Content reviewed 2026-10-08. Read the revision history.

Contractor · Valuation13 trades · 3 scale brackets · advisor references and planning bands

What EBITDA multiple can a contractor sell for, and what moves it?

Retained tuck-in planning ranges span roughly 2.5x to 8x EBITDA, regional platforms at 4x to 12x, and scaled national platforms at 7x to 20x. These are compilation sensitivities, not a measured private-SMB selling-price distribution. Source vintages are retained; citation scope reviewed October 8,2026. Find your trade in the table below. Then move to the part a broker cannot answer: four operating checks support diligence without proving where inside a range a buyer will price you, and they are recurring-revenue profitability, job-level margin, working capital, and customer concentration.

The retained 4x and 18x scenarios illustrate sensitivity, not a matched pair proving why prices differ. Scale, earnings durability, transaction structure and the actual buyer matter. A named advisor link does not establish every band as an observed source statistic. References are retained for verification alongside these compiled planning inputs. Level does not measure transaction multiples and publishes none of its own; what Level contributes is the operating half.

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Key Finding

What recurring-revenue evidence will a buyer test?

Recurring revenue is one attribute named in higher planning bands across several of these 13 trades, alongside EBITDA scale and deal structure. Two references name 40% of revenue as a scope condition for the middle band, not a universal pricing threshold.

Fire and life safety planning bands run from 4x for a project-heavy bolt-on to 17x or 20x for a national platform. The middle-band scope names 40% of revenue from inspection and monitoring. Low-voltage security also cites 30x to 50x monthly monitoring revenue, equivalent to about 2.5x to 4.2x annualized monitoring revenue. That is a revenue multiple for a separate asset, not comparable to EV/EBITDA. HVAC, doors and access, and landscaping also name recurring mix alongside other attributes.

Here is the part a transaction database cannot tell you. Level measures a median service-agreement gross margin of 37.9% (n=259) against a top quartile of 53.5%. So the invoice label alone does not demonstrate profitability. Rebuild agreement margin after fully burdened technician hours. These company-count statistics do not measure the share of revenue dollars or a price premium.

Some of these operating numbers can be documented and improved. Scale, transaction structure and the buyer also matter.

What EBITDA multiple does each contractor trade sell for?

Retained planning ranges run from 2.5x for a small commercial cleaning business to 20x for a national fire and life safety or plumbing platform. The lowest brackets include bid, one-time trades (concrete and masonry at 3.1x, glass and glazing at 2.9x) and labor-heavy commercial cleaning at 2.5x, whose recurring account economics differ from code-mandated inspection. The highest retained bands appear in national-platform or specialist contexts (fire and life safety, low-voltage security and plumbing to 20x, HVAC to 18.5x, doors and access to 16x). Some cards name recurring or code-driven revenue alongside scale and structure; the compilation does not identify why bands differ.

Planning multiple ranges by trade and scale bracket (EBITDA or stated SDE), with directional gross margin and days sales outstanding bands
Trade	Tuck-in add-on	Regional platform	National platform	Gross margin, central planning point (scope in cell)	DSO, central planning days (blended service + project)	Multiple source
HVAC	4x to 8x	7x to 11x	15x to 18.5x and above	38% (service-heavy)	62 days (blended)	Capstone Partners HVAC Services M&A Update (July 2026); Forbes Partners HVAC M&A Industry Update (2025); First Page Sage, EBITDA Multiples for Private HVAC Companies (2025) verify
Plumbing	3.5x to 6.5x	6x to 11x	16x to 20x	36% (service-heavy)	58 days (blended)	CT Acquisitions, Plumbing Business Valuation in 2026 (2026); Main Street Wealth and First Page Sage, EBITDA Multiples Across Home Services (2026); Lightning Path Partners, Plumbing EBITDA Multiples (2026)
Electrical	3x to 5xQuoted basis not separated in reference; often SDE-priced. Confirm before comparing with EBITDA.	5.5x to 8x	8x to 12x and above	34% (service-heavy)	65 days (blended)	GF Data via BMI Mergers & Acquisitions, Electrical Contractor M&A Rebounds (2025); CT Acquisitions, Electrical Contractor Valuation (2026); Capstone Partners, HVAC and Electrical Services M&A Sector Updates (2024 to 2026)
Roofing	3x to 5x	4x to 10x	8x to 12x and above	38% (residential)	68 days (blended)	CT Acquisitions Roofing M&A Multiples Report (2026); GF Data and PitchBook transaction databases (2024 to 2026); Focus Investment Banking quarterly commentary (2026)
Commercial cleaning and janitorial	2.5x to 4.5xQuoted basis not separated in reference; often SDE-priced. Confirm before comparing with EBITDA.	4x to 8x	7x to 12x	no Level band	no Level band	CT Acquisitions Commercial Cleaning Valuation Analysis (2026); Breakwater M&A, Cleaning and Janitorial Valuation Multiples (2026); CleanLink, How Private Equity Views the Janitorial Industry (2024)
Landscaping and grounds maintenance	3x to 6xEBITDA band shown; separate cited SDE range is 2.5x to 5x.	7x to 12x	12x to 15x	32% (blended maintenance and install)	50 days (blended)	Livingstone Partners, Commercial Landscaping Industry PE Trends (2024); First Page Sage, EBITDA Multiples for Private Landscaping Companies (2025)
Painting and wall finishes	3x to 6x	5x to 7x and above	up to 11x	28% (blended)	60 days (blended)	CT Acquisitions, Painting Business Valuation Guide (2026); First Page Sage, EBITDA and Valuation Multiples for Construction Companies (2024); Peak Business Valuation, Valuation Multiples for a Painting Business (2025)
Concrete and masonry	3.1x to 4x	6.5x to 8x	not separately reported	22% (blended, bid work)	70 days (blended)	Peak Business Valuation, market multiples for concrete contractors and masonry businesses; Builder Muse, Construction M&A and PE Roll-ups (2026)
Glass and glazing	2.9x to 4.2x	5.7x to 7.1x	9x to 10.9x	no Level band	no Level band	Peak Business Valuation (2025) for small glass and glazing contractors; GF Data (2026) NAICS 238 specialty-trade cohorts; Brown Gibbons Lang & Co. with Glass Magazine and PCE Investment Bankers for platform-level building products
Doors and access systems	3.5x to 5x	6.5x to 12x	12x to 16x and above	no Level band	no Level band	PitchBook, PE hopes garage door roll-ups will be the new HVAC (April 2026); FMI, Private Equity Sector Brief: Overhead and Garage Doors (March 2026); CT Acquisitions, Garage Door PE Roll-Up and M&A Report (2026)
Low-voltage and commercial security	3x to 5x	5x to 12x and above	13x to 20x	no Level band	68 days (blended)	Capstone Partners, Security Solutions M&A Update (2024 to 2026); PE Hub, PE-backed fire safety platforms ignite strong valuations (2025); CT Acquisitions, Low-Voltage M&A: Platforms, Multiples, and Consolidation (2026); Security Sales & Integration (2026)
Fire and life safety	4x to 6.5x	6x to 9x	10x to 20x	28% (blended install and inspection)	64 days (blended)	PE Hub (2025); Breakwater M&A, 2026 Valuation Multiples for Fire Alarm and Life Safety Companies; CT Acquisitions, Private Equity Fire & Life Safety 2026 Consolidation Report
Restoration and remediation	4x to 6x	5x to 7x	7x to 11x and above	no Level band	no Level band	CT Acquisitions M&A Guide (2026); Capstone Partners Industrial & Environmental Services M&A Update (2025); Hyde Park Capital Disaster Restoration Report (2023)

Scope notes, scale brackets & public-vs-private multiple definitionsHow tuck-in, regional platform, and national platform brackets are defined, plus links to the public-vs-private gap and M&A deal tracker.

Named references appear by trade in the last column. Unless an exact reported observation is identified, use the scale bands as planning sensitivities, not verified transaction percentiles. The two operating columns are directional Level operator bands, the same values our public margin and DSO calculators use, so one metric carries one value across the whole site. Where a trade has no Level band, the cell says so rather than borrowing a neighbor's number.

Multiples use EV/EBITDA unless stated otherwise. The retained scale bands are compilation planning inputs shown alongside named advisor references, not a measured transaction distribution or a verified current offer. An exact source observation, such as the scoped Capstone HVAC-services average, is identified separately. Confirm a reference's period, population and transaction definition before treating it as evidence for a particular band. Level does not measure transaction multiples.

The tuck-in and regional brackets are planning compilations referencing private whole-company M&A. National-platform brackets reference scaled platform, specialist or recapitalization contexts as scoped in each card. The retained historical 15x to 34x public-MEP context is unverified here and requires its own valuation basis, company set, measurement date and enterprise-value bridge. Level's historical public-contractor analysis is a reference lead, not a current reproducible market quote. Public shares and private whole-company transactions have different ownership and valuation bases. We wrote up that public-versus-private gap separately in why public contractors trade at 15x to 34x while you will hear 4x to 8x.

