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How to Compare Plumbing Quotes in Ontario: The Eleven-Line Grid, and Three Example Quotes for the Same 12-Fixture Rural House
Plumbing & Water
Three Plumbing Quotes, One Grid: Count the Fixtures Before You Count the Dollars
Three quotes come in to plumb the same new house at $11,000, $16,000 and $22,500. The natural thing is to toss the top one and phone the bottom one. Hold off. Plumbing quotes are rarely for the same job: one counts 12 fixtures and stops at rough-in, one includes trim and the ejector, one runs the well line and hangs the water heater. This page gives you eleven lines to fill in for every quote, then runs three example quotes through them until the cheap one stops being cheap.
The Eleven Lines
| Line | What the quote has to say | If it is missing, budget |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Rough-in fixture count | A number, and a list: every toilet, sink, tub, shower, laundry, hose bib, floor drain | $800 to $1,200 a fixture, $1,000 default |
| 2. Trim | Setting the fixtures after the finishes, labour | $250 to $350 a fixture, $300 default |
| 3. Fixtures | Supplied by the plumber, or by you, and the allowance in dollars if supplied | Your own allowance; it varies hugely |
| 4. Water heater | Type, size, who supplies it, installed or not | Tank install $1,200 to $1,800 |
| 5. Underground | The under-slab drains and the sump pit, before the pour | Quoted per job; ask for it as its own line |
| 6. Water service or well line | Who trenches, how far, what pipe, to which wall | Well line allowance $2,000 to $10,000+ |
| 7. Sump and ejector | Pump, pit, discharge; a sewage ejector if any drains sit below the sewer or septic outlet | Ejector adds $1,500 to $3,500 |
| 8. Permit | Who applies and who pays the fee | Your municipality’s fee; Toronto’s basic is $205 |
| 9. Inspections | Who books them and who meets the inspector | Nothing, but somebody has to do it |
| 10. Patching | On a renovation: who opens and closes walls, ceilings, floors, to what finish | $500 to $2,000 in finished areas |
| 11. Warranty | Years, what it covers, in writing | Nothing, if it is blank |
October 2026 prices, before HST. The well line bands are allowances: under 100 ft $3,000, 100 to 250 ft $5,500, long or rocky $8,500. What a new house’s plumbing costs in full is on the new-house plumbing cost page; the per-fixture arithmetic is in the plumbing cost estimator.
Why Ontario prices are all over the map: before you blame a plumber for being high, know that the plumbers we checked for this page could not agree either. A Toronto plumber said $800 to $1,200 a fixture for new-construction rough-in, an Ottawa plumber about $950, and a Halton plumber $800 to $1,800. For a whole house, the rough-in alone ran $8,000 to $15,000 or more. Trim, fixtures, the water service and the water heater are in some quotes and nowhere in others, and the city or the township moves it again. Budget $1,000 a fixture rough plus $300 trim, and get two or three quotes on the same written scope.
Three Example Quotes on the Grid
This is a made-up example. The house is a two-storey on a full basement in rural Simcoe County, on a drilled well and a septic system, with 12 fixtures including a basement 3-piece bathroom that sits below the septic outlet, so it needs an ejector. The well is about 180 ft from the house. The three quotes are fictional, priced with the ranges on this page.
| Line | Quote A | Quote B | Quote C |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price on paper | $11,000 | $16,000 | $22,500 |
| Rough-in, 12 fixtures | Included | Included | Included |
| Trim | Not listed: add 12 x $300 = $3,600 | Included | Included |
| Water heater, tank, installed | Not listed: add $1,500 | Not listed: add $1,500 | Included |
| Well line, 180 ft | “By others”: add $5,500 allowance | “By others”: add $5,500 allowance | Included |
| Sewage ejector | Not listed: add $2,500 | Included | Included |
| Fixtures, supply | By owner | By owner | By owner |
| Permit and inspections | “Owner to arrange” | Plumber applies and books | Plumber applies and books |
| Warranty | Not stated | 1 year | 2 years, in writing |
| Same scope | $24,100 | $23,000 | $22,500 |
Example only. Every added number is a default or the middle of its range on this page: trim at $300 a fixture, a tank water heater at $1,500 (the middle of $1,200 to $1,800), the ejector at $2,500 (the middle of $1,500 to $3,500), and the 100 to 250 ft well line allowance at $5,500. A: $11,000 + $3,600 + $1,500 + $5,500 + $2,500 = $24,100. B: $16,000 + $1,500 + $5,500 = $23,000. C: $22,500. Fixtures and the permit fee are left out of all three alike.
