about project
Horizon Hospitality Builders was preparing a bid for a 15-story, 210-room hotel featuring an indoor pool, commercial kitchen, laundry facility, bar, meeting rooms, and rooftop mechanical equipment. Due to the complexity of the plumbing systems and the fast-approaching bid deadline, the client required a full plumbing takeoff with system-by-system cost breakdowns.
Project Scope
The project included:
- Domestic hot and cold water distribution
- Hot water recirculation system
- Sanitary and vent systems for 210 guest bathrooms
- Pool plumbing systems, including filters, pumps, and drainage
- Commercial kitchen plumbing, grease interceptors, and floor drains
- Roof and balcony storm drainage
- Laundry and back-of-house plumbing
Natural gas piping for kitchen equipment and boilers
Client Requirements
The client asked for:
- A detailed material and labor estimate ready for immediate bid use
- Separate cost sections for hotel rooms, commercial kitchen, pool systems, and back-of-house areas
- Precise fixture count verification across 15 repetitive floors
- Quick turnaround without compromising accuracy
Value-engineering suggestions to improve bid competitiveness
Challenges
- Over 470 sheets of drawings requiring extensive coordination
- Repetitive floors with varying bathroom layouts across guest wings
- Complex routing for hot water recirculation
- Tight 72-hour delivery requirement
- Significant variation between architectural and plumbing schedules
- High-detail kitchen and pool systems needing specialized calculations
Drawing Review & Coordination
We conducted:
- A full audit of architectural, plumbing, mechanical, structural, and civil plans
- Confirmation of fixture layouts and pipe routes across 15 floors
- Verification of commercial kitchen equipment rough-ins
- Coordination of pool mechanical systems and filtration loops
- Review of envelope penetrations, sleeves, and firestopping
- Comparison of drawing revisions to eliminate discrepancies
Our Approach
1. Digital Quantity Takeoff
Using PlanSwift + Bluebeam, we extracted precise quantities for:
- PEX/Copper/CPVC domestic water piping
- PVC/ABS sanitary and vent systems
- Gas piping with BTU load calculations
- Hot water recirculation mains and branches
- Floor drains, cleanouts, carrier systems
- Pool supply, return, and drain piping
- Roof drains, scuppers, leaders, and storm piping
2. Pipe Sizing & Calculations
- Applied fixture-unit calculations per the Florida Plumbing Code
- Determined recirculation pump requirements
- Verified sanitary stack capacities and vent sizing
- Calculated grease interceptor capacities for the commercial kitchen
- Checked storm loads for roof and balcony drains
3. Labor Productivity & Cost Building
- Estimated labor hours using hotel-specific production rates
- Accounted for vertical installation challenges across 15 floors
- Included equipment (lifts, scaffolding, material hoists)
- Built complete material + labor assemblies for each system
- Provided a floor-by-floor, system-by-system cost summary
4. Quality Control
- Double-review process
- Automated clash detection for shafts and risers
- Manual verification of bathroom stacks and kitchen rough-ins
- Reconciliation of fixture counts across all drawing sets
5. Final Deliverable
We delivered a 182-page detailed plumbing estimate, including:
- System-level cost breakdowns
- Floor-by-floor fixture summaries
- Separate estimates for pool, kitchen, and laundry
- Value-engineering options (material substitutions, routing optimization)
Delivered within 72 hours, exceeding client expectations.
Results
- Client submitted a highly competitive bid supported by accurate numbers
- Their internal estimating team saved over 60 hours of work
- Our early detection of vent stack conflicts prevented potential redesign costs
- Procurement planning improved thanks to clear material summaries
Final plumbing contract value was within 2.8% of our estimate
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