“Turnkey” gets written on a lot of plumbing bids and means something different on each one. Here is exactly what it covers when it’s on ours, in the order the work happens on a job, and the short list of what it doesn’t cover. If you’re an estimator comparing subs, this is the page to hold next to the other bid.
What is in the scope, in order?
Underground and under-slab rough-in. Sanitary and storm drainage below the slab, water service and gas service to the building, sleeves through grade beams and footings, and the stub-ups located to the plans. This is the part that has to be right before the pour, because everything after it is built on top of it. We coordinate with the concrete sub on the pour date and are off the pad when they need it.
Top-out. Drain, waste and vent through the framing and up through the roof; water distribution to every fixture; gas rough to every appliance location. Hangers, supports and firestopping at rated penetrations are ours.
Tests and inspections at each stage. Under-slab test before the pour, top-out test before the walls close, gas pressure test before the meter is set. We call the inspections, meet the inspector, and hold the sign-offs in the job file.
Site utilities, where they are on the drawings. Water main, sewer, backflow assemblies, lift stations and sewage ejectors. These are the scopes that stall a project when the plumbing sub can’t self-perform them, so it’s worth knowing they’re in.
Fixture setting and trim-out. Every fixture on the schedule, set and connected: water closets, lavatories, sinks, flush valves, carriers, drinking fountains, water heaters, floor drains and floor sinks. Owner-furnished fixtures are set by us if that’s how the schedule reads.
Final inspection and closeout. The final plumbing and gas inspections, the test reports, the as-built markups and the O&M submittals for the equipment we installed.
Is design included?
When you want it to be. If the project has a plumbing engineer, we price from their drawings and submit against their specifications. If it doesn’t, we can carry the plumbing design ourselves and hand you a permitted, inspected system. Two of the jobs on our projects page were done that way. The bid will say which one it is.
What about permits and submittals?
We pull the plumbing and gas permits under our license and carry them through final. Product submittals for fixtures and equipment go to the architect in the format the spec asks for. Certificates of insurance, prequal packets and references go out on request, the same week and complete.
What is not in it?
The exclusions are short and they’re the same on every bid, so nobody finds them in a change order:
- Roof penetrations are flashed and permanently sealed by the roofing contractor.
- Anything that needs power is wired by the electrical contractor.
- Rated wall and floor penetrations we make, we seal. Ones we didn’t make, we don’t.
- Removal of spoils from excavation is the general contractor’s, unless the bid says otherwise.
- Fixtures not on the plumbing schedule, and appliances that aren’t gas.
If a drawing revision moves something into or out of that list, it’s priced as a revision, in writing, before it’s built.
How is the work sequenced with the other trades?
Plumbing is in the ground first and in the walls before the electrician and the mechanical sub need the same space, so our schedule is driven by yours. We attend the weekly subcontractor meeting, and on federal and institutional work we’ve run under a general contractor’s schedule for four months at a stretch, with base access, submittals and pay applications keeping pace. What we need from you is the pour dates and the wall-close dates as early as you have them.
How is it billed?
Monthly, on AIA G702 and G703 against a schedule of values we submit with the contract, with retainage as the contract sets it. Change orders are priced and signed before the work is done. On a smaller job, a deposit at mobilization and the balance on completion.
Who prices it, and who supervises it?
Harley Hart, Texas Master Plumber RMP #43467, does the takeoff and the estimate himself, and he supervises the job. The number on the bid comes from the person who read the drawings and will supervise the work. Katie Dalrymple runs operations: contracts, submittals, certificates, schedule and billing, from the first call to closeout.
Talk to us
Plan sets and invitations to bid go to bids@itsallgoody.com and land with estimating directly. Or call 830-837-2810. What we build, and the sectors we have built in, is on the commercial plumbing page.