Find the right broker to sell your plumbing business in Florida

The right broker to sell a Florida plumbing business has closed plumbing deals before, understands how residential service revenue is valued differently from new-construction work, and knows which buyers are actually active in Florida right now. A generalist broker can list your business. A broker who knows this market can build a competitive process around it.

Florida plumbing businesses sold at a median multiple of 2.8x seller’s discretionary earnings in recent marketplace data, but service-led businesses with recurring maintenance contracts have reached 5x to 6x EBITDA when marketed to the right buyer pool. The gap between those numbers is almost entirely a broker selection problem.

Key Takeaways

• Florida plumbing multiples range from 2.8x SDE for smaller operations to 6x EBITDA for service-heavy businesses with maintenance contracts.
• PE platforms are actively acquiring Florida plumbing businesses. P3 Services (Stellex Capital-backed) acquired multiple Florida operators in 2024. Shore Capital partnered with Sarasota-based Ackerman Plumbing. Southeastern Home Services acquired Pro-Team Plumbing in Lakeland.
• Service-and-repair revenue trades at 1.5x to 2x the multiple of new-construction revenue. Your work mix matters more than your top-line revenue.
• Florida employs 26,730 licensed plumbers (BLS), and 90% of contractors report difficulty hiring skilled trades. Your technician bench is a core asset buyers price explicitly.
• A broker who has never sold a plumbing business will not know how to recast your financials for the right buyer or run a process that reaches PE platforms.

Why selling a plumbing business in Florida is different

Florida is one of the most active plumbing markets in the country. Population growth, hurricane recovery work, and a strong residential construction pipeline have driven sustained demand. Florida employs approximately 26,730 licensed plumbers, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the state’s plumbing workforce is projected to grow at 13% through 2034, nearly three times the national rate of 5%.

That growth creates a problem for buyers: finding and keeping licensed plumbers is hard. The licensed technician workforce in Florida is tight. According to the Associated General Contractors of America 2026 Outlook, 42% of Florida construction firms reported workers failing to show up or leaving during recent enforcement actions. That shortage makes your existing, licensed, tenured plumbing crew a genuine asset, not a line item.

The residential-versus-commercial split in your book also shapes your sale in ways that don’t apply to other businesses. Residential service-and-repair revenue is predictable. Commercial new-construction revenue is tied to housing starts and building permits. Buyers price those two revenue streams differently, and Florida’s fast-growing but cyclical new-construction market makes that distinction especially important here.

Private equity has noticed. P3 Services, backed by Stellex Capital, acquired six home services businesses in 2024 with a specific focus on the Southeast and Southwest Florida markets. Shore Capital Partners partnered with Ackerman Plumbing in Sarasota. Southeastern Home Services, backed by WhitneyWilder, acquired Pro-Team Plumbing in Lakeland. These are not distant, coastal deals. They are happening across the state.

For a broader picture of how Florida’s trades business sale market works, this overview of what plumbing, HVAC, and trades owners need to know about selling is a good starting point.

What a good plumbing broker actually does

A broker who knows plumbing does not just list your business and wait. They build a process that creates competition among the right buyers for your specific business.

That starts with recasting your financials correctly. Plumbing businesses often run significant owner benefits through the P&L: personal vehicles, cell phones, owner family salaries, and equipment purchases that a new owner would not replicate. A broker who knows the industry will identify every add-back that a buyer’s accountant will accept, and present your adjusted earnings in a way that holds up in due diligence. Sloppy add-back work is one of the most common reasons deals fall apart or reprice late.

The broker then identifies the right buyer pool. For a Florida plumbing business, that pool typically includes:

• PE platforms actively rolling up home services in the Southeast, where your business becomes part of a larger regional operation and the price can be significantly higher than an individual sale
• Individual buyers using SBA 7(a) financing, who typically pay 3x to 5x SDE and are looking for a well-run operation they can step into and run
• Strategic buyers, meaning other plumbing or home services businesses in Florida that want to expand their footprint or add your crew and customer base

Each of these buyer types requires a different pitch, different deal structure, and different set of representations. A broker who only knows the SBA individual buyer market will leave PE interest on the table. A broker who only speaks PE language may not know how to close with an individual buyer if PE doesn’t bite.

