This Hollygrove Lenders page covers loans for Fort Pierce, Florida plumbing and HVAC contractors: vans, tools and job materials, St. Lucie County, FL contractor counts, service vans and shelving, recovery machines, jetters and camera gear, job equipment versus company equipment, payroll before a builder pays, purchases matched to funding types, a worked camera and jetter and the records behind a request.
At a glance
- Plumbing and HVAC contractors with employees
169 (County Business Patterns 2023)
- Employees at those contractors
843 (County Business Patterns 2023)
- Contractors without employees
323 (Nonemployer Statistics 2024)
HVAC and Plumbing Business Loans for Vans, Tools and Job Materials
A mechanical contractor's money goes into the vans, the tools inside them, and the equipment and material installed on each job. Service work is paid quickly; new construction and commercial installs are paid by draws, often with retainage held until the job closes.
Vans and tools fit equipment financing; job material and payroll before draws fit a line of credit; buying another shop fits a term loan.
Plumbers and HVAC Contractors With Employees in St. Lucie County, FL
County Business Patterns counted 169 plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors in St. Lucie County, FL in 2023, with 843 employees and $45.8 million in annual payroll (County Business Patterns 2023). Shops with under five workers numbered 123, or 72.8% of the total.
Nonemployer Statistics counted 323 plumbing and HVAC businesses without employees in 2024 (Nonemployer Statistics 2024). The county also had 118 electrical contractors with employees (County Business Patterns 2023), who share many of the same funding needs.
Service Vans and Their Shelving
A service van with shelving, a ladder rack and an inverter is the trade's basic unit. Each van carries tools, parts and fittings; a growing company adds vans as it adds technicians. Vans are titled vehicles financed with the title as collateral.
Upfitting can be included in the van's financing if it appears on the dealer's quote. A contractor adding technicians one at a time can finance each van as the hire is made, which keeps the payments in step with the revenue each new technician brings in.
Recovery Machines, Jetters and Camera Gear
HVAC technicians use refrigerant recovery machines, vacuum pumps, digital gauges, leak detectors and brazing kits. Plumbers use drain machines, hydro-jetters, sewer inspection cameras with locators, and pipe threading and press tools. Jetters and cameras are among the costliest tools a plumbing company buys.
Tool packages from one supplier can be financed together, with the tools as collateral.
Equipment Bought for One Job vs Equipment the Company Keeps
Condensers, air handlers, water heaters and pipe bought for a customer's job are job material: installed and billed to the customer. The contractor's own vans and tools stay with the company for years. The two belong in different funding types.
Job material fits a line of credit paid down when the customer pays. The contractor's own equipment fits equipment financing over its working life. Mixing them stretches short-term costs over long terms and leaves the company paying for a condenser years after the customer paid for it.
Payroll Before a Builder or Property Owner Pays
On new construction, the mechanical contractor installs rough-in and finish work at different stages and is paid by the builder or general contractor after each stage, sometimes with retainage held back. Technicians and suppliers are paid weekly.
A line of credit covers the gap. Partners read the contracts and the aging report. Draws and retainage get fuller treatment on the contractor page.
Mechanical Contractor Purchases Mapped to Funding Types
| The purchase | Funding type to start with |
|---|---|
| Service vans and upfitting | Equipment financing |
| Recovery machines, jetters, cameras | Equipment financing |
| Units and pipe for a customer's job | Line of credit |
| Payroll before a builder pays | Line of credit |
| Buying another shop or a partner's share | Term loan |
The term loans page works through a partner buyout at a mechanical contractor.
A Sewer Camera and Jetter Trailer With Invented Prices
Illustration only, invented figures: a plumbing company adds a sewer camera with locator for $14,600 and a trailer-mounted jetter for $38,900, a package of $53,500 (our arithmetic). After a $5,350 down payment, $48,150 is financed for 60 months at an invented 10% annual rate.
That invented loan costs about $1,023 a month and about $66,733 in total with the down payment (our arithmetic). The company checks that the drain and sewer jobs the equipment supports cover the payment.
Service Agreements, Licenses and Aging Reports for a Mechanical Request
- The contractor's license and insurance, current and in the company's name.
- Service agreements and maintenance contract revenue, if any.
- Contracts for construction work, with payment terms and retainage.
- An aging report listing who owes the company money.
- Bank statements, business tax returns and equipment quotes.
Fort Pierce, FL figures and the landscaping page cover trades on the same job sites.
By Hollygrove Lenders · Updated