{ "slug": "valuation-multiples", "label": "Contractor valuation multiples by trade and scale bracket, with the operating benchmarks that move them", "publisher": "Level", "publisher_url": "https://levelcfo.com", "page": "https://levelcfo.com/benchmarks/contractor-valuation/", "dataset": "The Level Index, contractor valuation multiples and diligence benchmarks", "last_updated": "2026-07-26", "license": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (free to cite with attribution to Level, levelcfo.com)", "segments": [ "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" ], "important_note": "Level does NOT measure transaction multiples and publishes none of its own. Every multiple in this dataset is externally sourced from named M&A advisors, transaction databases, and valuation firms, with a verification URL. What Level contributes is the other half: the operating benchmarks that decide where inside a published range a specific company lands, and the diligence test a buyer runs on each one.", "field_dictionary": { "provenance": "Exactly one of three values. external_named = named external source with a verification URL. level_proprietary = Level-measured, carries a sample size n or an explicit basis, and ties to contractor.json. directional = Level operator observation, explicitly not a measured distribution, no sample size claimed.", "ebitda_multiples": "EV/EBITDA ranges as reported by the named source, split into three scale brackets. tuck_in = small add-on acquisition. regional_platform = lower-middle-market platform or platform-quality add-on. national_platform = scaled multi-state platform, recapitalization, or institutional exit. Each bracket states the EBITDA or revenue scope it applies to, because a multiple without a scale bracket is the figure that misleads owners most.", "what_moves_the_multiple": "The operating attribute that explains the spread between brackets for this trade, which is the question an M&A broker cannot answer from transaction data alone.", "diligence_tests": "How a buyer or a quality-of-earnings provider verifies that attribute from source records. These are the tests, not a sales pitch.", "operating_benchmarks": "Margin, DSO, labor share, and recurring-revenue-mix benchmarks for the trade, each labeled with its provenance. Directional bands are the same values Level's public DSO and margin calculators use, so one metric has one value site wide.", "cross_trade_operating_metrics": "Level's own measured metrics, blended across trades. Level does not publish a per-trade split of its own dataset, so these are stated once, cross-trade, and every value ties to contractor.json." }, "scope_notes": { "dso": "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.", "margin": "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.", "multiples": "Every multiple on this page is externally sourced and is stated as EV/EBITDA unless the source states otherwise. Level does not measure transaction multiples and does not publish one. Ranges are what named advisors and transaction databases report, so they lag the market by a quarter or more and they widen in both directions on individual deals.", "brackets_vs_public": "Three different multiples for the same trade can all be true, because each prices a different asset. The tuck-in and regional brackets on this page are private M&A transactions for a whole company. The national-platform bracket is an institutional recapitalization of a scaled, professionally managed group. Separately, public MEP contractors have traded in the 15x to 34x range on the stock market, which prices a liquid minority stake in an audited public company and is not a price a private owner will be offered. Compare yourself to the bracket that matches your scale and your buyer type." }, "cross_trade_operating_metrics": { "note": "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.", "canonical_source": "https://levelcfo.com/data/benchmarks/contractor.json", "metrics": [ { "metric": "Median collection rate", "value": "85.1%", "n": 464, "definition": "Cash collected as a share of billed revenue. Top quartile 92.7%, top decile 96.0%, bottom quartile 70.7%.", "why_it_moves_the_multiple": "A buyer funds working capital at close. Every point of uncollected billing is a point of working capital the buyer has to carry, so it comes out of the purchase price or lands in an escrow.", "provenance": "level_proprietary", "source": "The Level Index (contractor benchmark research), blended across HVAC, plumbing, electrical, mechanical, refrigeration, and fire protection", "canonical_dataset": "https://levelcfo.com/data/benchmarks/contractor.json" }, { "metric": "Median service-agreement gross margin", "value": "37.9%", "n": 259, "definition": "Gross margin on recurring service-agreement revenue. Top quartile 53%.", "why_it_moves_the_multiple": "Recurring service revenue is the single most repeated reason a platform pays a premium. A buyer will not pay a recurring-revenue multiple on agreements that are unprofitable once labor is fully burdened.", "provenance": "level_proprietary", "source": "The Level Index (contractor benchmark research), blended across HVAC, plumbing, electrical, mechanical, refrigeration, and fire protection", "canonical_dataset": "https://levelcfo.com/data/benchmarks/contractor.json" }, { "metric": "Median job-level gross margin", "value": "44.3%", "basis": "1,747,089 completed jobs across 1,791 companies", "definition": "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%.", "why_it_moves_the_multiple": "Quality of earnings starts here. If job cost is not attached to job revenue in your system, the buyer rebuilds your margin themselves, and the rebuilt number is almost always lower than the reported one.", "provenance": "level_proprietary", "source": "The Level Index (contractor benchmark research), blended across HVAC, plumbing, electrical, mechanical, refrigeration, and fire protection", "canonical_dataset": "https://levelcfo.com/data/benchmarks/contractor.json" }, { "metric": "Median quote conversion (decided quotes)", "value": "73.9%", "n": 794, "definition": "Won divided by won plus lost, excluding still-pending quotes. 