These bands are compiled planning ranges, not measured average transaction prices. If you want to see the individual transactions behind them, who is acquiring, in which trades, and at what disclosed prices, we track them in the contractor M&A deal tracker for 2024 to 2026. For the same multiples ranked across all 13 trades, alongside how exposed each trade is to AI, see what trade businesses sell for on the Trade Economy Index.

Scale brackets. Tuck-in describes a small add-on; each trade uses its own stated size measure. Regional platform is a lower-middle-market platform or a platform-quality add-on. National platform is a scaled multi-state business, a recapitalization, or an institutional exit. Each trade card states the planning scope where available, in EBITDA, revenue or enterprise value as labeled. Low-voltage and glass use non-EBITDA size measures in some brackets. This does not establish a measured population for a band.

Operating columns. Directional Level operator bands, not a measured distribution, so no sample size is claimed. Gross-margin bands below are directional operator observations at the trade level and are service-weighted where a trade splits into service and project work. They are not the same measure as Level's job-level gross margin (44.3% per job), which is measured per completed job on a blended cross-trade pool, nor as a public company's consolidated gross margin, which blends construction, service, and in some cases manufacturing.

Which numbers actually move my multiple?

Four useful operating checks: recurring-revenue profitability after fully burdened labor, rebuildable job-level margin, working capital against the negotiated purchase-agreement target (a closing adjustment, not a multiple input), and customer concentration.

An advisor evaluates the deal range. These four checks help assess earnings quality and closing terms; they do not isolate a causal price premium or impose a universal buyer sequence. Each is a number Level measures, so each comes with where the typical contractor actually sits and with the specific artifact diligence will ask for.

Recurring revenue that is actually profitable

Separate recurring-revenue quality from platform scale

Several trades name recurring or contract revenue in a tier scope or operating consideration, alongside size and business mix. Fire/life safety and low-voltage name a middle-band scope condition: 40% of revenue from inspection, monitoring, or service agreements. The catch is the second word. Level measures a median service-agreement gross margin of 37.9% (n=259) against a top quartile of 53.5%, so a recurring label alone does not show agreement profitability. This company-count distribution is not a revenue-weighted share; rebuild agreement margin after fully burdened labor before treating it as valuation support.

How a buyer tests it: Agreement count, renewal rate, and gross margin per agreement after fully burdened labor, not the quoted margin.

Service agreement benchmarks

Job-level margin a buyer can rebuild

Sets whether your reported EBITDA survives quality of earnings

Level measures a median job-level gross margin of 44.3% across 1,747,089 completed jobs from 1,791 companies, and inside that, 6.2% of jobs finish negative and 16% finish under 20%. Those jobs are invisible in a company-level margin. A quality-of-earnings provider will rebuild margin from job cost, and if job cost is not attached to job revenue in your system, they rebuild it conservatively.

How a buyer tests it: A margin distribution by job, not a company average, with actual cost attached to each job.

Labor and job margin benchmarks

Working capital and the negotiated closing adjustment

Compare delivered working capital with the contractual target

Level measures a median collection rate of 85.1% (n=464), a top quartile of 92.7% and a top decile of 96.0%. Illustrative arithmetic: $10M of billings for one matched billing period times the 10.9-point median-to-top-decile gap (96.0% minus 85.1%) equals a $1.09M collection difference if populations and windows are comparable. This does not separate collection timing, a one-time working-capital effect, from genuinely uncollectible amounts that affect profit. This is not a measurement of outstanding receivables or a closing-price adjustment. A closing adjustment depends on eligible assets, liabilities, reserves and delivered net working capital versus the target specified in the purchase agreement.

How a buyer tests it: Aged receivables, post-cutoff receipts, disputed balances and retainage by contract, reconciled to the ledger and the agreement's working-capital definitions.

A public purchase-agreement example, section 2.3, adjusts closing working capital against its contractual target and includes an upward cap. It illustrates why terms must be read, not assumed from receivable totals.

Collection and DSO benchmarks

Customer concentration

Test the durability of the largest customer relationship

Level measures a median of 31.0% of revenue from the largest single customer (n=959), with p75 at 54.6% and p90 at 82.4%. If roughly half the revenue sits in one account, test termination rights, contract duration and relationship transferability before discussing price or structure. A 50% share alone does not establish what a buyer will pay or whether an earnout is required.

How a buyer tests it: Revenue by customer for three years, with the contract or program agreement behind each of the top five.

The Level Index for contractors

Where does the typical contractor actually sit on those four numbers?

Level's separate medians are 85.1% collection rate (n=464 companies), 37.9% service-agreement gross margin (n=259, top quartile 53.5%), and 31.0% revenue from the largest customer (n=959). The median completed job has 44.3% gross margin across 1,747,089 jobs from 1,791 companies; 6.2% of jobs finish negative. These samples blend six MEP trades and do not describe one median contractor or all 13 trades on this page.

Each of these is Level measured with its own sample size, and each is published in contractor.json. They are shown here because they are the numbers a buyer rebuilds. For the full cross-trade index, including labor-hour variance, closeout lag, and seasonality, see The Level Index for contractors; this page carries only the subset that supports diligence.

These five are Level-measured and blended across HVAC, plumbing, electrical, mechanical, refrigeration, and fire protection. Level does not publish a per-trade split of its own dataset, so read them as the cross-trade operating anchor, not as a trade-specific figure. The trade-specific rows in each card below are either externally sourced with a URL or labeled directional.

Level-measured contractor operating metrics and how each supports operating diligence
Metric	Level median	Definition & distribution	Diligence question
Median collection rate	85.1%Level measured, n=464	Cash collected as a share of billed revenue. Top quartile 92.7%, top decile 96.0%, bottom quartile 70.7%.	A collection percentage is an operating signal, not a working-capital peg. Rebuild eligible receivables by age, retainage, disputes and reserves, then compare delivered net working capital with the target and definitions in the actual purchase agreement.
Median service-agreement gross margin	37.9%Level measured, n=259	Gross margin on recurring service-agreement revenue. Top quartile 53.5%.	Agreement profitability is one diligence question. Rebuild renewal behavior and margin after fully burdened labor; a recurring-revenue label does not establish a quantified valuation premium.
Median job-level gross margin	44.3%Level measured, 1,747,089 completed jobs across 1,791 companies	Gross margin per completed job, revenue minus actual cost, measured per job across 1,747,089 completed jobs from 1,791 companies. 6.2% of jobs finish at a negative margin and 16% finish under 20%.	Quality of earnings starts with the revenue-to-cost bridge. Missing job costs can lower a reconstructed margin; duplicated or misallocated costs can raise it. Quantify each supported correction rather than assuming every difference is a discount.
Median quote conversion (decided quotes)	73.9%Level measured, n=794	Won divided by won plus lost, excluding still-pending quotes. 38.1% across all quotes issued.	Conversion is how a buyer sizes the growth case without taking your word for it. A documented pipeline with a stable close rate supports a forecast; a verbal one does not.
Median revenue from largest single customer	31.0%Level measured, n=959	Share of total revenue from the top one customer. p75 is 54.6% and p90 is 82.4%.	A concentrated book needs a transferability test: contract term, termination rights, customer tenure and who owns the relationship. Concentration alone does not determine a discount or require an earnout.
All-contractor net profit before tax	6.3%External: CFMA 2024 (n=1,290)	Net profit before tax as a share of revenue across all construction and specialty-trade respondents. Historical respondent context, not a buyer's pricing floor or a trade-specific forecast. Top quartile about 11.9%.	This is net profit before tax, not EBITDA. Add back the appropriate interest, depreciation and amortization, then evaluate supported normalization adjustments before applying an EV/EBITDA multiple. Illustrative math: an 8% EBITDA margin at 8x EBITDA implies 0.64x revenue; the CFMA 6.3% net-margin figure cannot be substituted into that calculation.

How will a buyer test my numbers in diligence, trade by trade?

By rebuilding them from source records rather than accepting your reports. Expect a quality-of-earnings pass that ties revenue to invoices and cost to job records, a working-capital analysis on aged receivables and retainage, a revenue-by-customer schedule for three years, and for any recurring-revenue claim, a contract-by-contract schedule with term, renewal history, and margin per contract. The trade-specific version of each test is in the cards below.

Each card carries three planning brackets with the stated scope (EBITDA, revenue or enterprise value where specified), named buyer references, possible operating considerations and records to examine. These considerations do not identify a causal premium or predict an actual offer. Every row is badged with its evidence basis.

HVAC

HVAC operating benchmarks

Tuck-in add-on

4x to 8x

$1M to $5M EBITDA add-on or tuck-in

Regional platform

7x to 11x

$5M to $25M EBITDA lower-middle-market regional platform

Capstone Partners' July 27, 2026 update reports a 9.5x average EV/EBITDA for HVAC-services transactions in 2024 through year-to-date 2026. Its 11.4x broader-HVAC average is a different transaction population. Neither average establishes the 7x-to-11x regional planning band or a price for a specific SMB.

