What is my mechanical contracting business worth

Mechanical contracting is the trade where buyers care most about contracts and least about goodwill. Recurring service on plant that cannot be allowed to fail is what gets paid for.

2.5x–4.0x
Multiple we apply: 6
Questions: $0
Cost to you

Applied to profit before your own pay, then moved inside that range for the size of the earnings and the years you have traded. It is a range, not an appraisal.

Your range, in six questions

What moves the number in mechanical contracting

Service contracts on critical plant

Chillers, boilers and controls that cannot go down give you contracted, renewable revenue. That is the highest-value thing in the business.

Design and build capability

In-house engineering widens what a buyer can sell to your customers after the deal, and they price that option in.

Certifications and clearances

Certifications, safety record and any clearance that lets your crews on a site are barriers to entry a buyer is buying.

Customer tenure

Ten years with the same hospital or plant is worth more than the same revenue from ten new customers.

Questions owners ask us first

How are mechanical contractors valued: On profit before the owner's pay, at 2.5x to 4.0x in our range, moved by the size of the earnings and the years behind them. Contracted service revenue is what pushes you to the top of it.
Is my business too small to sell: Below roughly $500K of revenue it is hard to find a buyer who is not buying a job. Above it there is a real market, and above about $2M of revenue there are funded buyers actively looking.

Before you trust the number

We publish the arithmetic in full: the earnings a buyer prices, the multiple for each trade, the two adjustments, and the things we deliberately leave out. How buyers value a trades business.

Other trades