Must-Ask Questions for Your Next Sewer Bypass Estimate

As an estimator, you’ll frequently be asked to determine the cost for sewer bypass projects. Municipalities with aging infrastructures may need to replace or rehab failing cast iron and clay sewer pipe put in decades ago. Or, a water treatment plant may schedule routine maintenance, like changing out filters. Whatever the project, you need the plans and solid information to back them up.

Depending on the experience and diligence of the engineer who compiled the specs, you could receive a cookie cutter set with not much more than the words “temporary pumping.” Or you may get in-depth specs with all the particulars. Either way, you’ll want to clarify the specs to make sure you understand the project and have everything to produce an accurate estimate—one that won’t come back to bite you with unpleasant surprises and unwelcome change orders.

If you’ve seen one sewer bypass project, you’ve seen…one. No two are exactly alike. For example, Sunbelt Rentals provided temporary pumping on a cured-in-place pipe project in Jefferson County, Alabama. Routing five runs of 18-inch HDPE pipe proved challenging, especially where the pipe ran through a creek under a railroad bridge and created the potential for high water during heavy rain events. On another project for a 100-year-old interceptor in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Sunbelt Rentals needed to enclose equipment with insulated fabric to protect job sites in sub-zero temperatures.

To make sure you don’t miss any critical information, it helps to have a master checklist. We’ve made it easier by preparing a Sewer Bypass Estimation Checklist for you, with all the must-ask questions for a project.

Download the Sewer Bypass Estimation Checklist to make sure you get all the answers you need for every project.

We hope the checklist will help you deliver an accurate sewer bypass estimate and win the project at a profitable price. If you think of any questions we’ve missed, please let us know.