Seeking Out a Qualified Plumber

May 11th, 2012

What Kind Of Credentials Should Your Plumber Have?

Having to deal with plumbing is many a homeowner’s nightmare. They don’t know where to start or how to finish. Unfortunately, any home will require quite a bit of plumbing work to be able to even be inhabitable. There are Plumber Salt Lake City professionals out there who can take care of the job in a safe and efficient manner. If you are on the lookout for one of these to provide you with their services you may be curious as to what kind of credentials your plumber should have. This is a good question to ask yourself because if your hire someone who doesn’t have what they need to behind them, then they can cause damage to your home and you could get left with the bill.Here are a few guidelines to help you find the right person for the job.

Reliability

It is always useful to have a contact number for a reliable plumber before you actually have to call them in an emergency due to that burst pipe or leaking tap like Plumber Salt Lake City. The last thing that you want to be doing is scrambling around trying to find one that is reliable and trustworthy whilst water is pouring out from a pipe. Preparation for an emergency situation is always the best strategy so here are some tips on how to find the best possible plumber. You do of course have to begin by doing a search to get a list of the different companies in your area as this is going to help you to find out who you must research into. Once you have the names do try and focus on those links that actually take you to official company websites as these are going to hold more information than any directory listing is capable of doing. Depending on where you are located they shall have to work to a constant high standard and shall perhaps be required to be members of certain associations. You should therefore be looking for references to the relevant plumbing organizations either for the country or even just for your local area. By looking into their memberships to these associations you should really feel a bit more confident that if you use them that they do understand what to do as they must be qualified in order to join. One other option is to even look at contacting the association itself as many of them shall give you a list of companies in your area and it is always good to try and get some form of references.

Check Their Qualifications

Once you’ve found a few names you’re ready to start placing some phone calls. You’ll want to ask these plumbers some questions to determine who you’re going to hire to get the work done. The first and most important thing is if they are licensed, bonded and insured. This will offer you protection against the quality of services they can provide you. In order for them to get licensed, they will need to have passed a state exam assessing their skill set. This protects you against their lack of knowledge. When they are bonded and insured you will be covered if they don’t complete the job you paid them for and you will also be protected against any property damage when they are working for you.

Ask For References

Any qualified plumber should be able to supply you with references. They should offer them upon the interview process but if they don’t you will need to ask. When you have asked for references there shouldn’t be baulking on their part and certainly not any refusal. Once you have a few past clients and their contacts you will need to be sure to follow up by placing calls.

Ask about their service.

  • What did they hire the plumber for?
  • How was the work performed?
  • Did they have any difficulty with the quality and were they satisfied?

If they have anything negative to say about their work with the plumber then you should follow up with a couple of questions about this experience.

  • What was the trouble?
  • What did the plumber do to remedy the situation?

Once you have followed the above tips to searching out a plumber, you’ll be well on your way to getting quality work.

Ask For Referrals

Ask your friends and family members if they know anyone who does good plumbing work. This advice will come from someone you trust so it will be easy to trust the person they recommend. You will want to make sure the person they recommend has all the credentials that are needed to be a professional plumber. If none of your friends have any names to offer then you will need to perform your own search. At this time, your best option will be to turn to the web for referrals. Here you will be able to plug your location in and turn up several names of plumbers to choose from.

Licensed

You need to have your plumber that is working on your home be licensed. The requirements for this are different with each state. If your plumber is licensed that means they have taken the state exam that says whether or not they know the right information to be able to work on your fixtures like Plumber Salt Lake City. After they have learned their trade, there will be an examination that is state approved that they will need to pass showing they are qualified to work on plumbing fixtures. If the plumber you’re considering hiring doesn’t have this you have no way of knowing whether or not they actually possess the knowledge needed to install your new copper piping.

Insured

One of the other important things you’re going to want to check for when looking to hire a plumber is if they are insured. This will mean the difference between a broken water pipe and a plumber walking away leaving you to deal with the damage and one who will cover the costs. When working with pipes and fixtures any number of things can happen and you don’t want to be left with a big ticket in your hand and a bill to pay. A quality plumber will pay for insurance that will cover what they work on in the event an accident happens such as a broken pipe.

Bonded

Bonded is often one of the most misunderstood words of the contracting industry. The first thing you need to know about it is that you want you’re plumber to be bonded. They should be able to show proof of it. When a plumber is bonded it means they have protection that will cover and offer protection for specific jobs states Plumber Salt Lake City. If they have been contracted to put all the pipes and fixtures into your new home that is under construction and they walk away leaving the job undone, you will be able to seek reimbursement to find another plumber to fix it.

One of the major differences between insurance a plumber carries, and their being bonded is the protection of jobs left unfinished. If you pay a good amount of money for work you expect completed and are left with it unfinished, you want a way to recoup this so you can hire someone else.