GRIFFINAdvisory Group
For owners

Selling a construction business

Most construction businesses that sell are priced on owner earnings: half of 3,142 sold between 2021 and 2025 went for 1.81 to 3.13 times seller's discretionary earnings. Larger contractors are priced on EBITDA, where strategic buyers averaged 7.5x and private-equity buyers 10.6x in disclosed deals. 1,2

01

What do buyers pay?

The answer depends first on size, because size decides which earnings figure a buyer prices. Smaller contractors are priced on seller's discretionary earnings — profit plus the owner's own pay and perks. Larger ones are priced on EBITDA, after a market salary for management. The two multiples are not on the same scale and should never be compared directly.

Smaller contractors, on owner earnings: across 3,142 building and construction businesses sold in the United States from 2021 to 2025, the average price was 2.60 times seller's discretionary earnings, half sold between 1.81 and 3.13 times, and the median sale price was $750,000. 1

Electrical and mechanical contractors in the same data averaged 2.66 times seller's discretionary earnings, with a median sale price of $950,000. 1

Larger contractors, on EBITDA: in construction services transactions with disclosed terms from 2018 to 2025, private-equity buyers paid an average of 10.6 times EBITDA and strategic buyers 7.5 times. Disclosed deals skew large, so treat these as what a well-positioned firm can reach, not a typical price. 2

For context across all industries, advisors reported a median of 5.8 times EBITDA on closed deals between $5 million and $50 million in the second quarter of 2026. 3

Size moves the multiple within the small end as well: the same data puts a contractor with $3 million of revenue above 3 times earnings, and one below $1 million closer to 1.8 times. Why the first size step is the steepest 1

02

Who buys construction businesses?

Two kinds of buyer recur in acquisitions of established contractors. Each prices a business differently, which is why the same company can draw offers far apart.

Public specialty-contractor groups

Listed companies that grow by adding regional electrical, mechanical and building-services contractors with established customers and crews. They pay for market position and management that stays.

  • EMCOR Group — acquired Miller Electric Company, a Southeastern electrical contractor, in February 2025 4
  • Quanta Services — acquired Cupertino Electric, a management- and family-owned electrical contractor in San Jose, California, in July 2024 5
  • Limbach Holdings — acquired Pioneer Power, a formerly employee-owned mechanical, piping and plumbing contractor in Minnesota, in July 2025 6
  • APi Group — acquired Evergreen Fire and Security, a fire-alarm and security systems integrator in Tacoma, Washington, in September 2026 7

Private-equity trade-services platforms

Sponsor-backed platforms that buy plumbing, heating, cooling and electrical businesses region by region, often keeping the local name and the owner for a transition period.

03

What moves the multiple?

Up

  • Recurring service and maintenance revenue. Contract work that renews is valued above one-off projects, because a buyer can underwrite it.
  • Management, licenses and customer relationships that do not depend on the owner. A business that runs for a month without the founder is a business a buyer can own.
  • Scale. Each step up in size moves both the multiple and the kind of buyer that will look at the business. Who buys, and how it changes the price

Down

  • Customer concentration: a handful of general contractors or developers supplying most of the work.
  • Bonding and credit that rest on the owner's personal guarantee, which a buyer has to replace before closing.
  • Thin or uneven books. Job costing that cannot be tied to the financial statements turns diligence into a price negotiation.
04

What does it cost to sell?

The route sets the fee, and the size of the business mostly sets the route: a marketplace listing, a business broker on commission, or a retained M&A advisor. The ranges for each, with sources, are on what it costs to sell a business.

Griffin’s valuation report is a fixed fee of $20,000 to $50,000 or more, delivered in four to six weeks: the value range, the model that produced it, and the buyers who would pay it, before any decision to go to market.

Sources

  1. BizBuySell, “Construction Business Valuation Multiples & Financial Benchmarks” (sold transactions 2021–2025). Accessed October 3, 2026.
  2. Capstone Partners, “Construction Services M&A Update – February 2026”, 25 February 2026. Accessed October 3, 2026.
  3. IBBA and M&A Source, “Market Pulse Survey Q2 2026”, 25 August 2026. Accessed October 3, 2026.
  4. EMCOR Group, “EMCOR Group, Inc. Completes Acquisition of Miller Electric Company”, February 2025. Accessed October 3, 2026.
  5. Quanta Services, “Quanta Services Acquires Cupertino Electric, Inc.”, 18 July 2024. Accessed October 3, 2026.
  6. Limbach Holdings, “Limbach Acquires Pioneer Power”, 1 July 2025. Accessed October 3, 2026.
  7. APi Group, “APi Group Expands Electronic Security Presence in North America and Provides Business Update”, 22 September 2026. Accessed October 3, 2026.
  8. Seacoast Service Partners, “Seacoast Service Partners Acquires GP Plumbing”, 14 April 2025. Accessed October 3, 2026.
  9. Southfield Capital, “Strategic Acquisition of PermaCold Engineering”, 7 January 2026. Accessed October 3, 2026.