On paper, A is $11,500 under C. On the same scope it is $1,600 over C, and B is $500 over C. The dear quote is the cheap one, and it is the only one with a two-year warranty in writing.
Notice where the money hides: the well line. “By others” means by you, and on a rural lot that is a trench below frost from the well to the house. If the excavator is already on site for the foundation and septic, have him price it; that is the kind of work GeorgianBaySiteworks.ca does on Georgian Bay lots. The well itself is a separate contract again, on the well drilling cost page.
The sensible next step: ask B to price the water heater and the well line in writing. If B comes in under $22,500 on the same scope, check the names on the register and take B. If not, C, which wrote down everything.
Reading the Grid
- Send every plumber the same package. Plans, the fixture list, the water heater you want, and where the well or the water service comes in.
- Count, do not read adjectives. “Complete plumbing package” means nothing. “12 fixtures, rough and trim, 50 gallon tank installed” means something.
- Put the same allowance in every column. A quote that supplies $3,000 of fixtures looks dearer than one that supplies none, and is not.
- Check the names on every quote. Plumber is a compulsory trade; the hiring page shows how to use the Skilled Trades Ontario register.
- Find out who pulls the permit. “Owner to arrange” is not illegal, but it means you are booking the inspections, and the permit page shows what that involves.
- A blank counts as zero. If it is not written down, assume it is not in the price.
The same grid works on a renovation with three lines changed. On a basement bathroom, the rough-in count becomes the question of existing stubs versus breaking the slab, the ejector or an upflush toilet, and the patching line grows teeth. The bathroom rough-in cost page has those numbers.
The Grid Is Free; the Review Is $99
Honestly, the grid answers most of it. Fill it in at the kitchen table with a pencil and a coffee, and most of the time the answer is sitting there. You do not need to pay anybody to tell you a quote with no trim has no trim.
The $99 review is for the rest: two quotes within a few hundred dollars, a line written so you cannot tell if it is in or out, or a water treatment quote that does not seem to match your water test. I read up to three plumbing, well or treatment quotes, or one quote plus your water test report, fill in the grid and write down what each left out and what I would ask. It is a written review, not a referral. We do not sell plumbers and we take no referral fees.
Questions people ask
How many plumbing quotes should I get?
Two or three on the same written scope. Send each plumber the same plans, the same fixture list and the same water heater, or you are comparing three different houses.
Why are plumbing quotes for a new house so different?
Because they rarely cover the same job. Published Ontario rough-in prices run $800 to $1,800 a fixture, and some quotes include trim, the water heater, the ejector and the water service or well line while others leave them to “others”.
What should a plumbing quote include?
A fixture count, trim, who supplies the fixtures, the water heater, the under-slab work, the water service or well line, any sump or ejector, who applies for the permit and books the inspections, patching on a renovation, and the warranty in writing.
Is the cheapest plumbing quote a bad sign?
Usually it is an incomplete quote rather than a bad one. Price the missing lines and compare again. If it is still cheapest on the same scope and the plumber is on the register, take it.
Does the plumber supply the toilets and taps?
Either way works, as long as the quote says which. Many quotes are labour for trim with the fixtures supplied by you; carry your own fixture allowance either way.
Build your own column before the quotes arrive
The plumbing cost estimator prices your house by fixture, municipal or well and septic, basement or slab, which gives you the column every quote is read against. If the grid still leaves a question, the $99 review reads up to three quotes and writes down what each one is missing.
Sources and further reading
- Skilled Trades Ontario public register: where you check that the plumber on your quote can legally work in the trade, by name or ID number.
- Your rights when starting home renovations or repairs: Ontario government: written contracts, estimates and the cooling-off rules for work done at your home.
- GeorgianBaySiteworks.ca: excavation, trenching and site work for wells, water lines and septic on Georgian Bay lots.
