Larger companiesCivil construction

How do I sell a larger civil construction company? Site work, paving and heavy civil

You sell it to a buyer who'll price your fleet, take over your bonds and keep your estimators. At $10,000,000 in sales that's often a nearby contractor. By $20,000,000, private equity funds that own a site work company bid too, and from $100,000,000 your profit runs past our own figures. Each size below has its own answer.

Construction

14 min read

Figures: IRS tax year 2023Census 2022TagniFi through March 2026Market Pulse through Q2 2026Read November 12, 2026

Legend Atty · Founder, BridgeBook

Published November 12, 2026

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What profit do civil contractors keep?

The short answer: heavy and civil construction S corporations kept 7.4%^[1] of sales as business profit in tax year 2023, by our math on IRS figures for every size. Before interest, depreciation and amortization it was about 11.1%. Most of that gap is depreciation.

Business profit on tax returns: 7.4%^[1]Heavy and civil construction S corporations, all sizes, tax year 2023
Before interest, depreciation and amortization: 11.1%^[1]By our math, with equipment-sale gains
Depreciation alone: 3.1%^[1]Of receipts, by our math. Building contractors: 0.7%
Construction firms your size: 36,962^[2]Employer firms, $10,000,000 to $99,999,999 in sales, 2022, all kinds of construction

That first figure is business profit as filed, before the owners' own income tax. It's every heavy and civil S corporation together, losses included, as a share of what they took in. It covers 30,607 returns of every size.

Add back interest, depreciation and amortization and you get the second figure, our math. It's close to EBITDA, the profit before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization that a larger buyer prices. The second figure includes gains on selling equipment, because the IRS withholds this industry's equipment-sale lines.

Depreciation took 3.1% of receipts here, against 0.7% for building contractors. That's mostly the fleet: graders, excavators, pavers and trucks. A buyer adds it back to price you, then asks what it costs to replace.

Exhibit 1's last three rows are size bands from a second IRS table: S corporations in every industry, sorted by business receipts, which this page calls sales.

Exhibit 1

Site work and civil beside the rest of construction and the size bands, tax year 2023

Band is sales

Site work and civil, building, specialty trade and all construction S corporations, and S corporations by size of sales, tax year 2023: business profit on tax returns and the figure before interest, depreciation and amortization.
Industry or size	Business profit on tax returns	Before interest, depreciation and amortization
Heavy and civil engineering construction and land subdivision all sizes	7.4%	11.1%*
Construction of buildings all sizes	4.8%	5.9%*
Specialty trade contractors all sizes	8.0%	10.4%*
Construction all sizes	6.7%	8.4%
$10,000,000 to $50,000,000	7.3%	9.1%
$50,000,000 to $250,000,000	6.1%	8.0%
$250,000,000 or more	5.9%	8.2%

* Includes gains on selling equipment, which the IRS doesn't publish for this industry.

Sorted by business receipts, which this page calls sales. Before interest, depreciation and amortization = (business profit + interest + depreciation + amortization − net gains on selling equipment) ÷ total receipts, by our math on IRS figures.^[1]^[3]

Source: IRS Statistics of Income, Tax Year 2023^[1]; IRS Statistics of Income, Tax Year 2023, released September 2026^[3]. Industry rows cover every size of company. Size rows are all industries.

Census counted 36,962^[2] construction firms of every kind with $10,000,000 to $99,999,999 in sales in 2022. Here's how a building contractor sells and how a trades contractor sells.

What does a civil contractor earn and sell for at each size?

A made-up site work company at the IRS rate of 11.1% earns $1,110,000 on $10,000,000 of sales, and $33,300,000 on $300,000,000. Somewhere between $50,000,000 and $100,000,000 of sales its price passes $50,000,000, where the sold-deal data behind our calculator ends. From $100,000,000 up we give no figure of ours.

