Harborfield Business Capital arranges business loans and financing for plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors in Waukesha, WI and Waukesha County, WI: equipment financing for service vans and tools, inventory financing for parts, and lines of credit for install and project timing. The county had 178 such contractors in 2023 (CBP). Funding partners review each request.
| Plumbing, heating and cooling shops | 178 employers with payroll in the CBP 2023 file |
|---|---|
| Employees | 2,526 (CBP 2023) |
| Under 5 employees | 55.6% (CBP 2023) |
| ZIP 53186 shops | 12 (ZBP 2023) |
| Nonemployers, NAICS 23822 | 112 (NES 2024) |
| Structures to weigh | Equipment, inventory, credit line |
Service Calls Versus Installs
A plumbing or HVAC company may run a service side and a project side. Service calls may be paid on the spot, but need fully stocked vans and a dispatcher. Replacement installs and new-construction rough-ins can pay later, sometimes on a draw schedule, and need equipment bought before the job starts. The funding questions differ for each side.
Maintenance agreements sit in between. A base of customers paying for annual tune-ups gives the business steadier revenue, and partners reviewing HVAC business financing may weigh that recurring income when it shows up clearly in the bank statements.
Which Structures Fit Plumbing and HVAC Work
| Need | Structure |
|---|---|
| Service vans, camera rigs, jetters, recovery machines | Equipment financing |
| Furnaces, condensers, water heaters and fittings stocked ahead of jobs | Inventory financing |
| Payroll and materials during installs and new-construction phases | Line of credit |
| A one-time gap on a large commercial job | Working capital |
Plumbing equipment financing options follow the same logic as any equipment loan: the item secures the financing, and the term should not outlast the item's useful life. A van with a full upfit can be financed as one package if the upfit is on the same invoice.
Working Capital for an HVAC Company Between Installs
Illustration only: an HVAC shop sells eight system replacements in a month, each with $6,500 of equipment it pays its distributor for within 30 days, while homeowner financing or commercial customers pay 30 to 45 days after completion. That is $52,000 of equipment paid out before much of the matching revenue arrives. A line sized to a typical month's equipment purchases covers the overlap, and paying it down as installs are paid keeps it available.
Business loans for plumbers follow the same pattern on a smaller scale: fixtures and water heaters bought before the customer pays.
What Partners Look at for Plumbing and HVAC Contractors
- Bank statements showing the split between service receipts and project payments
- Maintenance-agreement revenue, if any, and how it is billed
- Open project contracts and draw schedules
- Vehicle and equipment loans already in place
- The entity's registration and the trade credentials its work requires
Waukesha County, WI Plumbing and HVAC Shops in the 2023 Count
County Business Patterns counted 178 plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractor establishments in Waukesha County, WI in 2023, with 2,526 paid employees and about $222.3 million in annual payroll. Just over half (55.6%, or 99 shops) had fewer than five employees. ZIP 53186 had 12 of them (ZBP 2023).
Nonemployer Statistics counted 112 plumbing and HVAC nonemployers in 2024, at NAICS 2022 code 23822, the closest published level. That is a separate program and year from the CBP count and is not added to it. County-wide figures for every trade are on the Waukesha, WI figures page.
Related Trades
Plumbing and HVAC sit under the broader contractor and builder page, which covers draws, retainage and heavy equipment. The full list of trades is on the industry overview.