38.1% across all quotes issued.", "why_it_moves_the_multiple": "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.", "provenance": "level_proprietary", "source": "The Level Index (contractor benchmark research), blended across HVAC, plumbing, electrical, mechanical, refrigeration, and fire protection", "canonical_dataset": "https://levelcfo.com/data/benchmarks/contractor.json" }, { "metric": "Median revenue from largest single customer", "value": "31.0%", "n": 959, "definition": "Share of total revenue from the top one customer. p75 is 54.6% and p90 is 82.4%.", "why_it_moves_the_multiple": "Concentration is the most common single reason a multiple gets discounted or a deal gets restructured into an earnout. A buyer prices the risk that the top account leaves with the seller.", "provenance": "level_proprietary", "source": "The Level Index (contractor benchmark research), blended across HVAC, plumbing, electrical, mechanical, refrigeration, and fire protection", "canonical_dataset": "https://levelcfo.com/data/benchmarks/contractor.json" } ] }, "shared_external_anchor": { "metric": "All-contractor net profit before tax", "value": "6.3% median, top quartile about 11.9%", "definition": "Net profit before tax as a share of revenue across all construction and specialty-trade respondents. The profitability floor a buyer starts from before any trade adjustment.", "provenance": "external_named", "source": "CFMA 2024 Construction Financial Benchmarker (n=1,290)", "url": "https://cfma.org/benchmarker" }, "multiple_levers": [ { "lever": "Recurring revenue that is actually profitable", "worth": "The single largest bracket jump on this page", "detail": "Across HVAC, fire and life safety, low-voltage, doors, and landscaping, the top multiple band is defined by recurring revenue share, and two of those trades name a threshold outright: 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%, so a large share of agreement revenue sits at margins a buyer will not capitalize at a premium.", "how_a_buyer_tests_it": "Agreement count, renewal rate, and gross margin per agreement after fully burdened labor, not the quoted margin.", "level_page": "https://levelcfo.com/benchmarks/service-agreements/" }, { "lever": "Job-level margin a buyer can rebuild", "worth": "Sets whether your reported EBITDA survives quality of earnings", "detail": "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.", "level_page": "https://levelcfo.com/benchmarks/labor-productivity/" }, { "lever": "Working capital, which comes straight off the price", "worth": "Funded at close, dollar for dollar", "detail": "Level measures a median collection rate of 85.1% (n=464) with a top quartile of 92.7% and a top decile of 96.0%. On $10M of billings, moving from median to top decile is roughly $1.1M less trapped in receivables. A buyer funds the working-capital peg at close, so uncollected billing is not a soft problem, it lands in the purchase price or in an escrow.", "how_a_buyer_tests_it": "Aged receivables with a collection rate by cohort, plus retainage tracked contract by contract.", "level_page": "https://levelcfo.com/benchmarks/collection-gap/" }, { "lever": "Customer concentration", "worth": "The most common reason a multiple gets discounted", "detail": "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%. Above roughly half of revenue in one account, buyers stop paying a platform multiple and start structuring earnouts, because they are pricing the risk that the relationship belongs to the seller rather than to the company.", "how_a_buyer_tests_it": "Revenue by customer for three years, with the contract or program agreement behind each of the top five.", "level_page": "https://levelcfo.com/benchmarks/contractor/" } ], "trades": [ { "slug": "hvac", "trade": "HVAC", "level_benchmark_page": "https://levelcfo.com/benchmarks/hvac/", "ebitda_multiples": { "tuck_in": { "range": "4x to 8x", "scope": "$1M to $5M EBITDA add-on or tuck-in" }, "regional_platform": { "range": "7x to 11x", "scope": "$5M to $25M EBITDA lower-middle-market regional platform", "note": "Capstone Partners reports a 9.5x EV/EBITDA average across HVAC services transactions for 2024 to 2026." }, "national_platform": { "range": "15x to 18.5x and above", "scope": "national platform with high service-agreement density, institutional recapitalization" }, "unit": "EV/EBITDA unless the source states otherwise", "provenance": "external_named", "source": "Capstone Partners HVAC Services Sector M&A Update (2026); Forbes Partners HVAC M&A Industry Update (2025); First Page Sage, EBITDA Multiples for Private HVAC Companies (2025)", "url": "https://www.capstonepartners.com/insights/report-hvac-services-market-update/", "definition": "Enterprise value divided by EBITDA, as reported by the named advisors and transaction databases, segmented by the acquirer type and EBITDA scale bracket the source states. Level does not measure transaction multiples." }, "consolidation_activity": "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.", "notable_acquirers_or_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).", "what_moves_the_multiple": "Service-agreement density is the whole ballgame. The gap between the tuck-in band and the platform band is roughly 8 to 11 turns of EBITDA, and the single attribute that separates them is the share of revenue under a recurring maintenance agreement that is genuinely profitable.", "diligence_tests": [ "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." ], "operating_benchmarks": [ { "metric": "Gross margin, directional band (HVAC, service-heavy)", "value": "38% median, 48% top quartile, 28% bottom quartile, scope: service-heavy", "scope": "service-heavy", "definition": "Revenue minus direct cost (labor, materials, subcontractors, direct equipment) as a share of revenue. Excludes overhead.", "provenance": "directional", "source": "Level operator observation, directional. Not a measured distribution, so no sample size is claimed. Same values the Level margin calculator uses.", "note": "Service / replacement contractors run higher GP because labor is the moat." }, { "metric": "Days sales outstanding, directional band", "value": "62 days median, 38 days top quartile, 95 days bottom quartile", "definition": "Accounts receivable divided by annual revenue, times 365, for the trade as a whole (service plus project work at private-contractor scale).", "provenance": "directional", "source": "Level operator observation, directional. Not a measured distribution, so no sample size is claimed. Same values the Level DSO calculator uses.", "note": "Commercial HVAC service companies skew faster (38-62) when service-heavy; project-only firms run 75-95." }, { "metric": "All-contractor net profit before tax", "value": "6.3% median, top quartile about 11.9%", "definition": "Net profit before tax as a share of revenue across all construction and specialty-trade respondents. The profitability floor a buyer starts from before any trade adjustment.", "provenance": "external_named", "source": "CFMA 2024 Construction Financial Benchmarker (n=1,290)", "url": "https://cfma.org/benchmarker" } ], "sources": [ { "label": "Capstone Partners, HVAC Services Sector M&A Update (2026)", "url": "https://www.capstonepartners.com/insights/report-hvac-services-market-update/" }, { "label": "First Page Sage, EBITDA Multiples for Private HVAC Companies (2025)", "url": "https://www.firstpagesage.com" }, { "label": "Main Street Wealth, HVAC Buyer List 2026 (PE