Exhibit 2

Seven made-up civil contractors at the IRS site work rate of 11.1%

Band is sales

Seven made-up civil contractors: sales, the IRS size row for that size, EBITDA at the site work rate, and what the sold-deal data behind our calculator puts on it
Sales	IRS size row	EBITDA at 11.1%	Our sold-deal range
$10,000,000	9.1%	$1,110,000	$3,509,154 to $5,372,356
$20,000,000	9.1%	$2,220,000	$8,880,000 to $12,876,000
$30,000,000	9.1%	$3,330,000	$13,320,000 to $19,314,000
$50,000,000	8.0%	$5,550,000	$22,200,000 to $32,190,000
$100,000,000	8.0%	$11,100,000	Past our data
$200,000,000	8.0%	$22,200,000	Past our data
$300,000,000	8.2%	$33,300,000	Past our data

Source: IRS Statistics of Income, Tax Year 2023^[1]; IRS Statistics of Income, Tax Year 2023, released September 2026^[3]; IBBA and M&A Source, Second quarter of 2026^[4]. Made-up examples. The rate is heavy and civil construction S corporations of every size. Ranges are the sold-deal data behind our calculator, all industries together, checked November 2, 2026.

Site work beats the size row, every S corporation that size, at every size. That's why a civil contractor runs past our data at a smaller size than a builder does.

How do I sell a civil construction company with $10,000,000 in sales?

Often to a nearby contractor or a buyer with a bank loan, and the fleet gets valued before anyone agrees a price. A made-up example at the IRS site work rate of 11.1%: about $1,110,000 a year, which our calculator puts at $3,509,154 to $5,372,356.^[1]^[4]

IRS size row, all industries: 9.1% before interest, depreciation and amortization, sales of $10,000,000 to $50,000,000
Our sold-deal range: Reaches this example

Our site work calculator asks how old most of your equipment is: less than 5 years, 5 to 10 years, or more than 10. A buyer asks the same, then has the fleet appraised. Older equipment means spending soon, and the buyer prices that in.

Here our calculator prices on a blend of owner's earnings and EBITDA. Owner's earnings, called SDE, adds the owner's own pay back to profit. EBITDA counts a hired manager's pay as a cost instead.

One SBA 7(a) loan, a bank loan the U.S. Small Business Administration backs, tops out at $5,000,000^[5]. The top of this range sits above that, so a buyer using one loan would need more money beside it.

Across every industry: what a company with $10,000,000 in sales is worth.

How do I sell a civil construction company with $20,000,000 in sales?

To regional contractors and private equity funds that already own a site work company, often bidding against each other. A made-up example at 11.1%: about $2,220,000 a year, which our calculator puts at $8,880,000 to $12,876,000, priced on EBITDA.^[1]^[4]

IRS size row, all industries: 9.1% before interest, depreciation and amortization, sales of $10,000,000 to $50,000,000
Our sold-deal range: Reaches this example

Once owner's earnings pass $2,000,000, our calculator switches to EBITDA, profit after paying a manager to run the company. At 11.1%, a site work company crosses that line by this size.

Private equity funds, which put their investors' money into companies, buy far more add-ons than first companies. An add-on is bought to join a company the fund already owns. PitchBook counted about three of every four U.S. buyouts in the second quarter of 2026 as add-ons^[6].

Somewhere in this range a company passes $10,000,000^[7] of value. From about there, Lockton says, buyers can often insure the promises you make in the contract. Reps and warranties insurance pays the buyer if a promise proves wrong. Then less of your price sits in escrow, money held back after closing for claims.

Across every industry: what a company with $20,000,000 in sales is worth.

How do I sell a civil construction company with $30,000,000 in sales?

To contractors and funds in your field, with part of the price sometimes paid later through an earnout. A made-up example at 11.1%: about $3,330,000 a year, which our calculator puts at $13,320,000 to $19,314,000.^[1]^[4]

IRS size row, all industries: 9.1% before interest, depreciation and amortization, sales of $10,000,000 to $50,000,000
Our sold-deal range: Reaches this example

Some of the price may come later, as an earnout: money paid after closing if the business hits targets. In SRS Acquiom's count, 35% of 2025 deals paying $25,000,000 or less at closing had one^[8]. A site work company in this range falls in that group.

