How to compare three 13D sprinkler bids in Northern Virginia

Three bids for the same house in Fairfax Station come back, and the high one is almost triple the low one. The owner assumes the middle one is right and the high one is padding. More often the three firms quoted three different jobs. One priced pipe and heads and left the permit, the backflow assembly, and the ceiling patching to someone else. One included all of it. One assumed a well and priced a tank the house does not need. This article is the line by line check we tell people to run before they look at the totals again, using the prices this site already publishes on the cost page as the yardstick.

Start with the square footage, not the total

Every 13D bid should state the sprinklered square footage it was priced on. Divide the total by that number. In new construction the published range is $1.35 to $1.60 per sprinklered square foot. A retrofit in a finished house runs $2 to $7, with the low end for a house with an open attic above and an unfinished basement below, and the high end for plaster ceilings or a slab house with finished ceilings everywhere. If a bid does not state the square footage, ask for it. If the firm priced by the head instead, ask for the head count and the drawing it came from, because the head count is what the design math produces, not a number someone estimated from the driveway. Two bids with different head counts for the same house are a design disagreement, and one of them is probably wrong about ceiling heights, closets, or the attic.

The lines a complete bid has

Lay the three quotes side by side and check each one for these items. A missing line is not a saving. It is a cost that shows up later with a different name on it.

• Design and hydraulic calculation, with the flow test on your water service included. The calculation cannot be done without the test, and the county will not review drawings without the calculation.
• Permit application and plan review, with the county fees listed separately or stated as included. Who pulls the permit matters more than the fee; more on that below.
• The riser: control valve, gauge, flow switch, test and drain, and the outside bell or horn. On a standalone system add the backflow assembly, which Fairfax County expects on the approved drawings. The riser article names each part so you can match them to the bid.
• Pipe material by name. CPVC is the norm for a 13D retrofit in this area; a bid that says only pipe should say which one. The materials article explains why it matters for the price.
• Head count, head type (concealed with cover plates or exposed pendents), and temperature rating where it differs from ordinary, which it will near the range and in the attic.
• Whether the system is standalone or multipurpose, meaning tied into the domestic plumbing. The two are priced differently and inspected differently; the multipurpose article covers the choice.
• Electrical for the flow switch and bell, either included or named as a separate trade with an amount.
• Patching to a paint ready surface on a retrofit, with painting stated as excluded or priced as its own line.
• On a well, the tank and pump as a separate line. The published range is $3,000 to $6,000, and the size comes out of the calculation for your floor plan, which the well water page explains. A bid that includes a tank for a house on public water is quoting the wrong job.
• Two inspections, rough in and final, with the firm present at both.
• Warranty terms on labor and on the heads, in writing, with the term stated.

What the exclusions tell you

The exclusions paragraph is the most honest part of a bid. Painting, drywall beyond the head openings, trenching to an outbuilding, and upgrading an undersized water service are the usual ones, and they are fair exclusions when they are written down. The problem is the bid with no exclusions at all and a total well under the other two. That firm either forgot something or is planning a change order after the ceilings are open. A bid that excludes the permit, the flow test, or the backflow assembly on a standalone system is excluding the parts the county cares about most, and you should ask why.

Who holds the permit

In Virginia the firm on the sprinkler permit needs the right contractor license and specialty with the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation, and the county will check it when the permit is applied for. Look up each bidder before you sign; the DPOR lookup article walks through the search, and the licensing article explains what the specialty means. A bid that reads permit by owner, or that has a general contractor pulling a sprinkler permit on behalf of a sub you never meet, moves the responsibility for the design and the inspections away from the people doing the work. The lowest of three bids is often the one structured that way.

Normalize, then compare

Once the lines match, add the missing items to the bids that left them out, using the other two bids as the price for each line. Now the totals mean something. In our experience the spread collapses: the low bid climbs once the permit, the backflow, and the patching are back in, and the high bid drops once the well tank the house does not need comes out. Divide each corrected total by the sprinklered square footage one more time. For a retrofit, all three should now sit inside $2 to $7, and for new construction inside $1.35 to $1.60. Now the choice is about the firm, not the number.

Questions that sort the three firms

Ask each bidder the same five things and write the answers on the bid. Who did the flow test and what did it read. How many heads and why that many. Who is on the permit. How many days is the house water off. Who patches. A firm that has done retrofits in Fairfax, Arlington, and Loudoun houses answers all five without checking, and the answers line up with the retrofit week article. If you are building new and the builder offered a sprinkler option, the builder option article covers how that quote compares with an independent bid, which is a different exercise because the builder’s number hides the sprinkler line inside the house price.

Payment terms worth insisting on

A deposit at signing is normal. After that, payments tied to the two inspections are the fair structure, because the inspections are the moments the county confirms the work is right. A bid that wants most of the money before the rough in inspection is asking you to carry the risk of the test. Keep the approved drawings, the permit card, and the final inspection report with the paid invoice; a buyer’s inspector will ask for all four someday.