platforms, strategics, sponsors)", "url": "https://mainstreetwealth.ai/resources/hvac-buyer-list-2026" } ] }, { "slug": "plumbing", "trade": "Plumbing", "level_benchmark_page": "https://levelcfo.com/benchmarks/plumbing/", "ebitda_multiples": { "tuck_in": { "range": "3.5x to 6.5x", "scope": "under $2M EBITDA add-on" }, "regional_platform": { "range": "6x to 11x", "scope": "$2M to $10M EBITDA platform-quality regional business" }, "national_platform": { "range": "16x to 20x", "scope": "national platform recapitalization", "note": "Blackstone acquired Champions Group at about 18.5x EBITDA, a combined plumbing, HVAC, and electrical residential platform." }, "unit": "EV/EBITDA unless the source states otherwise", "provenance": "external_named", "source": "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)", "url": "https://www.ctacquisitions.com", "definition": "Enterprise value divided by EBITDA, as reported by the named advisors and transaction databases, segmented by the acquirer type and EBITDA scale bracket the source states. Level does not measure transaction multiples." }, "consolidation_activity": "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.", "notable_acquirers_or_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).", "what_moves_the_multiple": "Membership and service-plan revenue, plus the share of work that is non-discretionary emergency demand. A plumbing book that is mostly new-construction rough-in prices closer to the tuck-in band no matter how large it is, because the revenue does not repeat.", "diligence_tests": [ "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. Residential service books routinely overstate margin by leaving them in overhead." ], "operating_benchmarks": [ { "metric": "Gross margin, directional band (Plumbing, service-heavy)", "value": "36% median, 46% top quartile, 26% bottom quartile, scope: service-heavy", "scope": "service-heavy", "definition": "Revenue minus direct cost (labor, materials, subcontractors, direct equipment) as a share of revenue. Excludes overhead.", "provenance": "directional", "source": "Level operator observation, directional. Not a measured distribution, so no sample size is claimed. Same values the Level margin calculator uses." }, { "metric": "Days sales outstanding, directional band", "value": "58 days median, 40 days top quartile, 88 days bottom quartile", "definition": "Accounts receivable divided by annual revenue, times 365, for the trade as a whole (service plus project work at private-contractor scale).", "provenance": "directional", "source": "Level operator observation, directional. Not a measured distribution, so no sample size is claimed. Same values the Level DSO calculator uses." }, { "metric": "All-contractor net profit before tax", "value": "6.3% median, top quartile about 11.9%", "definition": "Net profit before tax as a share of revenue across all construction and specialty-trade respondents. The profitability floor a buyer starts from before any trade adjustment.", "provenance": "external_named", "source": "CFMA 2024 Construction Financial Benchmarker (n=1,290)", "url": "https://cfma.org/benchmarker" } ], "sources": [ { "label": "CT Acquisitions, Plumbing Business Valuation in 2026", "url": "https://www.ctacquisitions.com" }, { "label": "Main Street Wealth and First Page Sage, EBITDA Multiples Across Home Services (2026)", "url": "https://mainstreetwealth.ai" }, { "label": "Lightning Path Partners, Plumbing EBITDA Multiples (2026)", "url": "https://lightningpathpartners.com" } ] }, { "slug": "electrical", "trade": "Electrical", "level_benchmark_page": "https://levelcfo.com/benchmarks/electrical/", "ebitda_multiples": { "tuck_in": { "range": "3x to 5x", "scope": "under $1M EBITDA, often priced off SDE rather than EBITDA" }, "regional_platform": { "range": "5.5x to 8x", "scope": "$1M to $8M EBITDA lower-middle-market operator", "note": "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": { "range": "8x to 12x and above", "scope": "data-center, utility-infrastructure, or mission-critical power specialist" }, "unit": "EV/EBITDA unless the source states otherwise", "provenance": "external_named", "source": "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)", "url": "https://www.bmimergers.com", "definition": "Enterprise value divided by EBITDA, as reported by the named advisors and transaction databases, segmented by the acquirer type and EBITDA scale bracket the source states. Level does not measure transaction multiples." }, "consolidation_activity": "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 before expanding again through 2025 and 2026. The demand driver is specific: data-center buildout, grid modernization, and commercial electrification, against a hard technician shortage.", "notable_acquirers_or_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.", "what_moves_the_multiple": "End-market mix, more than size. The same $4M of EBITDA prices near 6x as a general commercial electrician and near 10x as a qualified data-center or mission-critical power contractor, because the buyer is underwriting a different demand curve.", "diligence_tests": [ "Backlog quality: signed versus verbal, margin per project in backlog, and how much of it depends on one general contractor.", "Work-in-progress accuracy. Over-billing and under-billing schedules are where a buyer finds that reported profit was borrowed from a future period.", "Certification and qualified-personnel depth for premium end markets, because the premium multiple attaches to the capability, not to the revenue." ], "operating_benchmarks": [ { "metric": "Gross margin, directional band (Electrical, service-heavy)", "value": "34% median, 42% top quartile, 24% bottom quartile, scope: service-heavy", "scope": "service-heavy", "definition": "Revenue minus direct cost (labor, materials, subcontractors, direct equipment) as a share of revenue. Excludes overhead.", "provenance": "directional", "source": "Level operator observation, directional. Not a measured distribution, so no sample size is claimed. Same values the Level margin calculator uses." }, { "metric": "Days sales outstanding, directional band", "value": "65 days median, 42 days top quartile, 98 days bottom quartile", "definition": "Accounts receivable divided by annual revenue, times 365, for the trade as a whole (service plus project work at private-contractor scale).", "provenance": "directional", "source": "Level operator observation, directional. Not a measured distribution, so no sample size is claimed. Same values the Level DSO calculator uses." }, { "metric": "All-contractor net profit before tax", "value": "6.3% median, top quartile about 11.9%", "definition": "Net profit before tax as a share of revenue across all construction and specialty-trade respondents. The profitability floor a buyer starts from before any trade adjustment.", "provenance": "external_named", "source": "CFMA 