Public work comes up here. Jobs for cities, counties and state roads need bonds. Your surety, the company that guarantees them, decides whether it will back the company under a new owner.

Our view: buyers want your backlog split by customer. Public agencies, developers and general contractors pay on different schedules and carry different risk. How much of an earnout gets paid.

Across every industry: what a company with $30,000,000 in sales is worth.

How do I sell a civil construction company with $50,000,000 in sales?

In a sale where the buyers' accountants test your EBITDA and an appraiser values your fleet. A made-up example at 11.1%: about $5,550,000 a year, which our calculator puts at $22,200,000 to $32,190,000.^[1]^[4]

IRS size row, all industries: 8.0% before interest, depreciation and amortization, sales of $50,000,000 to $250,000,000
Our sold-deal range: Reaches this example

Sales of exactly $50,000,000 put you in the IRS's next band, $50,000,000 to $250,000,000, where S corporations kept 8.0% before interest, depreciation and amortization. The site work rate of 11.1% still beats it.

The sold-deal data behind our calculator covers EBITDA up to $8,620,690. On $50,000,000 of sales, only a civil contractor earning about 17.2% or more would pass it, well above the IRS rate.

Plan on a quality of earnings report at this size, an outside accountant's test of your profit. PKF O'Connor Davies writes that it has long been standard in deals with company values of $10,000,000 to $1,000,000,000^[9]. In site work, expect questions on what you spent keeping the fleet running.

Money you have tied up in jobs and materials gets counted at closing. In site work that's what agencies and developers owe you and the retainage they keep until a job ends. It's also the pipe, stone and other materials in your yard.

What the peg means

Working capital is the money tied up in running the business day to day. It's what customers owe you, plus inventory, minus the bills you owe. You and the buyer agree on a normal amount of it that the business hands over at closing. That agreed amount is called the peg, or the target. If the business has less than the target on closing day, the price goes down by the gap. If it has more, the price goes up by the difference.

A made-up example

What customers owe you: $3,000,000
Plus inventory: $2,500,000
Minus the bills you owe: $1,800,000
Working capital on closing day: $3,700,000
The target (the peg): $4,000,000
Short of the target: $300,000
Price in the letter: $40,000,000
Price at closing: $39,700,000

Had it come in $300,000 over the target, the price would have been $40,300,000. Some deals set a small band around the target where the price doesn't move.

Lincoln International says the target is usually an average of the last 3 to 12 months^[10]. In much of the country site work slows in winter, so which months go into that average can move your price. The working capital peg, step by step.

Across every industry: what a company with $50,000,000 in sales is worth.

How do I sell a civil construction company with $100,000,000 in sales?

As a platform or a large add-on, to funds and bigger contractors bidding against each other. A made-up example at 11.1%: about $11,100,000 a year, past the sold-deal data behind our calculator, so we don't put a figure on it.^[1]

IRS size row, all industries: 8.0% before interest, depreciation and amortization, sales of $50,000,000 to $250,000,000
Our sold-deal range: Ends at a $50,000,000 sale price

Here a builder and a site work company part ways. The sold-deal data behind our calculator stops at companies that sold for $50,000,000. A builder with $100,000,000 in sales still sits inside it at the building rate. At the site work rate, $11,100,000 of EBITDA is past it.

