Plumbers

What to put in your job description

• What is wrong and where: a dripping tap, a leak under the sink, a blocked toilet.
• Whether water is leaking now, and whether you have turned it off at the stopcock.
• For new work: what you want fitted, and whether you have bought it already.
• How old the pipes and the hot water system are, if you know.
• How easy it is to reach: under a floor, behind a bath panel, in a loft.

Don't put your name, phone number or address in the description: every trade who covers your area reads it. Your name, phone, email and address go only to the trades who take the job (3 at most).

Questions to ask before you hire

• Is the price fixed, or by the hour? Is there a call-out charge?
• Will the water be off, and for how long?
• Who takes away the old parts and the waste?
• Do you have public liability insurance?
• If the job touches the boiler or a gas pipe: are you on the Gas Safe Register?

Registers and schemes to check

Plumbing that is not gas work has no legal register. Water companies run WaterSafe, a register of approved plumbers for work on your water supply. Work on a gas boiler, cooker or gas pipe must by law be done by an engineer on the Gas Safe Register. Fitting an unvented hot water cylinder needs a fitter qualified for it under the Building Regulations. We don't check this for you yet.

What the job usually involves

• Repairs: dripping taps, leaks, running toilets, blocked sinks and waste pipes, noisy pipes.
• Fitting: taps, toilets, basins, showers, outside taps, washing machine and dishwasher pipes.
• Hot water and heating pipes: radiators, valves, cylinders. Any work on a gas boiler or gas pipe needs a Gas Safe registered engineer instead.
• Turning the water off at the stopcock or a local valve, then draining the pipes if needed.
• Testing for leaks when the water goes back on, and taking away old parts.

How quotes and visits work

Small repairs are often priced by the hour or by the job, sometimes with a call-out charge. For fitting work, a plumber may give a price from photos and a description, then confirm it on the visit. Out-of-hours visits often cost more: ask before they come.

Ask for a written quote (a fixed price) rather than an estimate (a guess that can change), and for what it includes. If you agree a job in your home, you usually have 14 days to cancel under the Consumer Contracts Regulations; if you want work to start sooner, you may have to pay for what has been done.

Safety

• Know where your stopcock is (often under the kitchen sink, or where the pipe comes into the house) and check it turns before you need it.
• If water is near light fittings, sockets or the fuse board, switch the electricity off at the fuse board if it is safe to reach.
• A leak in the street or the pavement is for your water company, not a plumber.

Insurance and TrustMark

Ask for public liability insurance before work starts. It covers damage or injury caused by the trade to you, your home or someone else. Ask for the insurer's name and the cover's end date; you can ask to see the certificate.

TrustMark is the government-endorsed quality scheme for work in and around the home. Its registered businesses agree to its code of practice, and you can look them up on trustmark.org.uk.

Guides for homeowners

• Your boiler has stopped working: what to do first
• Burst pipe or bad leak: first steps
• How to compare quotes from local trades

We take jobs from anywhere in the UK: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Trades choose the postcode districts they cover.

Plumbers by town and city

England

Scotland

Wales

Northern Ireland