What separates a plumbing specialist from a generalist broker

A generalist broker knows how to run a sale process. A broker with plumbing experience knows what breaks plumbing deals and how to prevent it.

The most common deal-breakers in plumbing sales are:

• Licensing transfer issues. Florida requires a licensed qualifier to be attached to a plumbing contractor’s license. If you are the only licensed qualifier in your business, a buyer cannot operate without solving that first. A broker who knows this will raise it early and help structure a solution, whether that is an employment agreement with you post-close, a partner in the business who can qualify, or a buyer who brings their own qualifier.
• Owner dependency. If you are the primary relationship for your commercial accounts, those accounts may not transfer. A broker with plumbing experience will help you begin transitioning commercial relationships before going to market, because buyers will discount or escrow around this risk.
• Revenue quality presentation. New-construction plumbing revenue is priced at 3x to 4x. Residential service-and-repair revenue is priced at 5x to 6x by buyers who want predictability. A broker who does not understand this distinction will let a buyer lump your revenue together and price it at the lower multiple.

A generalist may close the deal. A plumbing-experienced broker will close a better deal.

Questions to ask before you hire any broker

Before you sign a listing agreement, you should be able to get straight answers to these questions. If a broker gets vague on any of them, that is a signal worth taking seriously.

About their track record:

• How many plumbing businesses have you closed in Florida in the last three years?
• Who were the buyers: PE platforms, individual buyers, or strategic acquirers?
• What was the revenue range of those businesses?

About your specific situation:

• How does my residential-versus-commercial mix affect how you’ll price and present this business?
• Who is the licensed qualifier on my plumbing contractor’s license, and how will we handle that in a sale?
• Which PE platforms are actively buying Florida plumbing businesses right now?

About the process:

• How many buyers will you approach, and how will you find them?
• How do you handle a situation where one buyer tries to retrade the price after due diligence?
• What does your fee structure look like, and when does your engagement end?

A broker who has sold plumbing businesses before will answer all of these specifically. A broker who hasn’t will be general and reassuring without giving you a real answer.

For a broader list of questions worth asking any broker before you hire them, this guide on what to ask a business broker covers the fundamentals.

How The Owner’s Shortlist matches plumbing owners with brokers

The Owner’s Shortlist does not represent brokers. It matches Florida plumbing owners with brokers who have actually sold plumbing businesses.

When you reach out, we ask about your business: revenue size, residential versus commercial mix, whether you have a licensed master plumber on staff, and what timeline you’re working with. From there, we match you with brokers who have relevant deal experience and are actively working with buyers in your segment. You don’t have to interview six people to find one who knows the territory.

Tell us about your plumbing business and we’ll match you with the right broker.

Common questions owners ask

Who are the best brokers for selling a plumbing business in Florida?

There is no single best broker. The right broker has closed plumbing deals in Florida before, understands the difference between residential service revenue and new-construction work, and knows which buyers are active right now. That means PE platforms, SBA-backed individual buyers, and strategic acquirers in the Southeast. The Owner's Shortlist matches Florida plumbing owners with brokers who meet those specific criteria. You can describe your business at theownersshortlist.com/get-matched/ and we'll identify a fit.

What is a plumbing business worth in Florida?

Florida plumbing businesses sell at a median of around 2.8x seller's discretionary earnings for smaller operations, according to marketplace data. Service-and-repair businesses with recurring maintenance contracts can reach 5x to 6x EBITDA. New-construction-heavy books trade lower, often 3x to 4x, because the revenue is tied to the housing cycle. Your specific mix of residential service, commercial service, and new construction work drives that number more than almost anything else.

Do I need a broker who specializes in plumbing businesses?

Not necessarily a plumbing-only specialist, but you need a broker who has actually sold plumbing businesses. Ask how many plumbing or home services deals they have closed in Florida in the last three years. Ask who the buyers were. A broker who knows which PE platforms are actively buying in Florida right now will give you access to a very different buyer pool than a generalist who posts a listing and waits.

How long does it take to sell a plumbing business in Florida?

Most Florida plumbing sales take 6 to 12 months from going to market to closing. The timeline depends on how quickly your financials can be organized, how complex the licensing transfer is, and whether a PE buyer or an individual buyer makes the most sense. Deals with clean books and a stable technician base tend to close faster. Deals where the owner is the only licensed master plumber take longer because buyers need to solve that problem before they can close.