Great Lakes Plumbing & Heating

What Great Lakes Plumbing & Heating does

Great Lakes Plumbing & Heating Company is a family-owned mechanical contracting firm founded in 1946 by George J. and Dorothy J. Treutelaar on the northwest side of Chicago and now headquartered in Westmont, Illinois. The company designs, installs, and services commercial plumbing, mechanical (HVAC and process piping), and fire protection systems across six interconnected service lines: Plumbing, Mechanical, Fire Protection, Design/Build, Service & Maintenance, and Special Projects. Its Design/Build division utilizes Building Information Modeling (BIM) for 3D project visualization and prefabrication, and the firm maintains in-house professional engineers (P.E.) covering local and national fire codes.

The company serves ten vertical markets in the Chicago metropolitan area — Commercial (primary), Data Centers, Healthcare, Hospitality, Education, Industrial, Life Sciences, Residential, Sports & Entertainment, and Transportation — with marquee engagements including Microsoft Chicago Northlake Data Center, O'Hare International Airport, Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Lurie Children's Hospital, Willis Tower, United Center, Argonne National Laboratory, and Takeda Pharmaceuticals. Revenue is generated through project-based installation contracts (one-time) supplemented by recurring service and maintenance work, including 24/7 emergency response for both GLPH-installed and third-party systems. Pricing is quote-based with no public disclosure.

Go-to-market is direct enterprise sales targeting general contractors, property developers, facility managers, and building owners. The firm employs 101–250 people and remains under family ownership, with current leadership including Chairman George W. Treutelaar, Presidents Justin Treutelaar (Business Development and Strategy) and Matt Treutelaar (Operations), CFO Michael Russ, and EVP Brian G. Conway. No external investors, funding rounds, or parent company affiliations are disclosed.

Name

Great Lakes Plumbing & Heating

Legal name

Great Lakes Plumbing and Heating Company

Website

https://glph.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1946

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Great Lakes Plumbing & Heating is a family-owned Chicago-area mechanical contractor founded in 1946 that designs, installs, and services commercial plumbing, HVAC, fire protection, and clean room systems across healthcare, data center, hospitality, education, industrial, and other institutional verticals.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Mechanical Contracting Services

NAICS

Plumbing, Heating, and Air-Conditioning Contractors (238220)

akta.pro primary industry

Plumbing & Pipefitting Contracting (IMAFALAC)

akta.pro secondary industry

Commercial Water Heater & Boiler Service (HSAOACAJ)

Keywords

• Mechanical contracting services
• Commercial plumbing installation
• Fire protection systems
• HVAC mechanical services
• Design-build construction

Headquarters

HQ city

Chicago

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Project-Based Installation: One-time project revenue from design, installation, and construction of plumbing, mechanical, fire protection, and design/build systems for commercial clients.
2. Service and Maintenance: Recurring revenue from servicing systems they have installed as well as systems installed by others, including emergency repairs, planned maintenance, and system inspections.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

Great Lakes Plumbing and Heating Company is a full-service mechanical contracting firm that designs and installs commercial plumbing, mechanical (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning), and fire protection systems for buildings across the Chicago metropolitan area. The company offers six interconnected service lines—Plumbing, Mechanical, Fire Protection, Design/Build, Service & Maintenance (24/7), and Special Projects—delivered through in-house engineering, Building Information Modeling (BIM), and professional fire-protection engineers.

Product overview

Great Lakes Plumbing & Heating is a full-service mechanical contractor offering six interconnected service lines: Plumbing Services, Mechanical Services, Fire Protection Services, Design/Build Services, Service & Maintenance, and Special Projects. The company operates primarily in the Chicago metropolitan area serving commercial, industrial, healthcare, education, hospitality, residential, and other markets. Their Design/Build division utilizes Building Information Modeling (BIM) technology, while their Service division provides 24/7 maintenance support across all installed systems.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Plumbing Services Commercial plumbing system design and installation including system design, pre-fabrication, industrial process piping, domestic hot water systems, green plumbing design, and site utilities. Targeted at commercial clients across the Chicago metropolitan area.
• Mechanical Services Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) design and installation including testing and air balancing, medical and specialty gas systems, high purity water systems, steam piping, refrigeration, process piping, fabrication, clean rooms, and data center systems. Targeted at commercial, healthcare, life sciences, and data center clients.
• Fire Protection Services Design, installation, and servicing of fire protection systems including wet and dry sprinkler systems, standpipe systems, fire pumps, VESDA, clean agent systems, and fire sprinkler retrofits, delivered by in-house professional engineers. Targeted at commercial, healthcare, hospitality, and government facility clients.
• Design/Build Services Customized fire protection and plumbing system design and construction using Building Information Modeling (BIM) technology, providing 3D project visualization and pre-construction design exploration for complex commercial projects.
• Service & Maintenance Round-the-clock emergency and routine servicing for plumbing, mechanical, and fire protection systems, including RPZ/backflow certification, pump replacement, sprinkler inspection, and planned maintenance. Serves systems installed by Great Lakes and those installed by others.
• Special Projects Customized solutions for special, complex projects including tenant build-outs, cooling towers, interior renovations, and small commercial buildings, delivered on time and on budget by the firm's expert team.

Quantifiable outcome

• Many clients maintain relationships for more than 25 years
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers31 records

Segments10 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Hill Mechanical Group: Chicago-area commercial mechanical and HVAC contractor with similar mid-market positioning and customer mix including healthcare, education, and commercial property; competes for the same project types in the same Chicago metro geography as GLPH.
• Kelso-Burnett Company: Long-established Illinois-based mechanical and electrical contractor serving commercial and industrial customers in the Chicago area; closely overlaps with GLPH in commercial construction plumbing, mechanical, and fire protection scope.
• Waldinger Corporation: Midwest multi-trade mechanical, electrical, and plumbing contractor serving commercial customers comparable to GLPH's healthcare, hospitality, education, and industrial segments from a similar regional base.

Broad incumbents

• ACCO Engineered Systems: Large multi-state mechanical contractor offering plumbing, HVAC, and fire protection across commercial construction; broader geographic footprint but directly comparable in service portfolio and project types to GLPH.
• Limbach Holdings: Publicly traded specialty mechanical contractor providing HVAC, plumbing, and related services to commercial, institutional, and industrial customers; comparable business model to GLPH at meaningfully larger scale and national reach.
• Comfort Systems USA: Largest U.S. publicly traded commercial mechanical contractor; performs HVAC, plumbing, and specialty services via subsidiary companies across geographies, with directly overlapping core offerings and customer profiles.
• EMCOR Group: Global MEP services and facilities contractor with major presence in commercial HVAC, plumbing, fire protection, and energy services; competes for the same large commercial projects GLPH pursues, with far greater scale and balance sheet.
• APi Group: Publicly traded safety and specialty services holding company with a substantial fire protection services segment and growing MEP exposure; comparable to GLPH in fire protection and specialty building services, at vastly larger scale.
• IES Holdings: Publicly traded infrastructure services holding company with commercial and industrial electrical, mechanical, and plumbing operations; directly comparable multi-trade specialty contractor model to GLPH, with significantly broader geographic reach.

Regional players

• Mechanical Inc. Midwest-based commercial mechanical and plumbing contractor serving healthcare, education, and industrial customers; a relevant regional analog to GLPH's Chicago focus, with similar specialty trade contractor model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles15 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Great Lakes Plumbing & Heating