National platform

15x to 18.5x and above

national platform with high service-agreement density, institutional recapitalization

Named reference Multiples: Capstone Partners HVAC Services M&A Update (July 2026); Forbes Partners HVAC M&A Industry Update (2025); First Page Sage, EBITDA Multiples for Private HVAC Companies (2025). Verify. Stated as EV/EBITDA unless the source says otherwise.

Buyer diligence tests, active acquirers & operating benchmarks for hvac3 diligence tests, 3 operating benchmarks, and named buyer references.

What moves the multiple

Profitable service agreements can strengthen revenue durability, but the tuck-in and platform bands also differ in EBITDA scale, geographic density, management depth and transaction structure. Test agreement margin and renewal behavior separately from those scale effects; the range is not a causal estimate of what adding agreements will earn.

How a buyer tests it in diligence

Recurring revenue proof: agreement count, renewal rate, and gross margin per agreement after fully burdened technician hours, not the quoted margin.
Maintenance pull-through: the repair and replacement revenue an agreement customer generates versus a non-agreement customer, traced customer by customer.
Install versus service margin split, computed from actual job cost rather than from a revenue category label.

Who is buying

The most consolidated of the trades. PitchBook counted a record 55 private-equity HVAC platform deals in 2024, a 72% increase year over year, and more than 60 deals in the first half of 2025. Sponsors buy local and regional operators as add-ons, build route density, then recapitalize the platform at a higher multiple.

Named platforms and deals: Apex Service Partners (Alpine Investors, with an Apollo Global Management investment in May 2026 at roughly $10B enterprise value, after about 60 add-ons in 2025 alone); Champions Group (Blackstone, February 2026, roughly $2.5B enterprise value at about 18.5x EBITDA); Sila Services (Goldman Sachs Alternatives majority recapitalization, November 2024, roughly $1.7B); Service Logic (Bain Capital and Mubadala, December 2025, over $1B).

Operating benchmarks for hvac

HVAC operating benchmarks with evidence sources
Metric	Value	Definition	Evidence and source
Gross margin, directional band (HVAC, service-heavy)	38% central planning point, 48% upper planning point, 28% lower planning point, scope: service-heavy	Revenue minus direct cost (labor, materials, subcontractors, direct equipment) as a share of revenue. Excludes overhead.Planning inputs only. Select values supported by your own service/project mix and payer or job-cost records.	DirectionalLevel operator observation, directional. Not a measured distribution, so no sample size is claimed. Same values the Level margin calculator uses.
Days sales outstanding, directional band	62 days central planning point, 38 days upper planning point, 95 days lower planning point	Accounts receivable divided by annual revenue, times 365, for the trade as a whole (service plus project work at private-contractor scale).Planning inputs only. Select values supported by your own service/project mix and payer or job-cost records.	DirectionalLevel operator observation, directional. Not a measured distribution, so no sample size is claimed. Same values the Level DSO calculator uses.
All-contractor net profit before tax	6.3% median, top quartile about 11.9%	Net profit before tax as a share of revenue across all construction and specialty-trade respondents. Historical respondent context, not a buyer's pricing floor or a trade-specific forecast.	Named referenceCFMA 2024 Construction Financial Benchmarker (n=1,290) verify

Sources: Capstone Partners, HVAC Services M&A Update (July 2026); First Page Sage, EBITDA Multiples for Private HVAC Companies (2025); Main Street Wealth, HVAC Buyer List 2026 (PE platforms, strategics, sponsors)

Plumbing

Plumbing operating benchmarks

Tuck-in add-on

3.5x to 6.5x

under $2M EBITDA add-on

Regional platform

6x to 11x

$2M to $10M EBITDA platform-quality regional business

National platform

16x to 20x

national platform recapitalization

Blackstone acquired Champions Group at about 18.5x EBITDA, a combined plumbing, HVAC, and electrical residential platform.

Named reference Multiples: CT Acquisitions, Plumbing Business Valuation in 2026 (2026); Main Street Wealth and First Page Sage, EBITDA Multiples Across Home Services (2026); Lightning Path Partners, Plumbing EBITDA Multiples (2026). Stated as EV/EBITDA unless the source says otherwise.

Buyer diligence tests, active acquirers & operating benchmarks for plumbing3 diligence tests, 3 operating benchmarks, and named buyer references.

What moves the multiple

Membership and service-plan revenue, plus the share of work that is non-discretionary emergency demand. New-construction rough-in has less repeat revenue to underwrite. Test repeat share alongside EBITDA scale, customer mix and buyer requirements; these compiled bands do not identify a mix-driven discount.

How a buyer tests it in diligence

Membership plan economics: active member count, monthly value, churn, and the margin on the visits the plan entitles a customer to.
Emergency versus scheduled versus new-construction revenue mix, taken from job records rather than from a self-reported estimate.
Whether dispatch and drive time are costed to the job. Rebuild a consistent direct-cost basis; moving those costs from overhead changes job gross margin without changing company profit.

Who is buying

More than half of the largest US plumbing companies are private-equity backed, while over 75% of operators overall remain independent. Sponsors have put over $25B into residential home-services platforms across the past eight years, usually rolling plumbing together with HVAC and electrical into one multi-service residential brand.

Named platforms and deals: Apex Service Partners (Alpine Investors, $3.4B continuation vehicle); Champions Group (Blackstone, February 2026, roughly $2.5B at about 18.5x); Sila Services (Goldman Sachs Alternatives, November 2024, roughly $1.7B); Wrench Group (Leonard Green, TSG Consumer, Oak Hill); Redwood Services (Altas Partners).

Operating benchmarks for plumbing

Plumbing operating benchmarks with evidence sources
Metric	Value	Definition	Evidence and source
Gross margin, directional band (Plumbing, service-heavy)	36% central planning point, 46% upper planning point, 26% lower planning point, scope: service-heavy	Revenue minus direct cost (labor, materials, subcontractors, direct equipment) as a share of revenue. Excludes overhead.	DirectionalLevel operator observation, directional. Not a measured distribution, so no sample size is claimed. Same values the Level margin calculator uses.
Days sales outstanding, directional band	58 days central planning point, 40 days upper planning point, 88 days lower planning point	Accounts receivable divided by annual revenue, times 365, for the trade as a whole (service plus project work at private-contractor scale).	DirectionalLevel operator observation, directional. Not a measured distribution, so no sample size is claimed. Same values the Level DSO calculator uses.
All-contractor net profit before tax	6.3% median, top quartile about 11.9%	Net profit before tax as a share of revenue across all construction and specialty-trade respondents. Historical respondent context, not a buyer's pricing floor or a trade-specific forecast.	Named referenceCFMA 2024 Construction Financial Benchmarker (n=1,290) verify

Sources: CT Acquisitions, Plumbing Business Valuation in 2026; Main Street Wealth and First Page Sage, EBITDA Multiples Across Home Services (2026); Lightning Path Partners, Plumbing EBITDA Multiples (2026)

Electrical

Electrical operating benchmarks

Tuck-in add-on

3x to 5x

under $1M EBITDA, often priced off SDE rather than EBITDA

Regional platform

5.5x to 8x

$1M to $8M EBITDA lower-middle-market operator

GF Data reports averages of 6.2x to 6.4x for businesses at $3M to $8M EBITDA and 7.8x for platforms above $8M.

National platform

8x to 12x and above

data-center, utility-infrastructure, or mission-critical power specialist

Named reference Multiples: GF Data via BMI Mergers & Acquisitions, Electrical Contractor M&A Rebounds (2025); CT Acquisitions, Electrical Contractor Valuation (2026); Capstone Partners, HVAC and Electrical Services M&A Sector Updates (2024 to 2026). Stated as EV/EBITDA unless the source says otherwise.

Buyer diligence tests, active acquirers & operating benchmarks for electrical3 diligence tests, 3 operating benchmarks, and named buyer references.

What moves the multiple

End-market mix alongside scale and buyer requirements. Fictional sensitivities of $4M EBITDA at 6x versus 10x illustrate price sensitivity only, not observed comparable offers or an identified data-center premium. The data-center band is a planning input requiring its own transaction support.

How a buyer tests it in diligence

Backlog quality: signed versus verbal, margin per project in backlog, and how much of it depends on one general contractor.
Work-in-progress accuracy. Bridge earned revenue, billed revenue and cost to complete. Over-billing or under-billing can be legitimate timing; investigate the bridge before diagnosing a profit error.
Certification and qualified-personnel depth for specialist end markets. A buyer considering that market needs to test whether capabilities and required credentials transfer, rather than relying on the revenue label.

Who is buying

Financial sponsors account for roughly 75% of all electrical contractor M&A according to PitchBook, and lower-middle-market deal volume rose 13% in 2024 per the cited source. Verify 2025 and year-to-date 2026 volume against current dated releases. The demand driver is specific: data-center buildout, grid modernization, and commercial electrification, against a hard technician shortage.