2024 Construction Financial Benchmarker (n=1,290)", "url": "https://cfma.org/benchmarker" } ], "sources": [ { "label": "BMI Mergers & Acquisitions with GF Data, Electrical Contractor M&A Rebounds (2025)", "url": "https://www.bmimergers.com" }, { "label": "CT Acquisitions, Electrical Contractor Valuation (2026)", "url": "https://www.ctacquisitions.com" }, { "label": "Capstone Partners, HVAC and Electrical Services M&A Sector Updates", "url": "https://www.capstonepartners.com/insights/" } ] }, { "slug": "roofing", "trade": "Roofing", "level_benchmark_page": "https://levelcfo.com/benchmarks/roofing/", "ebitda_multiples": { "tuck_in": { "range": "3x to 5x", "scope": "under $1M EBITDA add-on or tuck-in" }, "regional_platform": { "range": "4x to 10x", "scope": "$1M to $3M EBITDA at 4x to 7x; $3M to $10M platform-quality residential or commercial at 6x to 10x" }, "national_platform": { "range": "8x to 12x and above", "scope": "large commercial platform with recurring maintenance contracts and a multi-state footprint" }, "unit": "EV/EBITDA unless the source states otherwise", "provenance": "external_named", "source": "CT Acquisitions Roofing M&A Multiples Report (2026); GF Data and PitchBook transaction databases (2024 to 2026); Focus Investment Banking quarterly commentary (2026)", "url": "https://www.ctacquisitions.com", "definition": "Enterprise value divided by EBITDA, as reported by the named advisors and transaction databases, segmented by the acquirer type and EBITDA scale bracket the source states. Level does not measure transaction multiples." }, "consolidation_activity": "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 48 hours. The top five contractors control under 10% of the market and repair and replacement is about 64% of volume.", "notable_acquirers_or_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.", "what_moves_the_multiple": "Whether the earnings repeat. Commercial roofing with recurring maintenance and inspection contracts reaches the top band; storm-chasing residential volume does not, because a buyer normalizes a storm year down to trend before applying any multiple.", "diligence_tests": [ "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. Roofing carries long warranty tails, and an under-reserved book is a direct purchase-price adjustment.", "Recurring maintenance and inspection contract schedule, with the renewal history and the margin on each contract." ], "operating_benchmarks": [ { "metric": "Gross margin, directional band (Roofing, residential)", "value": "38% median, 48% top quartile, 28% bottom quartile, scope: residential", "scope": "residential", "definition": "Revenue minus direct cost (labor, materials, subcontractors, direct equipment) as a share of revenue. Excludes overhead.", "provenance": "directional", "source": "Level operator observation, directional. Not a measured distribution, so no sample size is claimed. Same values the Level margin calculator uses.", "note": "Residential band shown. Commercial roofing runs materially thinner on gross margin, median around 24% (Level operator observation, directional)." }, { "metric": "Days sales outstanding, directional band", "value": "68 days median, 45 days top quartile, 100 days bottom quartile", "definition": "Accounts receivable divided by annual revenue, times 365, for the trade as a whole (service plus project work at private-contractor scale).", "provenance": "directional", "source": "Level operator observation, directional. Not a measured distribution, so no sample size is claimed. Same values the Level DSO calculator uses.", "note": "Roofing tends to bottleneck on insurance claims and GC payment cycles." }, { "metric": "All-contractor net profit before tax", "value": "6.3% median, top quartile about 11.9%", "definition": "Net profit before tax as a share of revenue across all construction and specialty-trade respondents. The profitability floor a buyer starts from before any trade adjustment.", "provenance": "external_named", "source": "CFMA 2024 Construction Financial Benchmarker (n=1,290)", "url": "https://cfma.org/benchmarker" } ], "sources": [ { "label": "CT Acquisitions, Roofing M&A Multiples Report and Private Equity Tracker (2026)", "url": "https://www.ctacquisitions.com" }, { "label": "Roofing Contractor, Tariffs, Talent and Tech: The New Rules of Roofing Consolidation (2025)", "url": "https://www.roofingcontractor.com" } ] }, { "slug": "commercial-cleaning", "trade": "Commercial cleaning and janitorial", "level_benchmark_page": "https://levelcfo.com/benchmarks/cleaning/", "ebitda_multiples": { "tuck_in": { "range": "2.5x to 4.5x", "scope": "under $1M EBITDA owner-operated local provider, often priced off SDE" }, "regional_platform": { "range": "4x to 8x", "scope": "$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": { "range": "7x to 12x", "scope": "$10M+ EBITDA nationwide platform" }, "unit": "EV/EBITDA unless the source states otherwise", "provenance": "external_named", "source": "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)", "url": "https://www.cleanlink.com/news/article/How-Private-Equity-Views-the-Janitorial-Industry--30739", "definition": "Enterprise value divided by EBITDA, as reported by the named advisors and transaction databases, segmented by the acquirer type and EBITDA scale bracket the source states. Level does not measure transaction multiples." }, "consolidation_activity": "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.", "notable_acquirers_or_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).", "what_moves_the_multiple": "Contract term and account retention. This is the lowest-multiple trade on the page and the reason is structural: labor is 50% to 90% of job cost, so there is little operating cushion, and month-to-month accounts can leave the week after close.", "diligence_tests": [ "Contract schedule with remaining term, notice period, and pricing escalator per account. Month-to-month revenue is discounted hard.", "Account turnover history. The BSCAI 2024 survey found 73% of firms lose under 10% of accounts a year, so a higher loss rate reads as a red flag rather than as normal.", "Labor as a share of job cost per account, and whether supervisor and travel time are costed to the account or buried in overhead." ], "operating_benchmarks": [ { "metric": "Labor as a share of total job cost", "value": "50% (light touch) to 90% (pure janitorial cost)", "definition": "Direct cleaning labor as a share of total job cost by service type. Standard office work is around 65%, healthcare and specialty around 75%.", "provenance": "external_named", "source": "BSCAI production-rate guidance and FMLink janitorial staffing benchmarks", "url": "https://www.cleanlink.com" }, { "metric": "Days sales outstanding", "value": "45 days healthy for an SMB operator, about 60 days at large integrated-facilities