How to Choose a Plumber You Can Actually Trust
The five checks that separate a professional from a phone number on a lamppost.
Check the register, not the logo
Anyone can print a Gas Safe logo; the register at gassaferegister.co.uk takes thirty seconds and shows the individual engineer's licence and what they're actually qualified for. Match the card they carry to the register entry. A professional expects you to ask.
Written price before work
The single strongest predictor of a good outcome. Estimates that "depend what we find" have their place for genuinely unknown faults, but the discovery and the price should both come back to you before the next hour is worked.
Read the four-star reviews
Five-star walls tell you little. The four-star reviews tell you how a firm behaves when something went slightly wrong, late arrival, a return visit, which is the thing you actually need to predict.
Insurance, address, company number
Public liability insurance, a real registered address and a company number you can look up at Companies House. Ours is 12326959. A trade that plans to be here next year has nothing to hide behind a mobile number.
Warning signs before anyone arrives
A quote given over the phone for a job nobody has seen. Pressure to decide immediately. No company name given when the phone is answered. Cash-only. And a landline number that is answered by a call centre asking which trade you need, that is a lead broker selling your emergency to whoever bids, not a plumber.
What guarantees are actually worth
A workmanship guarantee is only as good as the company behind it, which is why the company number and registered address matter more than the length of the guarantee. A twelve-month guarantee from a firm you can look up beats a lifetime guarantee from a mobile number. Ours is twelve months, and the company is 12326959 at Companies House.
After the job: what to keep
The written quote, the invoice, any parts receipts, photographs of work that is now hidden, and for gas work the certificate with the engineer's licence number on it. Insurers, buyers' solicitors and warranty providers all ask for these eventually, and reconstructing them two years later is close to impossible.
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