Named platforms and deals: Apex Service Partners (Alpine Investors, Apollo investment at roughly $10B enterprise value, May 2026); Truelink Capital and Prime Electric (January 2026 platform deal); MYR Group (NASDAQ: MYRG) acquiring Valley Electric and Comet Electric for $328M (October 2025); Platte River Equity and Team UIS (January 2026); Huron Capital and RK Electric; Broad Sky Partners and Commonwealth Electrical Technologies.

Operating benchmarks for electrical

Electrical operating benchmarks with evidence sources
Metric	Value	Definition	Evidence and source
Gross margin, directional band (Electrical, service-heavy)	34% central planning point, 42% upper planning point, 24% lower planning point, scope: service-heavy	Revenue minus direct cost (labor, materials, subcontractors, direct equipment) as a share of revenue. Excludes overhead.	DirectionalLevel operator observation, directional. Not a measured distribution, so no sample size is claimed. Same values the Level margin calculator uses.
Days sales outstanding, directional band	65 days central planning point, 42 days upper planning point, 98 days lower planning point	Accounts receivable divided by annual revenue, times 365, for the trade as a whole (service plus project work at private-contractor scale).	DirectionalLevel operator observation, directional. Not a measured distribution, so no sample size is claimed. Same values the Level DSO calculator uses.
All-contractor net profit before tax	6.3% median, top quartile about 11.9%	Net profit before tax as a share of revenue across all construction and specialty-trade respondents. Historical respondent context, not a buyer's pricing floor or a trade-specific forecast.	Named referenceCFMA 2024 Construction Financial Benchmarker (n=1,290) verify

Sources: BMI Mergers & Acquisitions with GF Data, Electrical Contractor M&A Rebounds (2025); CT Acquisitions, Electrical Contractor Valuation (2026); Capstone Partners, HVAC and Electrical Services M&A Sector Updates

Roofing

Roofing operating benchmarks

Tuck-in add-on

3x to 5x

under $1M EBITDA add-on or tuck-in

Regional platform

4x to 10x

$1M to $3M EBITDA at 4x to 7x; $3M to $10M platform-quality residential or commercial at 6x to 10x

National platform

8x to 12x and above

large commercial platform with recurring maintenance contracts and a multi-state footprint

Named reference Multiples: CT Acquisitions Roofing M&A Multiples Report (2026); GF Data and PitchBook transaction databases (2024 to 2026); Focus Investment Banking quarterly commentary (2026). Stated as EV/EBITDA unless the source says otherwise.

Buyer diligence tests, active acquirers & operating benchmarks for roofing3 diligence tests, 3 operating benchmarks, and named buyer references.

What moves the multiple

Whether the earnings repeat. Separate maintenance and inspection contract earnings from event-driven residential volume. Compare a storm year with other periods and document any proposed normalization; the mix does not guarantee a band or establish a buyer adjustment.

How a buyer tests it in diligence

Storm-year normalization: revenue and margin by year with catastrophe-driven work isolated, so the buyer can see the underlying trend line.
Warranty and callback reserve. Review warranty duration, actual claims and the accounting basis for reserves. An unsupported reserve may affect normalized earnings or negotiated terms; it does not by itself establish a purchase-price adjustment.
Recurring maintenance and inspection contract schedule, with the renewal history and the margin on each contract.

Who is buying

Private-equity-backed roofing platforms went from 17 at the start of 2023 to 56 by the end of 2024, and sponsors completed 134 roofing acquisitions in 2024, roughly one every 2.7 days. The top five contractors control under 10% of the market and repair and replacement is about 64% of volume.

Named platforms and deals: Tecta America (Altas Partners), the largest private-equity-backed commercial platform at over $960M in revenue, with acquisitions including Alpine Roofing and Texas Roofing; Roofing Corp of America (HGGC); Latite Roofing (Sun Capital Partners, 2025); Leaf Home and Erie Home combination (Ares Management, Apollo Global Management, Gridiron Capital); on the distribution tier, QXO acquiring Beacon Roofing Supply for $11B and Home Depot acquiring SRS Distribution for $18.25B.

Operating benchmarks for roofing

Roofing operating benchmarks with evidence sources
Metric	Value	Definition	Evidence and source
Gross margin, directional band (Roofing, residential)	38% central planning point, 48% upper planning point, 28% lower planning point, scope: residential	Revenue minus direct cost (labor, materials, subcontractors, direct equipment) as a share of revenue. Excludes overhead.Residential band shown. Commercial roofing runs materially thinner on gross margin, central planning point around 24% (Level operator observation, directional, not an observed quantile).	DirectionalLevel operator observation, directional. Not a measured distribution, so no sample size is claimed. Same values the Level margin calculator uses.
Days sales outstanding, directional band	68 days central planning point, 45 days upper planning point, 100 days lower planning point	Accounts receivable divided by annual revenue, times 365, for the trade as a whole (service plus project work at private-contractor scale).Planning inputs only. Select values supported by your own service/project mix and payer or job-cost records.	DirectionalLevel operator observation, directional. Not a measured distribution, so no sample size is claimed. Same values the Level DSO calculator uses.
All-contractor net profit before tax	6.3% median, top quartile about 11.9%	Net profit before tax as a share of revenue across all construction and specialty-trade respondents. Historical respondent context, not a buyer's pricing floor or a trade-specific forecast.	Named referenceCFMA 2024 Construction Financial Benchmarker (n=1,290) verify

Sources: CT Acquisitions, Roofing M&A Multiples Report and Private Equity Tracker (2026); Roofing Contractor, Tariffs, Talent and Tech: The New Rules of Roofing Consolidation (2025)

Commercial cleaning and janitorial

Commercial cleaning and janitorial operating benchmarks

Tuck-in add-on

2.5x to 4.5x

under $1M EBITDA owner-operated local provider, often priced off SDE

Regional platform

4x to 8x

$1M to $5M EBITDA established janitorial with recurring contracts at 4x to 6x; $5M to $10M regional or specialty (healthcare, cleanroom, industrial) at 5x to 8x

National platform

7x to 12x

$10M+ EBITDA nationwide platform

Named reference Multiples: CT Acquisitions Commercial Cleaning Valuation Analysis (2026); Breakwater M&A, Cleaning and Janitorial Valuation Multiples (2026); CleanLink, How Private Equity Views the Janitorial Industry (2024). Stated as EV/EBITDA unless the source says otherwise.

Buyer diligence tests, active acquirers & operating benchmarks for commercial cleaning and janitorial3 diligence tests, 4 operating benchmarks, and named buyer references.

What moves the multiple

Contract term and account retention. This card carries the lowest retained tuck-in floor (2.5x), with overlapping planning bands across trades. Labor-heavy costs (50% to 90% of job cost in cited guidance) and account retention are attributes to investigate, not established causes of price differences. Review termination terms and actual renewal history.

How a buyer tests it in diligence

Contract schedule with remaining term, notice period, and pricing escalator per account. Month-to-month terms give a buyer less contracted visibility and may affect negotiated price or structure; no measured discount is established here.
Account turnover history. The BSCAI 2024 survey assigns 73% of respondent firms to under 10% annual account loss and 27% to the higher loss categories. This is firm-count weighting, not an account- or revenue-weighted loss rate. Compare your actual lost accounts, their revenue and reasons; the survey alone does not establish a buyer discount.
Labor as a share of job cost per account, and whether supervisor and travel time are costed to the account or buried in overhead.

Who is buying

A market above $100B split across tens of thousands of local and regional operators. Sponsors build route density and centralize back-office work, which is where the margin expansion in their model comes from.

Named platforms and deals: ServiceMaster Brands (Roark Capital, built past $5.5B enterprise value across commercial cleaning and restoration); The Facilities Group (Greenbriar Equity Group, add-ons including Excel Building Services and Summit Service Group); Pritchard Industries (Littlejohn & Co.); 4M Building Services (O2 Investment Partners, acquiring Miracle Clean Services and FKI Cleaning Services in 2025); Kellermeyer Bergensons Services (Cerberus Capital Management); Kleen-Tech Services (Rainier Partners).

Operating benchmarks for commercial cleaning and janitorial

Commercial cleaning and janitorial operating benchmarks with evidence sources
Metric	Value	Definition	Evidence and source
Labor as a share of total job cost	50% (light touch) to 90% (pure janitorial cost)	Direct cleaning labor as a share of total job cost by service type. Standard office work is around 65%, healthcare and specialty around 75%.	Named referenceBSCAI production-rate guidance and FMLink janitorial staffing benchmarks
Days sales outstanding	45 days healthy for an SMB operator, about 60 days at large integrated-facilities scale	Days sales outstanding. The large-scale figure is derived from ABM's FY2024 filing; the SMB targets are industry working-capital guidance, not a measured distribution.	Named referenceABM FY2024 10-K plus industry working-capital guidance verify
Annual account turnover	73% of firms lose under 10% of accounts per year	Share of surveyed firms by annual account-loss bucket. 12% lose 11% to 15%, 6% lose 16% to 20%, 5% lose 21% to 50%, and 4% lose over half.	Named referenceBSCAI 2024 Industry Market Study
All-contractor net profit before tax	6.3% median, top quartile about 11.9%	Net profit before tax as a share of revenue across all construction and specialty-trade respondents. Historical respondent context, not a buyer's pricing floor or a trade-specific forecast.	Named referenceCFMA 2024 Construction Financial Benchmarker (n=1,290) verify

Sources: CleanLink, How Private Equity Views the Janitorial Industry (2024); Breakwater M&A, Cleaning and Janitorial Valuation Multiples (2026); CT Acquisitions, Commercial Cleaning Valuation Analysis (2026)

Landscaping and grounds maintenance

Landscaping and grounds maintenance operating benchmarks

Tuck-in add-on

3x to 6x

$500K to $1M EBITDA local operator or tuck-in, 2.5x to 5x on SDE

Regional platform

7x to 12x

$1M to $10M+ EBITDA scaled lower-middle-market platform candidate

National platform

12x to 15x

high-performing commercial maintenance platform at exit

Named reference Multiples: Livingstone Partners, Commercial Landscaping Industry PE Trends (2024); First Page Sage, EBITDA Multiples for Private Landscaping Companies (2025). Stated as EV/EBITDA unless the source says otherwise.

