Plumbing Franchise Costs: 2026 FDD Numbers Compared

A plumbing franchise costs roughly $45,000 to $346,000 to open in 2026, from Rooter-Man’s $45,075 low end to bluefrog’s $345,648 listed high, and none of them hands you a plumbing license.

How much does a plumbing franchise cost in 2026?

A plumbing franchise costs between $45,075 and $345,648 in total initial investment across the four brands with published numbers we checked. Three of them cluster near $145,000 to $300,000, driven by the franchise fee, a service van and equipment. Rooter-Man sits far below because its fee is $4,975 and its model assumes the buyer already owns tools.

The franchise fee is only one line. In Mr. Rooter’s 2026 Item 7, the vehicle line alone runs $25,000 to $69,300, equipment, supplies and inventory run $25,000 to $40,000, and the franchisor asks for $20,000 to $45,000 in additional funds to cover the first three months. ServiceTitan software adds $2,800 to $8,200 and a software enrollment fee adds $1,250.

Neighborly’s own Mr. Rooter investment page still showed $122,303 to $263,800 when we checked, which matches the 2025 FDD. The 2026 FDD figure is higher by about $30,600 at the low end, so always ask for the current document rather than trusting a sales page.

The chart plots the top of each Item 7 range because that is the number to finance against. Low ends assume a used van, a small territory and minimal working capital, and few first-year owners land there.

Which plumbing franchises publish comparable FDD numbers?

Mr. Rooter, Benjamin Franklin Plumbing and Rooter-Man all have 2025 or 2026 FDD figures summarized by FranchiseChatter or 1851 Franchise, so their fees, royalties and unit counts can be compared line by line. bluefrog Plumbing + Drain has fee data on Entrepreneur but no unit count in our sources, so it appears in the fee table below rather than this one.

Mr. Rooter’s Item 20 shows steady net growth, from 209 franchised outlets at the start of 2023 to 238 at the end of 2025, a gain of 29 in three years. Benjamin Franklin’s marketing claims “400+” locations while its Item 19 counts 373 territories, and the gap shows why the FDD count beats the brochure count.

What do plumbing franchise royalties and fees add up to each year?

Plumbing franchise fees take 8% to 13.5% of revenue at the percentage-based brands and as little as 2.5% at Rooter-Man. On a shop doing $1 million, that is about $100,000 a year for Mr. Rooter, $80,000 plus software for bluefrog and roughly $25,000 for a four-tech Rooter-Man territory. These fees come off a margin that is already thin.

The Rooter-Man math works like this. A 125,000-person territory pays $375 a month in royalty and $125 in marketing fund, or $6,000 a year. Four technicians at $399 add $19,152, for $25,152 total, and that number stays flat whether the shop sells $500,000 or $2 million.

Benjamin Franklin’s brand fund steps down as revenue grows, from 1.5% on the first $5 million to 1.25%, 1%, 0.75% and finally 0% above $20 million. Set those percentages against your own plumbing contractor cost structure before you sign, because a 10% fee load can erase a typical net margin.

How much revenue do plumbing franchises report in Item 19?

Mr. Rooter and Benjamin Franklin both disclose Item 19 gross sales, and Rooter-Man discloses none. Mr. Rooter’s 193 franchises open all of 2025 averaged $2,093,531 with a $1,257,146 median. Benjamin Franklin averaged $656,635 per territory. Neither figure is profit, and both are pulled up by a few large operators.

The spread inside Mr. Rooter is the real story. The top 10% (19 franchises) averaged $8,162,009, while the bottom 50% (96 franchises) averaged $614,354 and the bottom 10% averaged $147,745. A buyer should model the median, not the mean.

Benjamin Franklin reports by territory, and 86 franchisees held 373 territories, about 4.3 each. If the per-territory average held across every owner, the implied revenue per franchisee would be near $2.85 million, but the reported range ran from $17,658 to $3,271,587 per territory, so that average hides wide gaps. For context on how big most plumbing businesses are, a $600,000 shop is a small operation with a handful of trucks.