Exhibit 3

Other publishers' figures for company values of $50,000,000 and up

Band is company value

Other publishers' figures, not ours

Other publishers' figures by size: GF Data and TagniFi.
Company value	Multiple of EBITDA	Statistic	Buyers	Period	Publisher
$50,000,000 to $100,000,000Near yours	8.7x	Average	Private equity, platform buyouts	Through the third quarter of 2025	GF Data^[11]
$100,000,000 to $250,000,000Near yours	10.0x	Average	Private equity, platform buyouts	Through the third quarter of 2025	GF Data^[11]
$100,000,000 to $500,000,000	9.8x against 7.0x under $100,000,000	Average	Private equity, platform buyouts	Through the third quarter of 2025	GF Data^[11]
$50,000,000 to $200,000,000Near yours	9.0x	Median	All buyers	Twelve months to March 31, 2026	TagniFi^[12]
$200,000,000 to $500,000,000	11.4x	Median	All buyers	Twelve months to March 31, 2026	TagniFi^[12]
$50,000,000 to $200,000,000, construction	6.6x	Median	All buyers	Twelve months to March 31, 2026	TagniFi^[12]

These figures come from outside reports, not from BridgeBook's own data: each one counts different deals in its own way, so read them as a guide to the market, not as a price for your company.

Source: GF Data, Through the third quarter of 2025^[11]; TagniFi, Twelve months to March 31, 2026^[12].

Exhibit 3 marks the rows nearest that profit. They're other publishers' figures, not a price for you.

A fund buying its first site work company, called a platform, often asks the owner to keep a stake. That's rollover equity, part of the price kept as shares. GF Data counted it in 63.6%^[13] of 2024 private equity deals of $10,000,000 to $500,000,000. How rollover equity works.

Across every industry: what a company with $100,000,000 in sales is worth.

How do I sell a civil construction company with $200,000,000 in sales?

In rounds, with time between signing and closing for the consents your contracts and bonds need. A made-up example at 11.1%: about $22,200,000 a year, which only outside reports describe at this size.^[1]

IRS size row, all industries: 8.0% before interest, depreciation and amortization, sales of $50,000,000 to $250,000,000
Our sold-deal range: Ends at a $50,000,000 sale price

Some contracts and bonds need the other side's consent when the owner changes. Ask your lawyer to list them before the letter of intent, the buyer's written offer signed before its full checks.

Those consents are one reason a deal signs on one day and closes on a later one. SRS Acquiom found a gap between the two in 59%^[14] of 2024 deals.

Pulled from Exhibit 3, these are the rows nearest $22,200,000 of EBITDA. Read them as other people's counts, not a price.

Exhibit 4

Other publishers' figures near $22,200,000 of EBITDA

Band is company value

Other publishers' figures, not ours

Other publishers' figures by size: GF Data and TagniFi.
Company value	Multiple of EBITDA	Statistic	Buyers	Period	Publisher
$100,000,000 to $250,000,000Near yours	10.0x	Average	Private equity, platform buyouts	Through the third quarter of 2025	GF Data^[11]
$50,000,000 to $200,000,000Near yours	9.0x	Median	All buyers	Twelve months to March 31, 2026	TagniFi^[12]
$200,000,000 to $500,000,000Near yours	11.4x	Median	All buyers	Twelve months to March 31, 2026	TagniFi^[12]

These figures come from outside reports, not from BridgeBook's own data: each one counts different deals in its own way, so read them as a guide to the market, not as a price for your company.

Source: GF Data, Through the third quarter of 2025^[11]; TagniFi, Twelve months to March 31, 2026^[12].

Across every industry: what a company with $200,000,000 in sales is worth.

How do I sell a civil construction company with $300,000,000 in sales?

To national contractors and large private equity funds, after a first round narrows the field to a few. A made-up example at 11.1%: about $33,300,000 a year, in the IRS top size band and past our data.^[1]

IRS size row, all industries: 8.2% before interest, depreciation and amortization, sales of $250,000,000 or more
Our sold-deal range: Ends at a $50,000,000 sale price

A civil contractor this size files in the IRS's last size band, the one that starts at exactly $250,000,000. Those S corporations kept 8.2% before interest, depreciation and amortization. Their average sales were $715,078,611, more than twice yours.