Buyer diligence tests, active acquirers & operating benchmarks for landscaping and grounds maintenance3 diligence tests, 5 operating benchmarks, and named buyer references.

What moves the multiple

Contract maintenance share versus one-time design and install. Maintenance share is one attribute to investigate alongside EBITDA scale, route density and buyer type. The retained 3x-to-15x span is a compilation of different cases, not a causal estimate of what renewing revenue earns.

How a buyer tests it in diligence

Maintenance contract base: annual contract value, renewal rate, and whether escalators keep pace with wage growth.
Seasonality and the winter revenue plan. A book that earns most of its revenue in three months needs a credible off-season cash story.
Crew-level gross profit per hour, because in a labor-constrained trade the buyer is underwriting productive capacity, not just revenue.

Who is buying

Between roughly 640,000 and 700,000 mostly local operators, with the top 50 companies holding only about 20% of the market. Sponsors are drawn to high cash conversion and to contract maintenance, lawn-care subscriptions, irrigation, and snow removal, all of which recur.

Named platforms and deals: Yellowstone Landscape (Harvest Partners in 2019, then a Neuberger Berman Capital Solutions recapitalization in December 2024); SavATree (Apax Partners from CI Capital, 2021); BrightView Holdings (NYSE: BV), the public commercial leader originally assembled through private-equity consolidation; Elevation Landscape Group (Trinity Hunt Partners, May 2026); Exscape Group (BHMS Investments).

Operating benchmarks for landscaping and grounds maintenance

Landscaping and grounds maintenance operating benchmarks with evidence sources
Metric	Value	Definition	Evidence and source
Gross margin, directional band (Landscaping / hardscape)	32% central planning point, 42% upper planning point, 22% lower planning point, scope: blended maintenance and install	Revenue minus direct cost (labor, materials, subcontractors, direct equipment) as a share of revenue. Excludes overhead.	DirectionalLevel operator observation, directional. Not a measured distribution, so no sample size is claimed. Same values the Level margin calculator uses.
Days sales outstanding, directional band	50 days central planning point, 30 days upper planning point, 80 days lower planning point	Accounts receivable divided by annual revenue, times 365, for the trade as a whole (service plus project work at private-contractor scale).	DirectionalLevel operator observation, directional. Not a measured distribution, so no sample size is claimed. Same values the Level DSO calculator uses.
Revenue per employee	$123K industry average, about $156K at firms above $10M, $180K top quartile	Annual revenue divided by total employees. The single cleanest productivity read a landscape buyer uses.	Named referenceNALP 2025 Financial Benchmark Report (n=142 firms)
Net profit margin	about 12% well-run, 15% top quartile	Net profit as a share of revenue. BrightView, the public commercial operator, ran about 2% at scale, which is a different capital and mix model from a private maintenance shop.	Named referenceNALP 2025 Financial Benchmark Report; IBISWorld Landscaping Services 2025; BrightView FY2025 10-K
All-contractor net profit before tax	6.3% median, top quartile about 11.9%	Net profit before tax as a share of revenue across all construction and specialty-trade respondents. Historical respondent context, not a buyer's pricing floor or a trade-specific forecast.	Named referenceCFMA 2024 Construction Financial Benchmarker (n=1,290) verify

Sources: Livingstone Partners, Commercial Landscaping Industry PE Trends (2024); First Page Sage, EBITDA Multiples for Private Landscaping Companies (2025)

Painting and wall finishes

Tuck-in add-on

3x to 6x

$1M to $3M EBITDA small to mid-sized residential painter

Regional platform

5x to 7x and above

$3M to $5M EBITDA commercial or HOA-focused platform

National platform

up to 11x

large scaled specialty-construction platform

Named reference Multiples: CT Acquisitions, Painting Business Valuation Guide (2026); First Page Sage, EBITDA and Valuation Multiples for Construction Companies (2024); Peak Business Valuation, Valuation Multiples for a Painting Business (2025). Stated as EV/EBITDA unless the source says otherwise.

Buyer diligence tests, active acquirers & operating benchmarks for painting and wall finishes3 diligence tests, 3 operating benchmarks, and named buyer references.

What moves the multiple

Whether crews are employees and whether estimating is systematized. Crew classification, estimating repeatability and management depth are attributes to examine alongside EBITDA scale. Subcontracted crews and hand-priced bids do not establish a measured cap on the retained planning band.

How a buyer tests it in diligence

Worker classification. Crews treated as subcontractors can create reclassification exposure if the working relationship does not support that treatment under applicable federal and state tests. A buyer may address confirmed exposure through indemnity, escrow, structure or price, depending on negotiated terms.
Estimating accuracy: bid hours versus actual hours by matched job type. Include loaded labor and consistent job scope before using the variance to question margin.
Commercial and HOA agreement schedule, with term, renewal history, and margin per agreement.

Who is buying

Between roughly 75% and 88% of painting contractors are small independent shops. Sponsors, search funds, and home-services holding companies target the ones with commercial or HOA recurring agreements, a W-2 workforce rather than subcontracted crews, and digital estimating already in place.

Named platforms and deals: Hidden Harbor Capital Partners, through R.L. James Exteriors, acquiring Paramount Painting & Services (February 2026); Avalt and VantEdge Partners, through Wall Works Holdings, acquiring CID Construction and Optimum Building Systems (November 2025); Platt Park Capital Partners and Source Capital acquiring Pilot Painting; FirstService (CertaPro) and Neighborly (Five Star Painting, KKR) as franchisor-platform consolidators.

Operating benchmarks for painting and wall finishes

Painting and wall finishes operating benchmarks with evidence sources
Metric	Value	Definition	Evidence and source
Gross margin, directional band (Painting)	28% central planning point, 38% upper planning point, 20% lower planning point, scope: blended	Revenue minus direct cost (labor, materials, subcontractors, direct equipment) as a share of revenue. Excludes overhead.	DirectionalLevel operator observation, directional. Not a measured distribution, so no sample size is claimed. Same values the Level margin calculator uses.
Days sales outstanding, directional band	60 days central planning point, 42 days upper planning point, 85 days lower planning point	Accounts receivable divided by annual revenue, times 365, for the trade as a whole (service plus project work at private-contractor scale).	DirectionalLevel operator observation, directional. Not a measured distribution, so no sample size is claimed. Same values the Level DSO calculator uses.
All-contractor net profit before tax	6.3% median, top quartile about 11.9%	Net profit before tax as a share of revenue across all construction and specialty-trade respondents. Historical respondent context, not a buyer's pricing floor or a trade-specific forecast.	Named referenceCFMA 2024 Construction Financial Benchmarker (n=1,290) verify

Sources: CT Acquisitions, What Private Equity Actually Buys in Painting (2026); Peak Business Valuation, Valuation Multiples for a Painting Business (2025); HedgeStone Business Advisors, Painting Business EBITDA Multiple (2025)

Concrete and masonry

Tuck-in add-on

3.1x to 4x

$1M to $3M EBITDA small localized contractor

Regional platform

6.5x to 8x

$5M+ EBITDA middle-market platform or scaled add-on

National platform

not separately reported

no distinct national-platform band published for this trade

Named reference Multiples: Peak Business Valuation, market multiples for concrete contractors and masonry businesses; Builder Muse, Construction M&A and PE Roll-ups (2026). Stated as EV/EBITDA unless the source says otherwise.

Buyer diligence tests, active acquirers & operating benchmarks for concrete and masonry3 diligence tests, 3 operating benchmarks, and named buyer references.

What moves the multiple

Among the lower retained tuck-in planning bands on this page, 3.1x to 4x, for bid, one-time and weather-exposed work; this compilation does not prove why bids differ. Repair and restoration niches may have different repeat work and warranty obligations. Test those contracts and margins separately; the compilation does not prove a pricing effect.

