.
Counted by schedule type, with rough-in, carriers and trim carried per fixture.
Measured by system, size and material, with risers taken from the riser diagram.
Kept as separate scope with trench, bedding and backfill priced with it.
Counted where drawn and applied by a stated ratio where not, with which one visible.
Quantified rather than absorbed, because on a tall building they are a real number.
Counted from the schedules with connections, controls and lead times noted.
Systems, sizes and depth — carried as data rather than remembered by the estimator.
Fixtures recognised by symbol across every level and reconciled against the fixture schedule and legend.
Runs measured and grouped by system, size and material, so the estimate reflects what is actually purchased.
Vertical distribution measured from the riser diagram rather than inferred from plans that contain no height information.
Below-slab work is its own scope with trench, bedding, backfill and compaction priced alongside the pipe.
Fittings counted where drawn and applied by a stated ratio where not, with the method visible on the line item.
Support spacing by pipe size and material, plus seismic bracing where the specification requires it.
Rated penetrations counted from the plans and the rated wall types, priced as the scope it is.
Pipe insulation by system, size and thickness, calculated from the same measured runs rather than re-measured.
Install hours per fixture, per fitting and per hundred feet of pipe, from your own productivity history.
A re-issued plumbing plan compared against the previous one, so an added restroom group is flagged not missed.
Fixture counts, pipe schedules and priced estimates exported with sheet references intact.
Pipe by size and material, fittings, valves and hangers summarised in order units for a supplier quote.
Division 22, with the Division 21 and 33 interfaces kept where you can see them.
Healthcare, education, multifamily, hospitality and industrial — fixture density changes everything except the method.
Fixtures, then systems, then the part that happens before the slab is poured.
The differences between two bids become visible, which is usually all anyone wanted.
Separating below-slab scope with its trench and backfill stops the single most expensive category error in plumbing bidding.
Vertical pipe measured where the height information actually is removes a systematic shortfall on every multi-storey job.
Showing whether fittings were counted or factored means a low bid can be examined rather than simply envied.
Hangers, sleeves and firestopping add up to real money on a tall building, and they are the first things to vanish into a per-foot rate.
Carriers, trim and rough-in carried per fixture type means a wall-hung group is not priced as though it were floor-mounted.
Pipe by size and material with fittings and valves in order units, ready for supplier pricing while the estimate is still open.
Because the risk in a plumbing bid is never the fixture count.
Trench, bedding, backfill and compaction priced with the below-slab pipe, at below-slab productivity.
Vertical distribution measured from the drawing that shows height, not estimated from one that does not.
Counted or factored, the line item says which — so a reviewer can judge the number instead of trusting it.
Install hours per fixture, fitting and hundred feet from your own completed jobs.
No workstation licence; the marked-up set opens on a tablet in the field.
Plumbing packages can be measured and priced for you through MEP estimating services.
Send the plumbing set, riser diagrams and schedules and have the package measured for you: fixtures by type with their rough-in, pipe by system and size, underground separated with its trench and backfill, and equipment counted with lead times noted.
One platform, one cost database, one set of drawings — whichever scope you are pricing today.
Compare the pipe by size, the fitting counts and the underground line against the bid you submitted.