scale", "definition": "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.", "provenance": "external_named", "source": "ABM FY2024 10-K plus industry working-capital guidance", "url": "https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0000771497&type=10-K" }, { "metric": "Annual account turnover", "value": "73% of firms lose under 10% of accounts per year", "definition": "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.", "provenance": "external_named", "source": "BSCAI 2024 Industry Market Study", "url": "https://www.bscai.org" }, { "metric": "All-contractor net profit before tax", "value": "6.3% median, top quartile about 11.9%", "definition": "Net profit before tax as a share of revenue across all construction and specialty-trade respondents. The profitability floor a buyer starts from before any trade adjustment.", "provenance": "external_named", "source": "CFMA 2024 Construction Financial Benchmarker (n=1,290)", "url": "https://cfma.org/benchmarker" } ], "sources": [ { "label": "CleanLink, How Private Equity Views the Janitorial Industry (2024)", "url": "https://www.cleanlink.com/news/article/How-Private-Equity-Views-the-Janitorial-Industry--30739" }, { "label": "Breakwater M&A, Cleaning and Janitorial Valuation Multiples (2026)", "url": "https://www.breakwaterma.com" }, { "label": "CT Acquisitions, Commercial Cleaning Valuation Analysis (2026)", "url": "https://www.ctacquisitions.com" } ] }, { "slug": "landscaping", "trade": "Landscaping and grounds maintenance", "level_benchmark_page": "https://levelcfo.com/benchmarks/landscaping/", "ebitda_multiples": { "tuck_in": { "range": "3x to 6x", "scope": "$500K to $1M EBITDA local operator or tuck-in, 2.5x to 5x on SDE" }, "regional_platform": { "range": "7x to 12x", "scope": "$1M to $10M+ EBITDA scaled lower-middle-market platform candidate" }, "national_platform": { "range": "12x to 15x", "scope": "high-performing commercial maintenance platform at exit" }, "unit": "EV/EBITDA unless the source states otherwise", "provenance": "external_named", "source": "Livingstone Partners, Commercial Landscaping Industry PE Trends (2024); First Page Sage, EBITDA Multiples for Private Landscaping Companies (2025)", "url": "https://www.livingstonepartners.com", "definition": "Enterprise value divided by EBITDA, as reported by the named advisors and transaction databases, segmented by the acquirer type and EBITDA scale bracket the source states. Level does not measure transaction multiples." }, "consolidation_activity": "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.", "notable_acquirers_or_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).", "what_moves_the_multiple": "Contract maintenance share versus one-time design and install. The spread from 3x to 12x tracks almost entirely to how much of the book renews without being re-sold each spring.", "diligence_tests": [ "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." ], "operating_benchmarks": [ { "metric": "Gross margin, directional band (Landscaping / hardscape)", "value": "32% median, 42% top quartile, 22% bottom quartile, scope: blended maintenance and install", "scope": "blended maintenance and install", "definition": "Revenue minus direct cost (labor, materials, subcontractors, direct equipment) as a share of revenue. Excludes overhead.", "provenance": "directional", "source": "Level operator observation, directional. Not a measured distribution, so no sample size is claimed. Same values the Level margin calculator uses." }, { "metric": "Days sales outstanding, directional band", "value": "50 days median, 30 days top quartile, 80 days bottom quartile", "definition": "Accounts receivable divided by annual revenue, times 365, for the trade as a whole (service plus project work at private-contractor scale).", "provenance": "directional", "source": "Level operator observation, directional. Not a measured distribution, so no sample size is claimed. Same values the Level DSO calculator uses." }, { "metric": "Revenue per employee", "value": "$123K industry average, about $156K at firms above $10M, $180K top quartile", "definition": "Annual revenue divided by total employees. The single cleanest productivity read a landscape buyer uses.", "provenance": "external_named", "source": "NALP 2025 Financial Benchmark Report (n=142 firms)", "url": "https://www.landscapeprofessionals.org" }, { "metric": "Net profit margin", "value": "about 12% well-run, 15% top quartile", "definition": "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.", "provenance": "external_named", "source": "NALP 2025 Financial Benchmark Report; IBISWorld Landscaping Services 2025; BrightView FY2025 10-K", "url": "https://www.landscapeprofessionals.org" }, { "metric": "All-contractor net profit before tax", "value": "6.3% median, top quartile about 11.9%", "definition": "Net profit before tax as a share of revenue across all construction and specialty-trade respondents. The profitability floor a buyer starts from before any trade adjustment.", "provenance": "external_named", "source": "CFMA 2024 Construction Financial Benchmarker (n=1,290)", "url": "https://cfma.org/benchmarker" } ], "sources": [ { "label": "Livingstone Partners, Commercial Landscaping Industry PE Trends (2024)", "url": "https://www.livingstonepartners.com" }, { "label": "First Page Sage, EBITDA Multiples for Private Landscaping Companies (2025)", "url": "https://www.firstpagesage.com" } ] }, { "slug": "painting", "trade": "Painting and wall finishes", "ebitda_multiples": { "tuck_in": { "range": "3x to 6x", "scope": "$1M to $3M EBITDA small to mid-sized residential painter" }, "regional_platform": { "range": "5x to 7x and above", "scope": "$3M to $5M EBITDA commercial or HOA-focused platform" }, "national_platform": { "range": "up to 11x", "scope": "large scaled specialty-construction platform" }, "unit": "EV/EBITDA unless the source states otherwise", "provenance": "external_named", "source": "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)", "url": "https://peakbusinessvaluation.com", "definition": "Enterprise value divided by EBITDA, as reported by the named advisors and transaction databases, segmented by the acquirer type and EBITDA scale bracket the source states. Level does not measure transaction multiples." }, "consolidation_activity": "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.", "notable_acquirers_or_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.", "what_moves_the_multiple": "Whether crews are employees and whether estimating is systematized. A painting book that runs on subcontracted crews and hand-priced bids has almost nothing a buyer can scale, which caps it at the tuck-in band.", "diligence_tests": [ "Worker classification. Subcontracted crews create reclassification exposure that a buyer will either indemnify against or price into the