How a buyer tests it in diligence

Bid-to-actual cost variance by job. Rebuild direct-cost and recognition assumptions on matched jobs, including approved scope changes, rather than inferring a pricing adjustment from the trade label.
Retainage and lien position across open contracts, because a large share of the balance sheet is money already earned and not yet released.
Equipment condition and replacement schedule. Deferred capital expenditure is reviewed in normalized cash flow or negotiated price and debt-like items, not automatically in EBITDA. Deferred expensed repairs may require an earnings adjustment. Deferral is not a saving.

Who is buying

Thousands of local family-owned and founder-owned contractors across residential, commercial, and municipal work. Sponsors build regional density and then extend into adjacent services with better recurring characteristics: foundation repair, concrete lifting, waterproofing, and facade restoration.

Named platforms and deals: Maddix Capital acquiring a 51% controlling stake in AK Masonry (2023); Pave America, built by Shoreline Equity Partners and Trivest Partners from concrete and asphalt contractors including Finley Asphalt & Concrete, Chamberlain Contractors, and Turner Asphalt; Groundworks (KKR and Cortec Group) rolling up foundation, concrete-lifting, and waterproofing contractors; US Masonry & Building Products (Kinderhook Industries) acquiring York Flashings (2026); Valcourt Group (Littlejohn & Co.) in masonry restoration and facade repair.

Operating benchmarks for concrete and masonry

Concrete and masonry operating benchmarks with evidence sources
Metric	Value	Definition	Evidence and source
Gross margin, directional band (Concrete / foundation)	22% central planning point, 30% upper planning point, 14% lower planning point, scope: blended, bid work	Revenue minus direct cost (labor, materials, subcontractors, direct equipment) as a share of revenue. Excludes overhead.	DirectionalLevel operator observation, directional. Not a measured distribution, so no sample size is claimed. Same values the Level margin calculator uses.
Days sales outstanding, directional band	70 days central planning point, 45 days upper planning point, 100 days lower planning point	Accounts receivable divided by annual revenue, times 365, for the trade as a whole (service plus project work at private-contractor scale).	DirectionalLevel operator observation, directional. Not a measured distribution, so no sample size is claimed. Same values the Level DSO calculator uses.
All-contractor net profit before tax	6.3% median, top quartile about 11.9%	Net profit before tax as a share of revenue across all construction and specialty-trade respondents. Historical respondent context, not a buyer's pricing floor or a trade-specific forecast.	Named referenceCFMA 2024 Construction Financial Benchmarker (n=1,290) verify

Sources: Peak Business Valuation, concrete and masonry market multiples; Builder Muse, Construction M&A Hit $28 Billion, PE Roll-ups and Valuations (2026)

Glass and glazing

Tuck-in add-on

2.9x to 4.2x

small local glass and glazing shop

Regional platform

5.7x to 7.1x

$10M to $100M total enterprise value specialty trade contractor

GF Data reports NAICS 238 specialty-trade cohort averages of 5.7x at $10M to $25M enterprise value, 6.1x at $25M to $50M, and 7.1x at $50M to $100M.

National platform

9x to 10.9x

platform-scale building products or contract glazing company

Named reference Multiples: Peak Business Valuation (2025) for small glass and glazing contractors; GF Data (2026) NAICS 238 specialty-trade cohorts; Brown Gibbons Lang & Co. with Glass Magazine and PCE Investment Bankers for platform-level building products. Stated as EV/EBITDA unless the source says otherwise.

Buyer diligence tests, active acquirers & operating benchmarks for glass and glazing3 diligence tests, 2 operating benchmarks, and named buyer references.

What moves the multiple

Fabrication capability and contract-glazing backlog quality. This is a project trade with long lead times, so examine fabrication capacity, delivery commitments and work-in-progress accuracy together. The buyer's actual sequence and weighting depend on the transaction.

How a buyer tests it in diligence

Work-in-progress and percentage-of-completion accuracy on open glazing contracts. Test recognized revenue against contract scope, measured progress and cost-to-complete assumptions; invoices alone do not establish earned margin.
Retainage aging and the closeout process on completed contracts.
Material price exposure and whether contracts carry escalation clauses on aluminum and glass.

Who is buying

Consolidation runs on both sides of the trade, glass fabrication and contract glazing installation. Buyers are after geographic reach, purchasing power on raw material, and automation in fabrication.

Named platforms and deals: Transom Capital Group acquiring Binswanger Glass (2025); The Sterling Group forming American Glass Services through Omni Glass & Paint (2025); Trulite Glass & Aluminum Solutions (Sun Capital) acquiring Insulite Glass and American Insulated Glass; Oldcastle BuildingEnvelope acquiring Midwest Glass Fabricators and Syracuse Glass; Saothair Capital Partners acquiring Pioneer Window (2024); Stellex Capital Management acquiring Custom Glass Solutions.

Operating benchmarks for glass and glazing

Level does not publish a glass and glazing DSO or gross-margin band. Use the all-contractor net-profit anchor below and the cross-trade operating metrics, and note that contract glazing collects on commercial-project terms, so it runs closer to the mechanical and general-contractor cycles than to a residential service book.

Glass and glazing operating benchmarks with evidence sources
Metric	Value	Definition	Evidence and source
Specialty-trade cohort multiple by enterprise value	5.7x at $10M to $25M, 6.1x at $25M to $50M, 7.1x at $50M to $100M	Average EV/EBITDA for the NAICS 238 specialty-trade contractor cohort by total enterprise value bracket. Different NAICS238 specialty-trade cohorts vary in composition and mix. These broader cohort averages are neither glass-specific nor a causal estimate of a scale premium.	Named referenceGF Data (2026), NAICS 238 specialty-trade contractor cohorts
All-contractor net profit before tax	6.3% median, top quartile about 11.9%	Net profit before tax as a share of revenue across all construction and specialty-trade respondents. Historical respondent context, not a buyer's pricing floor or a trade-specific forecast.	Named referenceCFMA 2024 Construction Financial Benchmarker (n=1,290) verify

Sources: Peak Business Valuation, glass and glazing contractor multiples (2025); GF Data, NAICS 238 specialty-trade contractor cohorts (2026); Brown Gibbons Lang & Co. with Glass Magazine, Consolidation Has Reshaped the Glass Supply Chain

Doors and access systems

Tuck-in add-on

3.5x to 5x

under $1M EBITDA local add-on

Regional platform

6.5x to 12x

$1M to $3M EBITDA core mid-market add-on at 6.5x to 9x; $3M to $10M regional platform at 9x to 12x

National platform

12x to 16x and above

above $10M EBITDA or $50M+ revenue scaled platform

Named reference Multiples: PitchBook, PE hopes garage door roll-ups will be the new HVAC (April 2026); FMI, Private Equity Sector Brief: Overhead and Garage Doors (March 2026); CT Acquisitions, Garage Door PE Roll-Up and M&A Report (2026). Stated as EV/EBITDA unless the source says otherwise.

Buyer diligence tests, active acquirers & operating benchmarks for doors and access systems3 diligence tests, 1 operating benchmarks, and named buyer references.

What moves the multiple

Service and repair mix versus new-construction install, plus commercial dock and door service agreements. The retained 3.5x-to-16x planning span covers different EBITDA scales and platform structures. Service and repair mix is one attribute to test; do not interpolate a multiple from mix alone.

How a buyer tests it in diligence

Service revenue as a share of total, with repeat-customer history rather than a revenue-category label.
Commercial dock and door maintenance agreements: count, term, and margin after travel time is costed.
Parts inventory accuracy and margin. Inventory shrink and mispriced parts quietly distort reported gross margin in this trade.

Who is buying

Over 15,000 independent operators, roughly 90% of them under $10M in revenue. More than ten private-equity platforms have formed since 2022, running 25 to 30 or more add-ons a year. Buyers are running the HVAC playbook on a trade with the same repair-and-replace demand profile.

Named platforms and deals: Guild Garage Group (Oak Hill Capital, March 2026, over $800M at about 16x EBITDA on $300M+ revenue after 25+ add-ons); GarageCo Holdings (Gridiron Capital, 2024, acquiring P.D.Q. Door, Apple Door Systems, and Cunningham Window & Door); US Dock & Door (Soundcore Capital Partners); DuraServ (Leonard Green & Partners, at a high-teens multiple); A1 Garage Door Service (Cortec Group); Door Pros America (Rotunda Capital Partners); Precision Door Service (Neighborly, KKR).

Operating benchmarks for doors and access systems

Level does not publish a doors and access DSO or gross-margin band. Residential service work in this trade collects on residential service terms, faster than any project trade, while the commercial dock and door side collects on commercial terms. Use the cross-trade operating metrics below and the all-contractor net anchor.