Does a plumbing franchise give you a plumbing license?

No. A plumbing franchise sells a trademark, a call center, software and a marketing system, but licensing stays with your state or city. Most states license plumbers at the state level, while New York and Kansas license mainly through cities and counties. The business still needs a licensed master or qualifying party before it can pull permits.

In Texas, the State Board of Plumbing Examiners ties a plumbing company to a Responsible Master Plumber. Many other states use a similar “qualifying party” setup, where a master plumber’s license backs the company’s contractor license. A non-plumber investor who buys a territory has to hire that person, and in a tight labor market that hire can take longer than the franchise training.

1. Confirm which agency licenses plumbing where your territory sits (state board, or city and county in local-only states).
2. Ask whether the contractor license must name a qualifying master and whether that person must be an owner or can be an employee.
3. Price the master’s salary into your first-year budget, on top of the Item 7 range.
4. Check whether the franchise agreement requires the license to be in place before the opening date.

Territory rules also differ by brand. Rooter-Man sells territories built from ZIP codes holding at least 125,000 people, while Mr. Rooter adds $425 to its fee for every 1,000 people above its minimum and Benjamin Franklin adds $0.43 per person above 100,000.

Can an existing plumbing shop convert to a franchise?

Yes, and conversion is where the cheapest models make the most sense. Mr. Rooter’s 2026 FDD sets special royalty and marketing rates for “roll-in” sales, its term for revenue an existing business brings into the system. Rooter-Man’s flat, population-based royalty also suits an established shop, since fees do not climb as the shop’s sales grow.

The trade for a converting owner is control versus lift. A shop doing $1 million under Mr. Rooter’s standard rates would pay about $100,000 a year in fees, so the brand, call handling and lead flow have to add more than that in gross profit. Ask the franchisor for the exact roll-in rate schedule in Item 6 and for names of converted owners from the Item 20 contact list.

If the math does not clear, the alternative is building your own brand. Our guide to starting an independent plumbing business covers the licensing, insurance and van costs that a franchise would otherwise package for you.

Who owns the big plumbing franchise brands?

Most large plumbing franchise brands sit inside multi-brand home service platforms. Mr. Rooter belongs to Neighborly, Benjamin Franklin Plumbing is backed by Authority Brands and Rooter-Man operates under Premium Service Brands. Roto-Rooter is different, owned by publicly traded Chemed Corporation, and we found no current FDD summary for it.

The parent matters for fees and exit options. Mr. Rooter’s 2026 FDD notes that part of the local marketing group fee may go to Neighborly marketing and brand awareness work, not only your territory. Multi-brand platforms also cross-sell, so a plumbing owner may get pitched on adding a drain, HVAC or electrical brand under the same parent.

These platforms are part of the wider consolidation wave in plumbing, where private equity buys both franchisors and large independent shops. For a franchise owner, that means a potential buyer at exit, but also a franchisor whose owners expect fee growth.

Is a plumbing franchise worth it compared with going independent?

A plumbing franchise is worth it when its brand and call flow add more gross profit than its fees take, and that is easiest to test with Item 19 data. Mr. Rooter’s median franchise did $1,257,146 in 2025 and would pay about $125,700 in fees at 10%. An independent shop keeps that money but has to buy its own leads.

Run four numbers before signing:

• Total cash out, using the top of the Item 7 range ($298,675 for Mr. Rooter, $286,702 for Benjamin Franklin, $82,475 for Rooter-Man).
• Annual fee load at your realistic year-three revenue, using the median, not the average.
• Master plumber cost if you are not licensed yourself.
• Months to break even, using the franchisor’s three-month working capital line as a floor, not a target.

bluefrog Plumbing + Drain’s Entrepreneur listing shows the highest entry price of the group, a $59,900 to $67,400 fee and $144,498 to $345,648 total, with a $250,000 net worth and $150,000 cash requirement and $9,000 off for veterans. Its listing is older than the FDD summaries above, so request the current FDD before comparing it directly.