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Help I Need a Plumber!
If you need an emergency plumber, a heating engineer or someone to install a new bathroom, it is important to ask key questions to make sure that you choose a competent tradesman or woman. This guide helps you to choose the right person to undertake your plumbing work.
Plumbers in the UK take on a wide range of tasks for in both domestic and industrial settings. In domestic settings they repair, maintain and install hot and cold water supplies, toilet fittings and waste disposal fittings. A plumber may carry out a wide range of work or may specialise in a particular area such as emergency call outs, drain clearance, bath and shower installation or servicing central heating. Any plumber who undertakes gas work in the UK must be registered with CORGI. CORGI is the Council for Registered Gas Installers.
Over the past few years, the press has run stories about a shortage of plumbers. In 2003, the British Plumbing Employer’s Council estimated that the plumbing industry would need to recruit 29,000 new entrants over the next 5 years. This led to reports of City workers leaving their jobs in the hope of earning £70,000 a year as a plumber. More recently, however, there are accounts of workers with plumbing experience from Eastern Europe are filling vacancies on building sites and a surplus of trainees trying to find jobs.
For the householder, this may mean that finding someone to deal with plumbing jobs around the house is now easier but householders still need to take care to ensure that they have found a plumber who can provide them with a quality service.
Hot Tips Choosing a Plumber or Heating Engineer
You can find plumbers by searching on Local Service Guide. If you know a plumber who you think should be featured on our site then ring 01962 889460 or send an email.
© Local Service Guide 2007 Plumbers, Emergency Plumbers and Heating Engineers in the UK
BACK
Plumbers in the UK take on a wide range of tasks for in both domestic and industrial settings. In domestic settings they repair, maintain and install hot and cold water supplies, toilet fittings and waste disposal fittings. A plumber may carry out a wide range of work or may specialise in a particular area such as emergency call outs, drain clearance, bath and shower installation or servicing central heating. Any plumber who undertakes gas work in the UK must be registered with CORGI. CORGI is the Council for Registered Gas Installers.
Over the past few years, the press has run stories about a shortage of plumbers. In 2003, the British Plumbing Employer’s Council estimated that the plumbing industry would need to recruit 29,000 new entrants over the next 5 years. This led to reports of City workers leaving their jobs in the hope of earning £70,000 a year as a plumber. More recently, however, there are accounts of workers with plumbing experience from Eastern Europe are filling vacancies on building sites and a surplus of trainees trying to find jobs.
For the householder, this may mean that finding someone to deal with plumbing jobs around the house is now easier but householders still need to take care to ensure that they have found a plumber who can provide them with a quality service.
Hot Tips Choosing a Plumber or Heating Engineer
- Ask for recommendations from family and friends.
- Follow up on references if the plumber has not been personally recommended to you.
- Be very clear about the work which you want doing.
- Obtain written quotes from more than at least three firms for big jobs and, if the job is clearly defined, ask for a fixed quote. If the amount of work involved is genuinely uncertain then check that hourly rates and call out fees are clear and reasonable and ask for an estimate of the time which will be taken.
- If you are calling out a plumber in an emergency to repair a leak or mend your heating, be especially careful to check the rates. Some plumbers charge a significant premium for an emergency response or coming out during the night or at weekends. It may be worth every penny to get your problem resolved but you do not need check in advance.
- Avoid paying plumbers for labour up front before a job has been completed. Depending on the job it may be perfectly reasonable for your plumber to expect staged payments or upfront payment for materials but only if that is what you have agreed.
- Ask your plumber about his or her experience including experience of the type of work which you need doing. Reputable tradesmen and women will be pleased to talk about their experience.
- Check that you have an address and contact details for the plumber so you get in touch if there is a problem after the job is finished.
- If the job involves gas work, check that your plumber is registered with CORGI. Registration numbers can be checked on CORGI’s website. Operatives working for a registered installer will also carry a card which can be checked by a householder.
You can find plumbers by searching on Local Service Guide. If you know a plumber who you think should be featured on our site then ring 01962 889460 or send an email.
© Local Service Guide 2007 Plumbers, Emergency Plumbers and Heating Engineers in the UK