Doors and access systems operating benchmarks with evidence sources
Metric	Value	Definition	Evidence and source
All-contractor net profit before tax	6.3% median, top quartile about 11.9%	Net profit before tax as a share of revenue across all construction and specialty-trade respondents. Historical respondent context, not a buyer's pricing floor or a trade-specific forecast.	Named referenceCFMA 2024 Construction Financial Benchmarker (n=1,290) verify

Sources: CT Acquisitions, Garage Door PE Roll-Up and M&A Report (2026); Window & Door with Brown Gibbons Lang & Co., M&A Boom: Fenestration Heats Up (2024)

Low-voltage and commercial security

Tuck-in add-on

3x to 5x

under $3M revenue project-heavy cabling or installation shop

Regional platform

5x to 12x and above

$5M to $20M revenue with 40%+ recurring monitoring and service revenue at 5x to 9x; $20M+ revenue multi-state at 8x to 12x and above

National platform

13x to 20x

scaled, highly consolidated national integrator platform

Security monitoring monthly recurring revenue trades separately at 30x to 50x RMR.

Named reference Multiples: Capstone Partners, Security Solutions M&A Update (2024 to 2026); PE Hub, PE-backed fire safety platforms ignite strong valuations (2025); CT Acquisitions, Low-Voltage M&A: Platforms, Multiples, and Consolidation (2026); Security Sales & Integration (2026). Stated as EV/EBITDA unless the source says otherwise.

Buyer diligence tests, active acquirers & operating benchmarks for low-voltage and commercial security3 diligence tests, 2 operating benchmarks, and named buyer references.

What moves the multiple

Recurring monitoring revenue, priced as a separate asset. Monitoring contracts may be valued separately on recurring revenue in security and fire/life safety contexts. Verify the specific asset and monthly versus annual revenue basis; this is not comparable to an EBITDA multiple.

How a buyer tests it in diligence

Monthly recurring revenue schedule: contract by contract, with attrition rate, remaining term, and gross margin per account.
Project versus recurring revenue split, and whether shared technicians and overhead are allocated between them honestly. Mixing the two is how a project shop gets mistaken for a recurring one.
Inspection and testing backlog against applicable code frequency, alongside signed contract terms, cancellations and actual renewals. A regulatory schedule alone does not prove a contractual revenue commitment.

Who is buying

Capstone Partners counted 242 sector transactions in 2025, up 24.1% year over year, with private-equity add-ons at 45.9% of all deals and new platform investments up 33.3%. No contractor holds more than 5% share at the installation level, and code-mandated inspection and testing produces revenue that does not depend on a customer's discretionary budget.

Named platforms and deals: Pye-Barker Fire & Safety (Altas Partners and Leonard Green & Partners, with ADIA and GIC as minority investors, 57 acquisitions in 2025, as reported in its March 2026 company announcement); Pavion (Wind Point Partners, 70+ US locations); Everon, formerly ADT Commercial (GTCR); Sciens Building Solutions (Carlyle); Summit Companies (BDT & MSD Partners); Marmic Fire & Safety (KKR from HGGC, roughly $1B); APi Group (NYSE: APG) acquiring Chubb Fire & Security for $3.1B.

Operating benchmarks for low-voltage and commercial security

Low-voltage and commercial security operating benchmarks with evidence sources
Metric	Value	Definition	Evidence and source
Days sales outstanding, directional band	68 days central planning point, 45 days upper planning point, 95 days lower planning point	Accounts receivable divided by annual revenue, times 365, for the trade as a whole (service plus project work at private-contractor scale).Directional band shown is the low-voltage and solar grouping used by Level's DSO calculator, which spans project-weighted work.	DirectionalLevel operator observation, directional. Not a measured distribution, so no sample size is claimed. Same values the Level DSO calculator uses.
All-contractor net profit before tax	6.3% median, top quartile about 11.9%	Net profit before tax as a share of revenue across all construction and specialty-trade respondents. Historical respondent context, not a buyer's pricing floor or a trade-specific forecast.	Named referenceCFMA 2024 Construction Financial Benchmarker (n=1,290) verify

Sources: Capstone Partners, Security Solutions M&A Update; PE Hub, PE-backed fire safety platforms ignite strong valuations (2025); Pye-Barker, 57 acquisitions in 2025 (company announcement, March 2026); Security Sales & Integration, M&A in fire and life safety (2026)

Fire and life safety

Tuck-in add-on

4x to 6.5x

$500K to $1M EBITDA bolt-on or project-heavy contractor

Regional platform

6x to 9x

middle-market operator with 40%+ of revenue from inspection and monitoring

National platform

10x to 20x

$10M+ EBITDA scaled platform at 10x to 12x; national platform buyouts and exits at 17x to 20x

Named reference Multiples: PE Hub (2025); Breakwater M&A, 2026 Valuation Multiples for Fire Alarm and Life Safety Companies; CT Acquisitions, Private Equity Fire & Life Safety 2026 Consolidation Report. Stated as EV/EBITDA unless the source says otherwise.

Buyer diligence tests, active acquirers & operating benchmarks for fire and life safety3 diligence tests, 3 operating benchmarks, and named buyer references.

What moves the multiple

Separate code-mandated inspection and monitoring from one-time installation and repair revenue. The cited middle band names 40% recurring, but that is a source-specific scope condition, not a universal valuation threshold. The 4x-to-20x span also covers different EBITDA sizes and platform structures; do not interpolate a multiple from recurring share alone.

How a buyer tests it in diligence

Inspection contract schedule tied to code frequency, with device counts per site and renewal history.
Deficiency-to-repair conversion rate. Separate documented deficiencies, customer-authorized repair work, conversion and realized repair margin. An inspection does not establish a signed repair order or a price premium.
Technician licensing and certification coverage by jurisdiction. Confirm renewal, assignment and continued licensed staffing requirements; a company transaction does not establish that every credential transfers.

Who is buying

Roughly 125 transactions in 2025, up about 67% year over year, with the top operators holding only about 20% of the market. The demand is code-mandated: inspection, testing, and monitoring happen on a legal schedule rather than on a budget cycle.

Named platforms and deals: Pye-Barker Fire & Safety (Altas Partners and Leonard Green & Partners, 57 acquisitions in 2025 and over 220 since 2019); Summit Companies (BDT & MSD Partners, 2025, from BlackRock Long Term Private Capital); APi Group (NYSE: APG) acquiring Chubb Fire & Security for $3.1B in 2022; Encore Fire Protection (Permira, 2025, roughly $1.8B); AI Fire (Blackstone, 2025, roughly $1.1B); Marmic Fire & Safety (KKR, roughly $1B); CertaSite (The Riverside Company).

Operating benchmarks for fire and life safety

Fire and life safety operating benchmarks with evidence sources
Metric	Value	Definition	Evidence and source
Gross margin, directional band (Fire / sprinkler / life safety)	28% central planning point, 36% upper planning point, 20% lower planning point, scope: blended install and inspection	Revenue minus direct cost (labor, materials, subcontractors, direct equipment) as a share of revenue. Excludes overhead.	DirectionalLevel operator observation, directional. Not a measured distribution, so no sample size is claimed. Same values the Level margin calculator uses.
Days sales outstanding, directional band	64 days central planning point, 42 days upper planning point, 92 days lower planning point	Accounts receivable divided by annual revenue, times 365, for the trade as a whole (service plus project work at private-contractor scale).	DirectionalLevel operator observation, directional. Not a measured distribution, so no sample size is claimed. Same values the Level DSO calculator uses.
All-contractor net profit before tax	6.3% median, top quartile about 11.9%	Net profit before tax as a share of revenue across all construction and specialty-trade respondents. Historical respondent context, not a buyer's pricing floor or a trade-specific forecast.	Named referenceCFMA 2024 Construction Financial Benchmarker (n=1,290) verify

Sources: Breakwater M&A, 2026 Valuation Multiples for Fire Alarm and Life Safety Companies; PE Hub, PE-backed fire safety platforms have ignited strong valuations (2025); Security Sales & Integration, What is happening with M&A in fire and life safety (2026)

Restoration and remediation

Tuck-in add-on

4x to 6x

small residential-focused or single-territory operator

Regional platform

5x to 7x

mid-sized regional business with steady carrier or third-party-administrator program revenue

National platform

7x to 11x and above

scaled multi-state platform with commercial accounts and recurring service contracts

Named reference Multiples: CT Acquisitions M&A Guide (2026); Capstone Partners Industrial & Environmental Services M&A Update (2025); Hyde Park Capital Disaster Restoration Report (2023). Stated as EV/EBITDA unless the source says otherwise.

Buyer diligence tests, active acquirers & operating benchmarks for restoration and remediation3 diligence tests, 1 operating benchmarks, and named buyer references.

What moves the multiple

Carrier and third-party-administrator program depth, balanced against how concentrated those relationships are. Test program contract durability and the economic exposure to each carrier or administrator alongside EBITDA scale. Those relationships may matter to a buyer, but the compilation does not establish a premium or concentration-driven cap.

How a buyer tests it in diligence

Revenue by carrier and by third-party administrator, with separate program and customer definitions. The 31.0% largest-customer median is a blended MEP reference (n=959), not a restoration-specific observation or a carrier/TPA share.
Aged receivables by claim status. Separate adjuster approval, coverage disputes, accepted amounts and payment evidence. Aging alone does not prove how much reported revenue is collectible.
Catastrophe-year normalization: a storm or wildfire year restated to trend, with the incremental subcontract and travel cost that came with it.