multiple.", "Estimating accuracy: bid hours versus actual hours by job type, which is the fastest read on whether reported margin is real.", "Commercial and HOA agreement schedule, with term, renewal history, and margin per agreement." ], "operating_benchmarks": [ { "metric": "Gross margin, directional band (Painting)", "value": "28% median, 38% top quartile, 20% bottom quartile, scope: blended", "scope": "blended", "definition": "Revenue minus direct cost (labor, materials, subcontractors, direct equipment) as a share of revenue. Excludes overhead.", "provenance": "directional", "source": "Level operator observation, directional. Not a measured distribution, so no sample size is claimed. Same values the Level margin calculator uses." }, { "metric": "Days sales outstanding, directional band", "value": "60 days median, 42 days top quartile, 85 days bottom quartile", "definition": "Accounts receivable divided by annual revenue, times 365, for the trade as a whole (service plus project work at private-contractor scale).", "provenance": "directional", "source": "Level operator observation, directional. Not a measured distribution, so no sample size is claimed. Same values the Level DSO calculator uses." }, { "metric": "All-contractor net profit before tax", "value": "6.3% median, top quartile about 11.9%", "definition": "Net profit before tax as a share of revenue across all construction and specialty-trade respondents. The profitability floor a buyer starts from before any trade adjustment.", "provenance": "external_named", "source": "CFMA 2024 Construction Financial Benchmarker (n=1,290)", "url": "https://cfma.org/benchmarker" } ], "sources": [ { "label": "CT Acquisitions, What Private Equity Actually Buys in Painting (2026)", "url": "https://www.ctacquisitions.com" }, { "label": "Peak Business Valuation, Valuation Multiples for a Painting Business (2025)", "url": "https://peakbusinessvaluation.com" }, { "label": "HedgeStone Business Advisors, Painting Business EBITDA Multiple (2025)", "url": "https://homeservicesbusinessvaluation.com" } ] }, { "slug": "concrete-masonry", "trade": "Concrete and masonry", "ebitda_multiples": { "tuck_in": { "range": "3.1x to 4x", "scope": "$1M to $3M EBITDA small localized contractor" }, "regional_platform": { "range": "6.5x to 8x", "scope": "$5M+ EBITDA middle-market platform or scaled add-on" }, "national_platform": { "range": "not separately reported", "scope": "no distinct national-platform band published for this trade" }, "unit": "EV/EBITDA unless the source states otherwise", "provenance": "external_named", "source": "Peak Business Valuation, market multiples for concrete contractors and masonry businesses; Builder Muse, Construction M&A and PE Roll-ups (2026)", "url": "https://peakbusinessvaluation.com", "definition": "Enterprise value divided by EBITDA, as reported by the named advisors and transaction databases, segmented by the acquirer type and EBITDA scale bracket the source states. Level does not measure transaction multiples." }, "consolidation_activity": "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.", "notable_acquirers_or_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.", "what_moves_the_multiple": "The lowest tuck-in band on this page, roughly 3x, and the reason is that the work is bid, one-time, and weather-exposed. The trades that break out of it are the repair and restoration niches, where the same crew skill produces repeat and warranty-backed revenue.", "diligence_tests": [ "Bid-to-actual cost variance by job. In a 3x trade there is no room for a costing error, so a buyer verifies the margin job by job.", "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 an adjustment to EBITDA, not a saving." ], "operating_benchmarks": [ { "metric": "Gross margin, directional band (Concrete / foundation)", "value": "22% median, 30% top quartile, 14% bottom quartile, scope: blended, bid work", "scope": "blended, bid work", "definition": "Revenue minus direct cost (labor, materials, subcontractors, direct equipment) as a share of revenue. Excludes overhead.", "provenance": "directional", "source": "Level operator observation, directional. Not a measured distribution, so no sample size is claimed. Same values the Level margin calculator uses." }, { "metric": "Days sales outstanding, directional band", "value": "70 days median, 45 days top quartile, 100 days bottom quartile", "definition": "Accounts receivable divided by annual revenue, times 365, for the trade as a whole (service plus project work at private-contractor scale).", "provenance": "directional", "source": "Level operator observation, directional. Not a measured distribution, so no sample size is claimed. Same values the Level DSO calculator uses." }, { "metric": "All-contractor net profit before tax", "value": "6.3% median, top quartile about 11.9%", "definition": "Net profit before tax as a share of revenue across all construction and specialty-trade respondents. The profitability floor a buyer starts from before any trade adjustment.", "provenance": "external_named", "source": "CFMA 2024 Construction Financial Benchmarker (n=1,290)", "url": "https://cfma.org/benchmarker" } ], "sources": [ { "label": "Peak Business Valuation, concrete and masonry market multiples", "url": "https://peakbusinessvaluation.com" }, { "label": "Builder Muse, Construction M&A Hit $28 Billion, PE Roll-ups and Valuations (2026)", "url": "https://buildermuse.com" } ] }, { "slug": "glass-glazing", "trade": "Glass and glazing", "ebitda_multiples": { "tuck_in": { "range": "2.9x to 4.2x", "scope": "small local glass and glazing shop" }, "regional_platform": { "range": "5.7x to 7.1x", "scope": "$10M to $100M total enterprise value specialty trade contractor", "note": "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": { "range": "9x to 10.9x", "scope": "platform-scale building products or contract glazing company" }, "unit": "EV/EBITDA unless the source states otherwise", "provenance": "external_named", "source": "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", "url": "https://peakbusinessvaluation.com", "definition": "Enterprise value divided by EBITDA, as reported by the named advisors and transaction databases, segmented by the acquirer type and EBITDA scale bracket the source states. Level does not measure transaction multiples." }, "consolidation_activity": "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.", "notable_acquirers_or_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.", "what_moves_the_multiple": "Fabrication capability and contract-glazing backlog quality. This is a project trade with long lead times, so the buyer underwrites the schedule and the work-in-progress accuracy before anything else.", "diligence_tests": [ "Work-in-progress and percentage-of-completion accuracy on open glazing contracts. This is the number most