Even the public engineering and construction companies in NYU Stern's data earned less. As of January 2026 they made 8.0%^[15] of sales as EBITDA, against the site work rate of 11.1%. They're much bigger companies, so read it as scale, not a target.

If a fund buys you and you keep a stake, that stake gets paid when the fund sells. PitchBook says funds held a company a median 6.4 years^[6] before selling it in 2025. Here's who buys a company your size.

Across every industry: what a company with $300,000,000 in sales is worth.

What do buyers check first in a civil contractor?

The fleet, the backlog and who bids the work. A buyer usually asks for these first, in about this order.

Every machine on your equipment list, with its age, its hours and any loan against it.
Backlog by customer, with each job's value and what's left to do.
Three years of finished jobs: bid margin against what you actually earned.
Your surety's letter on bonding limits, and any state road prequalification you hold.
Your estimators and superintendents, and whether they'd stay.

Safety comes up too. A buyer will ask for your injury record and your insurance rates, because both follow the company.

What moves the price of a civil contractor?

Profit first, then how much of it the fleet will eat. Our site work calculator asks two questions after your sales and profit: the age of most of your equipment, and how much revenue comes from your biggest customer.

Your biggest customer's share has three answers: less than 15%, 15% to 30%, or more than 30%. One state agency or one developer carrying a big share of your work is a risk a buyer prices in.

Then backlog. Signed work you haven't done yet makes next year easier to count on, and only contracts a buyer can take over count.

What would your own numbers show?

Try your own sales and margin below. It opens at the IRS site work rate of 11.1% and tells you when your profit runs past the sold-deal data behind our calculator.

Your numbers

Yearly sales

Or type your sales

Industry: Site work and civil

Profit margin before interest, depreciation and amortization

IRS, site work and civil S corporations of every size, tax year 2023, our math. Change it to yours. Includes gains on selling equipment, which the IRS doesn't publish for this industry.

A made-up example at the IRS rate

$3,330,000

A made-up example: 11.1% of $30,000,000 in yearly sales. EBITDA is yearly profit before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.

Our sold-deal data puts that EBITDA at

$13,320,000 to $19,314,000

Typical $16,317,000, priced on EBITDA.

IBBA and M&A Source Market Pulse, closed deals of $5,000,000 to $50,000,000. Typical is the middle of its recent readings. Our figures checked November 2, 2026.

Other publishers' figures, not ours

Other publishers' figures by size: GF Data and TagniFi.
Company value	Multiple of EBITDA	Publisher
$10,000,000 to $25,000,000Near yours	5.9x	GF Data, average, through the third quarter of 2025
$25,000,000 to $50,000,000	6.6x	GF Data, average, through the third quarter of 2025
$50,000,000 to $100,000,000	8.7x	GF Data, average, through the third quarter of 2025
$100,000,000 to $250,000,000	10.0x	GF Data, average, through the third quarter of 2025
$1,000,000 to $10,000,000	5.5x	TagniFi, median, twelve months to March 31, 2026
$10,000,000 to $50,000,000Near yours	7.3x	TagniFi, median, twelve months to March 31, 2026
$50,000,000 to $200,000,000	9.0x	TagniFi, median, twelve months to March 31, 2026
$200,000,000 to $500,000,000	11.4x	TagniFi, median, twelve months to March 31, 2026

These figures come from outside reports, not from BridgeBook's own data: each one counts different deals in its own way, so read them as a guide to the market, not as a price for your company.

Why the two differ

At this profit you can book a call with a dedicated advisor.

Get my free valuation Talk to a dedicated advisor

The valuation asks your sales and profit again, then your name, email and cell phone, and shows a range.

What we'd look at first

Your first call with a dedicated advisor covers your numbers. In site work, four things lead.

What you spent replacing equipment in each of the last three years, beside your depreciation.
Today's backlog and when each job ends.
Your surety letter and your bank line.
Who estimates and runs the jobs the day after you leave.