Who is buying

Roughly 15,000 independent operators, with the top five national brands under 20% of share combined. Sponsors have funded more than 50 distinct restoration platforms since 2018, drawn by non-discretionary demand, rising severe-weather frequency, and carrier and third-party-administrator relationships that are difficult to replicate.

Named platforms and deals: ATI Restoration (TSG Consumer Partners, 15+ regional operators between 2020 and 2024); BluSky Restoration Contractors (Partners Group and Kohlberg & Company); HighGround Restoration Group (Trivest Partners, 14+ add-ons); Blackmon Mooring and BMS CAT (AEA Investors, 11+ add-ons since 2020); Cotton Commercial USA (Sun Capital Partners); Guardian Restoration Partners (Alpine Investors, 2024); FirstOnSite under FirstService (NASDAQ: FSV).

Operating benchmarks for restoration and remediation

Level does not publish a restoration DSO or gross-margin band. Restoration collections run behind insurance adjustment rather than on standard trade terms, so neither a residential service band nor a commercial project band describes them well. Use the aged-receivable-by-claim-status test above and the cross-trade operating metrics below.

Restoration and remediation operating benchmarks with evidence sources
Metric	Value	Definition	Evidence and source
All-contractor net profit before tax	6.3% median, top quartile about 11.9%	Net profit before tax as a share of revenue across all construction and specialty-trade respondents. Historical respondent context, not a buyer's pricing floor or a trade-specific forecast.	Named referenceCFMA 2024 Construction Financial Benchmarker (n=1,290) verify

Sources: Hyde Park Capital, Disaster Restoration M&A Industry Report (2023); CT Acquisitions, Sell Your Restoration Business in 2026: Multiples, Named Buyers; PE Hub, Private equity sees opportunities in restoration services (2024)

How we measured, and what we did not measureWhich figures Level measured, which are named external sources, and which are labelled operator bands.

Level measured none of the multiples on this page and all five of the cross-trade operating metrics. Everything else is either a named external source with a link or a labeled directional operator band.

Level does not measure multiples

Not one multiple on this page is ours. Each range is compiled from named M&A advisory reports, transaction databases, and valuation references. Specific article links are given where available; a homepage or reference name cannot verify a range. The retained planning compilations are not figures independently reproduced from every named advisor. Check the source date and scope.

What is ours, and with what sample

The five cross-trade operating metrics are the founding team's analysis of 2,200+ contractors representing $13.25B in job revenue, built across operating, private-equity, and CFO roles. Each carries its own sample size. Figures are aggregated and anonymized, and no individual company is identified or identifiable.

Directional means directional

The per-trade gross-margin and DSO bands are operator observations, not a measured survey, so they claim no sample size and are badged directional everywhere they appear. They are the same values our public calculators use, so one metric carries one value across the site.

No per-trade split of our own data

Level measured a blended pool across HVAC, plumbing, electrical, mechanical, refrigeration, and fire protection. We do not publish a per-trade split of it, so where a trade has no Level band the table says so instead of borrowing a neighboring trade's number.

Reconciling two true numbers

Two DSO figures for the same trade are both true at different scopes. The directional bands below are blended service plus project work at private-contractor scale. The much longer cycles published on the trade benchmark pages (commercial mechanical roughly 90 to 105 days, mechanical roughly 90 to 118 days, computed from SEC filings) are large public commercial contractors, where retainage and progress billing dominate. A residential service book collects far faster than either. Compare yourself to the scope that matches your work mix.

Open and machine-readable

Every row above ships as JSON with its definition, evidence class, source, and link at valuation-multiples.json, free to cite with attribution to Level. The Level-measured values are copied from contractor.json and checked against it by the companion generator. This check preserves values, not a causal relationship to pricing.

So what should I do about it, and when?

Start with the number whose supporting records are hardest to rebuild. A buyer who cannot verify it may ask for more support, propose an adjustment or different terms, delay, or withdraw. A discount or earnout depends on negotiation; no universal buyer sequence is established here.

The fix is not exotic: attach actual cost to every job, reconcile the field system to the ledger monthly, track retainage by contract, keep a revenue-by-customer schedule, and compute margin per service agreement after fully burdened labor. Timing depends on the missing history and source access, which is why it belongs well before a sale process rather than during one. Level does that work as a service, on the systems you already run, and it starts by looking at one number.

Get a free data-layer audit

What number do you trust least right now?

A buyer is going to rebuild that number from your own records. Send us the one you trust least, whether it is job margin, recurring-agreement profitability, aged receivables, or revenue by customer, and Level will review its supporting records, show where support is missing, and outline the work to document it; a buyer's own diligence may differ. Your numbers stay yours, we never publish or share client data.

In the free audit, we check:

•whether job cost actually ties from your field system to your general ledger
•which recurring agreements still hold margin after labor is fully burdened
•where your working capital and concentration sit against the peer range

We use this to prepare your audit before the call. Your numbers stay private.

Frequently Asked Questions

What EBITDA multiple can a contracting business sell for?

The retained planning bands across 13 trades span roughly 2.5x to 8x for tuck-in cases,4x to 12x for regional cases and 7x to 20x for national-platform cases. The 3x concrete or glass case and higher fire-safety, security, doors/access or HVAC cases are sensitivities, not a matched transaction sample proving a trade or recurring-revenue premium. Compare scale, actual EBITDA, transaction structure and the buyer's offer. Named references remain linked for verification; Level does not measure transaction multiples.

Why is the same trade quoted at 4x in one place and 18x in another?

A hypothetical 4x tuck-in and 18x national recapitalization illustrate different scale and transaction assumptions; those numbers alone do not identify why offers differ. Rebuild EBITDA, owner replacement costs, retained working capital and deal terms before comparing. The retained 15x to 34x public-MEP range is historical market context requiring its own measurement date and enterprise-value bridge, not an offer for a private book or a controlled estimate of a liquidity premium.

Which numbers actually move my multiple?

Four useful diligence questions, without claiming a universal buyer sequence. First, recurring revenue share and whether that recurring revenue is profitable after fully burdened labor. Second, whether job-level margin can be rebuilt from your own records, because a quality-of-earnings provider will rebuild it and will do so conservatively if job cost is not attached to job revenue. Third, working capital: reconcile eligible balances and reserves to the negotiated target rather than treating every uncollected dollar as a price reduction. Fourth, customer concentration. None of these four require a broker to change. All four require supporting records; their effect on an offer depends on the buyer and deal.

How will a buyer test my numbers in diligence?

By rebuilding them from source records rather than accepting your reports. Expect a quality-of-earnings process that ties revenue to invoices and cost to job records, a working-capital analysis on aged receivables and retainage, a revenue-by-customer schedule for three years, and for any recurring revenue claim, a contract-by-contract schedule with term, renewal history, and margin per contract. One operating failure to investigate is disagreement between the field system and the general ledger. Missing support can lead to further diligence, a proposed adjustment or a delayed decision; the records alone do not establish a discount amount or the frequency of fraud.

Does clean bookkeeping actually change the price, or just the process?

Clear records can reduce unresolved diligence questions. A buyer who cannot reconcile job cost to the general ledger may request more support, change proposed terms, pause or withdraw; a specific price change or earnout is negotiated, not a measured result of bookkeeping alone. The work to fix it is not exotic: attach actual cost to every job, reconcile the field system to the ledger every month, track retainage by contract, and keep a revenue-by-customer schedule. Timing depends on the missing history and source access, which is why it belongs well before a sale process rather than during one.

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The clean data layer: monthly books, reconciliations, and organized financials AI can work with.

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The full AI operating layer: custom agents, weekly actions, and benchmarks to grow margin per hour.

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Get a free data-layer audit

Review the records behind your numbers before a sale process. We will check whether job cost ties to your ledger, which recurring agreements actually hold margin, and where your working capital and customer concentration sit against Level's blended cross-trade benchmarks, where that scope is relevant.

2,200+ businesses benchmarked·$13.25B in revenue analyzed·Weekly action cadence

No commitment. Real numbers, not generic advice.

What EBITDA multiple can a contractor sell for, and what moves it?

What recurring-revenue evidence will a buyer test?

What EBITDA multiple does each contractor trade sell for?

Which numbers actually move my multiple?

Where does the typical contractor actually sit on those four numbers?

How will a buyer test my numbers in diligence, trade by trade?

HVAC

Plumbing

Electrical

Roofing

Commercial cleaning and janitorial

Landscaping and grounds maintenance

Painting and wall finishes

Concrete and masonry

Glass and glazing

Doors and access systems

Low-voltage and commercial security

Fire and life safety

Restoration and remediation

So what should I do about it, and when?

What number do you trust least right now?

Related Reading

Frequently Asked Questions

What EBITDA multiple can a contracting business sell for?

Why is the same trade quoted at 4x in one place and 18x in another?

Which numbers actually move my multiple?

How will a buyer test my numbers in diligence?

Does clean bookkeeping actually change the price, or just the process?

Three tiers, one ladder.

Get a free data-layer audit