often wrong in this trade and it moves reported profit directly.", "Retainage aging and the closeout process on completed contracts.", "Material price exposure and whether contracts carry escalation clauses on aluminum and glass." ], "operating_benchmarks": [ { "metric": "Specialty-trade cohort multiple by enterprise value", "value": "5.7x at $10M to $25M, 6.1x at $25M to $50M, 7.1x at $50M to $100M", "definition": "Average EV/EBITDA for the NAICS 238 specialty-trade contractor cohort by total enterprise value bracket. The clearest published read on what scale alone is worth in a project trade.", "provenance": "external_named", "source": "GF Data (2026), NAICS 238 specialty-trade contractor cohorts", "url": "https://gfdata.com" }, { "metric": "All-contractor net profit before tax", "value": "6.3% median, top quartile about 11.9%", "definition": "Net profit before tax as a share of revenue across all construction and specialty-trade respondents. The profitability floor a buyer starts from before any trade adjustment.", "provenance": "external_named", "source": "CFMA 2024 Construction Financial Benchmarker (n=1,290)", "url": "https://cfma.org/benchmarker" } ], "operating_coverage_note": "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.", "sources": [ { "label": "Peak Business Valuation, glass and glazing contractor multiples (2025)", "url": "https://peakbusinessvaluation.com" }, { "label": "GF Data, NAICS 238 specialty-trade contractor cohorts (2026)", "url": "https://gfdata.com" }, { "label": "Brown Gibbons Lang & Co. with Glass Magazine, Consolidation Has Reshaped the Glass Supply Chain", "url": "https://www.glassmagazine.com" } ] }, { "slug": "doors-access", "trade": "Doors and access systems", "ebitda_multiples": { "tuck_in": { "range": "3.5x to 5x", "scope": "under $1M EBITDA local add-on" }, "regional_platform": { "range": "6.5x to 12x", "scope": "$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": { "range": "12x to 16x and above", "scope": "above $10M EBITDA or $50M+ revenue scaled platform" }, "unit": "EV/EBITDA unless the source states otherwise", "provenance": "external_named", "source": "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)", "url": "https://www.ctacquisitions.com", "definition": "Enterprise value divided by EBITDA, as reported by the named advisors and transaction databases, segmented by the acquirer type and EBITDA scale bracket the source states. Level does not measure transaction multiples." }, "consolidation_activity": "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.", "notable_acquirers_or_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).", "what_moves_the_multiple": "Service and repair mix versus new-construction install, plus commercial dock and door service agreements. The trade's multiple range is unusually wide, roughly 3.5x to 16x, because the same product sold as an install is a one-time sale and sold as a service contract is an annuity.", "diligence_tests": [ "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." ], "operating_benchmarks": [ { "metric": "All-contractor net profit before tax", "value": "6.3% median, top quartile about 11.9%", "definition": "Net profit before tax as a share of revenue across all construction and specialty-trade respondents. The profitability floor a buyer starts from before any trade adjustment.", "provenance": "external_named", "source": "CFMA 2024 Construction Financial Benchmarker (n=1,290)", "url": "https://cfma.org/benchmarker" } ], "operating_coverage_note": "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.", "sources": [ { "label": "CT Acquisitions, Garage Door PE Roll-Up and M&A Report (2026)", "url": "https://www.ctacquisitions.com" }, { "label": "Window & Door with Brown Gibbons Lang & Co., M&A Boom: Fenestration Heats Up (2024)", "url": "https://www.windowanddoor.com" } ] }, { "slug": "low-voltage-security", "trade": "Low-voltage and commercial security", "ebitda_multiples": { "tuck_in": { "range": "3x to 5x", "scope": "under $3M revenue project-heavy cabling or installation shop" }, "regional_platform": { "range": "5x to 12x and above", "scope": "$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": { "range": "13x to 20x", "scope": "scaled, highly consolidated national integrator platform", "note": "Security monitoring monthly recurring revenue trades separately at 30x to 50x RMR." }, "unit": "EV/EBITDA unless the source states otherwise", "provenance": "external_named", "source": "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)", "url": "https://www.capstonepartners.com/insights/", "definition": "Enterprise value divided by EBITDA, as reported by the named advisors and transaction databases, segmented by the acquirer type and EBITDA scale bracket the source states. Level does not measure transaction multiples." }, "consolidation_activity": "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.", "notable_acquirers_or_deals": "Pye-Barker Fire & Safety (Altas Partners and Leonard Green & Partners, with ADIA and GIC as minority investors, 41 companies acquired in 2025 alone); 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.", "what_moves_the_multiple": "Recurring monitoring revenue, priced as a separate asset. This is the one trade on the page where a buyer will value part of the business on a revenue multiple rather than an earnings multiple, because monitoring contracts behave like a subscription book.", "diligence_tests": [ "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 code-mandated frequency, which is the proof that the recurring revenue is contractual rather than habitual." ], "operating_benchmarks": [ { "metric": "Days sales outstanding, directional band", "value": "68 days median, 45 days top quartile, 95 days bottom quartile", "definition": "Accounts receivable divided by annual revenue, times 365, for the trade as a whole (service plus project work at private-contractor scale).", "provenance": "directional", "source": "Level operator observation, directional. Not a measured distribution, so no sample size is claimed. Same values the Level DSO calculator uses.", "note": "Directional band shown is the low-voltage and solar grouping used by Level's DSO calculator, which spans project-weighted work." }, { "metric": "All-contractor net profit before tax", "value": "6.3% median, top quartile about 11.9%", "definition": "Net profit before tax as a share of revenue across all construction and specialty-trade respondents. The profitability floor a buyer starts from before any trade adjustment.", "provenance": "external_named", "source": "CFMA 2024 Construction Financial Benchmarker (n=1,290)", "url": "https://cfma.org/benchmarker" } ], "sources": [ { "label": "Capstone Partners, Security Solutions M&A Update", "url": "https://www.capstonepartners.com/insights/" }, { "label": "PE Hub, PE-backed fire safety