Plumbing Estimating Software Built for Subbies
ContractorCounter is plumbing estimating software for plumbers and hydraulic contractors who price their own work: take off quantities from the drawings, let the AI suggest rates you review, and send a priced quote — one browser workspace, on site or in the office.
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Verdict
Choose ContractorCounter if you are plumbers pricing your own jobs and you want takeoff, rates, and the quote in one place at US$14/month (or a US$249 one-time one-time license). Stay with a specialist estimating suite like FastPIPE if your estimating depends on deep pre-loaded plumbing databases maintained for you — that depth is real, and we do not pretend to replace it.
01
What a plumbing estimate is made of here
The quantities come off the drawing, not a spreadsheet. Fixtures counted by type from the hydraulic legend — WCs, basins, sinks, floor wastes, tundishes; Pipe runs measured as calibrated lengths per service and size: cold, hot, sanitary, storm; Stacks and risers taken off the sections and riser diagrams, where the plan view hides them; In-ground drainage measured off the site plan with falls noted per run; Hot water plant, pumps, and valves counted per item with their connections — each one measured or counted on the calibrated sheet, each one a line in a live Bill of Quantities that stays tied to the markup that produced it.
02
A worked example
A small commercial fit-out: hydraulic plan plus one riser diagram, calibrated against a dimensioned corridor. The AI counts 22 fixtures across five types off the legend; sanitary runs measure 86 m and water services 132 m across two sizes; the riser adds 18 m the plan view could not show — you review every mark, correct one mislabelled floor waste, accept. The BoQ prices fixtures per point, pipe per metre by service and size, and plant per item — a priced quote where every line traces to a mark on the hydraulic drawings. Every number traces back to a markup on the sheet, so when the scope changes the estimate follows.
03
AI takes the first pass — you keep the judgement
The AI assistant can count the repetitive items, measure runs, and set the drawing scale, with every result reviewed before it commits. Then the rate side: ask for a rate on "rough-in and fit-off, wall-hung basin" and the proposal arrives with reasoning — interpretation, labour-and-material basis, your market — anchored to the fixture rates already in your bill. Never a bare number — a proposal you accept, revise, or dismiss.
04
Honest about FastPIPE, Trimble AutoBid SheetMetal/Pipe, PlanSwift
**FastPIPE** — full-time mechanical-plumbing estimators pricing commercial tenders from maintained labour tables. **Trimble AutoBid SheetMetal/Pipe** — enterprise shops standardised on Trimble estimating and detailing. **PlanSwift** — Windows desktop takeoff with plumbing assemblies for an office that already owns it. ContractorCounter wins on the other side of that trade-off: speed to a priced quote, working anywhere, and a price a plumbers outfit can carry (US$14/month) instead of an enterprise licence.
Common questions
Questions about Plumbing estimating
Is this full plumbing estimating software or just takeoff?
Both halves, in one flow: measure and count on the calibrated drawings (the [plumbing takeoff](/plumbing-takeoff-software) side), then price the resulting Bill of Quantities with your own rates or AI-suggested ones, and issue the quote. What it is not: a pre-loaded plumbing cost database — your rates are yours.
Do the AI suggestions replace my plumbing rates?
No. Every AI count, measurement, and rate is a proposal you accept, revise, or dismiss — with the reasoning shown. Your plumbing rates stay yours; the AI removes the repetitive clicking, not the judgement about what a plumbing item is worth in your market.
What does plumbing estimating software cost compared to FastPIPE?
US$14/month, or a US$249 one-time one-time license, with a free trial (card required). Specialist plumbing estimating suites like FastPIPE, Trimble AutoBid SheetMetal/Pipe, PlanSwift typically run to thousands per seat per year — worth it for their maintained databases if you use them, hard to justify for a small plumbing team pricing from its own rates.
Does it handle per-service pipe takeoff?
Yes — measure each service (cold, hot, sanitary, storm, gas) as its own runs so the bill splits per service and size. Colour the markups per service and the drawing doubles as your QA record.
