How do I evaluate a plumber before giving him the job.
Any certificate I should look for? Is just licensing and bonding the best I
can hope for. References seem impractical but ....

Don' know what cntry you're in but references are always good source/is
he a mameber of one of the professional plumbing bodies?
They often have listing of their members in yellow pages.

Blue wrote:
Is just licensing and bonding the
best I can hope for.

Many states, counties, and local municipalities have online systems
where you can check for complaints that may have been filed against the
license holder.

Check the BBB records: www.bbb.org

Call a plumbing inspector at your municipality's building department,
give him/her the names of three plumbers, and ask which one they'd use
in their own home.

On Sun, 17 Jul 2005 20:41:01 -0700, "Blue" wrote:

How do I evaluate a plumber before giving him the job.
Any certificate I should look for? Is just licensing and bonding the best I
can hope for. References seem impractical but ....

==================
I have used "my" plumber for close to 30 years and he Still DOES not
advertise....
I would suggest you ask a few friends at work, some neighbors, etc
who they use.... That's how I discovered "Charlie" ...

Bob Griffiths

"Blue" wrote in message ...
How do I evaluate a plumber before giving him the job.
Any certificate I should look for? Is just licensing and bonding the best
I
can hope for. References seem impractical but ....

Check his Contactor license, Ask for PROOF of liability and workman's
comp. insurance. (If he is the owner may not need W C for himself ) You can
also contact the state contractors board try and get some info. definitely
get 3+ bids. What size job is it? If it's a repair they might try to sell
you other repairs, some guys get a commission on service calls.

"Sacramento Dave" wrote in message

Check his Contactor license, Ask for PROOF of liability and workman's
comp. insurance. (If he is the owner may not need W C for himself ) You
can
also contact the state contractors board try and get some info. definitely
get 3+ bids. What size job is it? If it's a repair they might try to sell
you other repairs, some guys get a commission on service calls.

Best way is to find out from a friend that has used a plumber and use one
that has been around the neighborhood for a number or years.

While Dave's advice seems to be the right thing to do for a large job, for a
simple repair some of the best plumbers won't show up to give you a price
knowing that they have to go through a bidding process, have all sorts of
paperwork, be lower priced than others, etc. They just don't have the time
to bother as they are very busy. Taking an hour to quote your $100 job is
counterproductive and too costly. If it is an hour or two job, they want
to show up, do the work, get paid a fair price, and get on to the next job.

My plumber is charging $65 an hour. He may have a minimum but I've never
seen it, nor have I asked. For small jobs (say $1000 to $1500) I don't even
ask for a ballpark price. In an emergency, I can get him in an hour, for
larger projects, he is booked for weeks.