Plumbing Companies – How to Discover a Profitable One
Everyone will need a plumber sooner or later. Pipes corrode, break down, spring a leak, and will need to be serviced during the lifetime of your home. How do pick the right company that knows what they are doing, is dependable, and will not rip you off? Here are three questions you ask a potential plumbing company to weed out the good ones from the bad.
Make sure they have all the appropriate state and city licenses and insurance policies. Some states like Oregon require Plumbing Companies Toronto to get two licenses to operate a plumbing business within their borders. Other states are laxer. For a company to get its license they have to take several tests or prove its experience in its trade. This is to make sure plumbing companies who are making service calls and doing installations know what they are doing. They also have to have the minimum insurance requirements. This will most likely include two or three policies. The first is a general liability insurance policy, the second is a bond, and the third is a worker’s compensation policy if they have employees. Any professional plumbing company will have the correct licenses and insurance to protect themselves and stay in business.
A good plumbing company will clearly state its rates and any fees they charge. The newer ones are going to charge less because they are not established. The older plumbing companies can charge more because they already have a large clientele base and value their time more. The hourly rate can be as low as 60/hr in some parts of the country and as high as 140/hr in others. You are looking for a plumbing company to tell you what you can expect to see on your bill and these include service fees, hour hours fees, travel fees, fuel surcharges, prices of parts, and the estimated time a job will take. Some companies are very vague when it comes to prices and love to hand you a large bill after the fact with tons of miscellaneous items.
Lastly, you can look online and see what other customers have said about them. If a plumbing company has been around for a couple of years they have built up some type of reputation. It’s either good, bad or in between. There could be some ratings or comments about them online. People also talk about companies they have used in various forums. Do a little checking on the web and you will find something.
Doing a little due diligence can go a long way when looking for a decent plumbing company. The majority of this industry does a great job and provides a valuable service but there are shady ones out there as well. Following these three steps should prevent you from doing business with the latter.