platforms ignite strong valuations (2025)", "url": "https://www.pehub.com" }, { "label": "Security Sales & Integration, M&A in fire and life safety (2026)", "url": "https://www.securitysales.com" } ] }, { "slug": "fire-life-safety", "trade": "Fire and life safety", "ebitda_multiples": { "tuck_in": { "range": "4x to 6.5x", "scope": "$500K to $1M EBITDA bolt-on or project-heavy contractor" }, "regional_platform": { "range": "6x to 9x", "scope": "middle-market operator with 40%+ of revenue from inspection and monitoring" }, "national_platform": { "range": "10x to 20x", "scope": "$10M+ EBITDA scaled platform at 10x to 12x; national platform buyouts and exits at 17x to 20x" }, "unit": "EV/EBITDA unless the source states otherwise", "provenance": "external_named", "source": "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", "url": "https://www.breakwaterma.com", "definition": "Enterprise value divided by EBITDA, as reported by the named advisors and transaction databases, segmented by the acquirer type and EBITDA scale bracket the source states. Level does not measure transaction multiples." }, "consolidation_activity": "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.", "notable_acquirers_or_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).", "what_moves_the_multiple": "The share of revenue that is code-mandated recurring inspection and monitoring. The band from 4x to 20x is essentially a straight line in that one variable, which is why the tier note for the middle band names 40% recurring as the threshold.", "diligence_tests": [ "Inspection contract schedule tied to code frequency, with device counts per site and renewal history.", "Deficiency-to-repair conversion rate. An inspection book that finds deficiencies and does not convert them into repair work is leaving the margin a buyer is paying for.", "Technician licensing and certification coverage by jurisdiction, because the recurring revenue is only transferable if the credentials are." ], "operating_benchmarks": [ { "metric": "Gross margin, directional band (Fire / sprinkler / life safety)", "value": "28% median, 36% top quartile, 20% bottom quartile, scope: blended install and inspection", "scope": "blended install and inspection", "definition": "Revenue minus direct cost (labor, materials, subcontractors, direct equipment) as a share of revenue. Excludes overhead.", "provenance": "directional", "source": "Level operator observation, directional. Not a measured distribution, so no sample size is claimed. Same values the Level margin calculator uses." }, { "metric": "Days sales outstanding, directional band", "value": "64 days median, 42 days top quartile, 92 days bottom quartile", "definition": "Accounts receivable divided by annual revenue, times 365, for the trade as a whole (service plus project work at private-contractor scale).", "provenance": "directional", "source": "Level operator observation, directional. Not a measured distribution, so no sample size is claimed. Same values the Level DSO calculator uses." }, { "metric": "All-contractor net profit before tax", "value": "6.3% median, top quartile about 11.9%", "definition": "Net profit before tax as a share of revenue across all construction and specialty-trade respondents. The profitability floor a buyer starts from before any trade adjustment.", "provenance": "external_named", "source": "CFMA 2024 Construction Financial Benchmarker (n=1,290)", "url": "https://cfma.org/benchmarker" } ], "sources": [ { "label": "Breakwater M&A, 2026 Valuation Multiples for Fire Alarm and Life Safety Companies", "url": "https://www.breakwaterma.com" }, { "label": "PE Hub, PE-backed fire safety platforms have ignited strong valuations (2025)", "url": "https://www.pehub.com" }, { "label": "Security Sales & Integration, What is happening with M&A in fire and life safety (2026)", "url": "https://www.securitysales.com" } ] }, { "slug": "restoration", "trade": "Restoration and remediation", "ebitda_multiples": { "tuck_in": { "range": "4x to 6x", "scope": "small residential-focused or single-territory operator" }, "regional_platform": { "range": "5x to 7x", "scope": "mid-sized regional business with steady carrier or third-party-administrator program revenue" }, "national_platform": { "range": "7x to 11x and above", "scope": "scaled multi-state platform with commercial accounts and recurring service contracts" }, "unit": "EV/EBITDA unless the source states otherwise", "provenance": "external_named", "source": "CT Acquisitions M&A Guide (2026); Capstone Partners Industrial & Environmental Services M&A Update (2025); Hyde Park Capital Disaster Restoration Report (2023)", "url": "https://hydeparkcapital.com", "definition": "Enterprise value divided by EBITDA, as reported by the named advisors and transaction databases, segmented by the acquirer type and EBITDA scale bracket the source states. Level does not measure transaction multiples." }, "consolidation_activity": "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.", "notable_acquirers_or_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).", "what_moves_the_multiple": "Carrier and third-party-administrator program depth, balanced against how concentrated those relationships are. Program revenue is what gets a restoration company past the tuck-in band, and it is also the concentration risk that caps the multiple if one carrier is most of the book.", "diligence_tests": [ "Revenue by carrier and by third-party administrator, because program concentration in this trade routinely exceeds the 31.0% cross-trade median for a largest customer.", "Aged receivables by claim status. Restoration receivables sit behind adjuster approval, so the aging tells the buyer how much of reported revenue is genuinely collectible.", "Catastrophe-year normalization: a storm or wildfire year restated to trend, with the incremental subcontract and travel cost that came with it." ], "operating_benchmarks": [ { "metric": "All-contractor net profit before tax", "value": "6.3% median, top quartile about 11.9%", "definition": "Net profit before tax as a share of revenue across all construction and specialty-trade respondents. The profitability floor a buyer starts from before any trade adjustment.", "provenance": "external_named", "source": "CFMA 2024 Construction Financial Benchmarker (n=1,290)", "url": "https://cfma.org/benchmarker" } ], "operating_coverage_note": "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.", "sources": [ { "label": "Hyde Park Capital, Disaster Restoration M&A Industry Report (2023)", "url": "https://hydeparkcapital.com" }, { "label": "CT Acquisitions, Sell Your Restoration Business in 2026: Multiples, Named Buyers", "url": "https://www.ctacquisitions.com" }, { "label": "PE Hub, Private equity sees opportunities in restoration services (2024)", "url": "https://www.pehub.com" } ] } ] }