Then your advisor shows you where the sold-deal data puts your profit, and where a buyer is likely to push back. It's often lower than an owner hopes, and it's built to hold up when the buyer's accountants test it.

Questions about selling a civil construction company

How do I sell a civil construction company with $10,000,000 in sales?

How do I sell a civil construction company with $20,000,000 in sales?

How do I sell a civil construction company with $30,000,000 in sales?

How do I sell a civil construction company with $50,000,000 in sales?

How do I sell a civil construction company with $100,000,000 in sales?

How do I sell a civil construction company with $200,000,000 in sales?

How do I sell a civil construction company with $300,000,000 in sales?

What profit margin do site work and civil contractors make?

Heavy and civil construction S corporations reported 7.4% as business profit in tax year 2023, and about 11.1% before interest, depreciation and amortization, by our math on IRS figures for every size. The second figure includes gains on selling equipment, because the IRS withholds this industry's equipment-sale lines.

Does the age of my equipment change the price?

Buyers price what it will cost to keep the fleet running. Our site work calculator asks how old most of your equipment is.

Next for a site work owner: average profit margin by company size, how much of an earnout gets paid and what to do when a buyer calls.

Where these numbers come from

The sold-deal data behind our calculator: IBBA and M&A Source Market Pulse, closed deals. Our figures checked November 2, 2026.

IRS Statistics of Income, Corporation Income Tax Returns Complete Report (Publication 16), Table 6.1, Form 1120-S by major industry. Tax Year 2023. Read November 12, 2026.
U.S. Census Bureau, Statistics of U.S. Businesses 2022, by enterprise receipts size. 2022, released April 10, 2025. Read November 12, 2026.
IRS Statistics of Income, Corporation Income Tax Returns Complete Report (Publication 16), Table 3.2, Form 1120-S by size of business receipts. Tax Year 2023, released September 2026. Read November 12, 2026.
IBBA and M&A Source, Market Pulse Q2 2026 Highlights. Second quarter of 2026. Read November 12, 2026.
U.S. Small Business Administration, 7(a) loans. Opened November 12, 2026. Read November 12, 2026.
PitchBook, Q2 2026 US PE Breakdown. Second quarter of 2026. Read November 12, 2026.
Lockton, Transaction Liability Market Update 2025, The Americas. 2025. Read November 12, 2026.
SRS Acquiom, 2026 M&A Deal Terms Special Report: Lower Middle-Market Deals. Deals closed through 2025. Read November 12, 2026.
PKF O'Connor Davies, Quality of Earnings Goes Mainstream. September 15, 2026. Read November 12, 2026.
Lincoln International, Bridging the Gap Between Target and Closing Net Working Capital in M&A Deals. Modified May 12, 2026. Read November 12, 2026.
GF Data, The Size Premium Returns to 2.8x: How Employee Ownership Helps Smaller Platforms Compete. Through the third quarter of 2025. Read November 12, 2026.
TagniFi, PowerComps Middle Market Update for the first quarter of 2026: Quality Over Quantity. Twelve months to March 31, 2026. Read November 12, 2026.
GF Data (ACG), GF Data Highlights Fourth Quarter, 2024. Full year 2024. Read November 12, 2026.
SRS Acquiom, 2025 M&A Deal Terms Study. Deals closed 2019 to 2024. Read November 12, 2026.
Aswath Damodaran, NYU Stern, Operating and Net Margins, Margins by Sector (US). Data as of January 2026. Read November 12, 2026.

Percentages are BridgeBook's arithmetic on the IRS dollar figures.

Outside figures are other publishers', named and dated, and they don't feed our calculator. How we use outside figures

Keep reading

Tools and data

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Your exit credit comes off our success fee at closing and grows with your yearly sales: $5,000 under $5,000,000 in sales ($2,500 for your valuation report, plus $2,500 for your advisor call or for starting your listing), up to $50,000 at $100,000,000 or more.

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