Choosing the right plumber
Reading time: 7 minutes
When choosing the rightplumber, there are some key issues you need to think about. In this article, we’ll take you through them step by step.
- Choose someone who gets the basics right
- If your job involves gas, check whether the tradesperson is Gas Safe-registered
- Choose someone with lots of specific experience
- Ask each tradesperson about the method they plan to use
- Get a detailed quote from each tradesperson you’re considering
- Scrutinise any guarantee they offer you
- Discuss materials before work starts
Let’s look at each of these in a bit more depth.
我总是注重守时，我认为这是非常重要的给房主一些明确的早些，什么日子和时间你可以做的工作。
It’s also really important you choose a tradesperson who makes you feel comfortable in your own home. Trust your instincts with that one - try to choose someone who, if necessary, you’d feel happy about leaving to work in your home on their own.
Get a free quote
We can help you meet professional plumbers near you to get real quotes today.
If your job involves gas, check whether the tradesperson is Gas Safe-registered
If the job you need doing involves gas in any way, theplumberyou hire must beGas Safe-registered. This is a legal requirement: The Gas Safe Register replaced the CORGI scheme in 2009, and is the UK’s official gas registration body.
You can check whether a tradesperson is onthe Gas Safe register here.
There are certainly goodplumberswho are not Gas Safe-registered: They may have chosen, for example, to only take on jobs that do not involve gas at all. But if even the smallest element of your job does involve gas, they should be happy to show you their registration documentation.
As Joseph highlights, Gas Safe training also helps improve a tradesperson’s knowledge base:
If you’re working with gas - qualifications are key. They’re absolutely vital, because you learn a lot by taking the Gas Safe courses every five years.
I’ve got to do mine again in April, and I’m quite looking forward to learning the new stuff - refreshing my memory on all the new regulations and so on… there’s always something new to learn.
Choose someone with lots of specific experience
If a tradesperson has a City & Guilds qualification inPlumbing and Domestic Heating, or a relevant NVQ qualification, it’s certainly a good indication that they take their job seriously.
However, because plumbing projects so often involve unexpected problem-solving and learning ‘on the job’, several years of experience can be at least as valid.
It’s also important to choose a plumber who has experience that specifically relates to the work you need doing. For example, if you’d like a whole new bathroom installed, it makes sense to choose a plumber who specialises in those sort of jobs.
And if it’s a big project, it’s definitely worth asking whether you can view a similar, previous job the tradesperson has done, and chat to that customer about how they felt it went.
Ask each tradesperson about the method they plan to use
询问每一个你正在考虑的商人他们打算如何完成你的工作。As Joseph explains, this should help you work out which plumber has a proper plan in place:
I would always encourage homeowners to ask questions about how a tradesperson plans to do a job. That way, they can find out whether that tradesperson has really thought everything through.
这意味着他们在工作开始时可能会有一个更积极的体验——而不是雇佣一个只是说“是的，我可以做这个”的人，没有真正地思考!
Get a detailed quote from each tradesperson you’re considering
Particularly if it’s a large plumbing job, try to get at least three different plumbers to visit your property and quote on the work. Quotes over the phone are, by their nature, often based on a series of assumptions - so you should treat them as estimates rather than exact figures.
在我报价之前，我通常会转一圈——因为大多数时候客户发布的工作并不能完全准确地反映出需要做的工作。很明显，他们不是技术人员，所以他们只会说他们没有任何暖气。这可能是一个非常简单的东西，你可以在两分钟内修好，而不需要充电——或者这可能是一个非常大的工作。
So I would always recommend you choose someone who is willing to go out for free to assess the situation properly - rather than someone who says that will be a £60 or £70 charge no matter what.
A good plumber will clearly explain and break down all the possible costs, in writing. For example, how will you be charged - per hour, or a flat rate for the job? And in addition to labour and materials, will you be charged extra for travel, parking charges, VAT and the disposal of any waste? Be wary of anyone who doesn’t outline all the various costs upfront.
If it’s a big job, some plumbers will ask for an instalment payment before work starts. This isn’t necessarily a problem, but you shouldn’t have to pay more than 25% upfront. Certainly never pay the full amount until the job is completed and you have inspected (and tested) the work.
Scrutinise any guarantee they offer you
Many tradespeople will highlight the fact that they offer job guarantees. This certainly sounds reassuring - particularly if it’s for a large and costly project, like the installation of a new boiler. But it’s worth digging a little deeper to uncover what that guarantee actually involves. For example, how will that guarantee work if the tradesperson goes out of business?
至少在理论上，“保险支持”的担保意味着在这种情况下，这项工作仍被覆盖。And if the plumber you choose is a member of theAssociation of Plumbing and Heating Contractors(APHC), another member plumber will be contracted to complete the job if they do go out of business mid-way through the project.
Discuss materials before work starts
If a job involves the purchase of fixtures and fittings, you might be tempted to buy these yourself: Many homeowners go down this route because they see products in high street shops and then think they can buy similar items more cheaply online.
Plumber Mark Geraghty - ofMG Plumbing & Heating- has been a MyBuilder member since 2009, and has positive feedback from almost 350 customers. He explains why this approach can cause problems:
People tend to go into DIY stores, see taps that are, for example, £90, and then go and buy something similar off the internet. And of course on there the tap is often half the price - £40 or £50 cheaper.
However, a lot of that stuff is just crap quality, which is problematic for plumbers. Particularly when it comes to working fittings - taps and valves and things like that - the quality is pretty important.
For example, someone bought a load of valves off the internet, and I fitted them on to eight or nine radiators. Once I’d fitted them all, I filled the system as you would do normally, and every single one leaked, because the sizing wasn’t correct - it was just out by a fraction of a millimetre.
那天我在那里待到晚上9点，因为它们都必须被拆除，我必须用密封胶带把它们重新装好，这不是它们应该被安装的方式。
That’s why it’s important, if customers are sourcing their own fittings, to get stuff that’s WRAS-approved - Water Regulations Authority Standard. All WRAS-approved stuff is stamped, so it’s easy to see what’s what.
This story highlights just how important it is to have a clear discussion about materials right at the beginning of the process.
A good plumber will be able to explain the pros and cons of buying from different sources, and should help you avoid any ‘false economies’.
