How to Choose a Plumber in Nottingham: Checks to Make

Shortlist plumbers who do your kind of job

Start with the job. A new boiler, a leaking pipe, a wet room and a heat pump are different kinds of work, so shortlist three firms that do yours.

Among the ten Nottingham plumbing and heating firms compared by specialism and guarantee, Nottingham Gas & Plumbing in Forest Fields has emergency plumbers on call 24/7 and aims to arrive within an hour, depending on location. Trent Valley Plumbing & Building in West Bridgford fits wet rooms, level-access bathrooms and disabled adaptations, MB Plumbing & Heating in Arnold takes on LPG installs, repairs and servicing, and Miller Freeman & Sons in Daybrook installs heat pumps with a 10-year guarantee.

Check a gas engineer is Gas Safe registered

Any work on a gas boiler, hob or fire is a job for a Gas Safe registered engineer. HSE says anyone employed to work on gas appliances in your home must be Gas Safe registered and competent in that area of gas work, and the areas each engineer covers are marked on the back of their Gas Safe ID card.

Landlords must use a Gas Safe registered engineer for maintenance and for the annual gas safety check on the gas appliances and flues they provide, HSE’s guidance for landlords says.

Ask to see the ID card of the engineer who will do the work, and read the back to make sure it lists the job you need. You can confirm the licence number on it three ways, HSE says: search the Gas Safe Register website, call the freephone helpline on 0800 408 5500, or text Gas and the seven-digit licence number to 85080. The website also finds registered engineers by postcode.

Plumbing registrations and memberships to check

For water pipework, look for WaterSafe, the free online directory and national accreditation body for qualified plumbers, which you can search by postcode. Its approved plumbers are trained in the Water Fittings Regulations, can carry out certain work without notifying the water supplier first, and can issue a Certificate of Compliance.

A logo on a van or a website is a claim until the organisation behind it confirms it, so check each one with that scheme or manufacturer, under the name the firm trades as. These are the firms on the Nottingham list that hold each.

Registration or membership	Nottingham firms that hold it
Gas Safe, registration number published	M & S Plumbing & Heating (55077), Miller Freeman & Sons (7444), MB Plumbing & Heating (174410)
WaterSafe	Nottingham Gas & Plumbing
APHC (Association of Plumbing and Heating Contractors)	Nottingham Gas & Plumbing
CIPHE (Chartered Institute of Plumbing and Heating Engineering)	M & S Plumbing & Heating
Which? Trusted Traders	Warm For Life, Fahrenheit Plumbing & Heating, Miller Freeman & Sons, MCB Heating
Trading Standards approval	Trent Valley Plumbing & Building (Buy With Confidence), Warm For Life (Nottingham Trading Standards)
MCS, for renewables	T & S Heating, registered for 10 years
Worcester Bosch accredited installer	Warm For Life, Fahrenheit Plumbing & Heating, C-T Boiler Installations
Baxi accredited installer	Fahrenheit Plumbing & Heating
Vaillant Advance installer	MB Plumbing & Heating

Building regulations for a new boiler

Installing a new boiler needs building regulations approval because of safety and energy efficiency, the Planning Portal says. A registered installer notifies building control for you, directly or through its competent person scheme. If the firm is not in a scheme, you or the firm must give the council notice in advance and pay a fee.

When the boiler is fitted, the installer should give you a commissioning certificate such as a Benchmark certificate, and a building regulations completion certificate should follow.

Get written quotes, not estimates

Ask each plumber on your shortlist for a written quote. Citizens Advice describes a quote, sometimes called a quotation or a fixed estimate, as a promise to do work at an agreed price, and an estimate as the trader’s best guess at the cost. MCB Heating in St Ann’s is one Nottingham firm that gives fixed-price quotes.

Questions to ask a plumber before you book

Ask every plumber the same questions and note the answers, so the quotes compare like for like.

• Who will do the work, and will any of it be subcontracted?
• Does the price include VAT, parts and any call-out fee?
• How long is the guarantee, and what does it cover?
• For a new boiler, will you notify building control and give me a Benchmark certificate?
• When can you start, and how long will the job take?

How to compare plumbing quotes

Compare what each quote includes before you compare the totals. If one total sits well below the other two, look first for a line it leaves out, such as parts, VAT or a call-out fee.

Where a quote is priced on time, set its rate against what a plumber charges across the UK, which Checkatrade puts at £40 to £60 an hour or £325 to £375 a day. VAT applies if the plumber is VAT-registered, so check whether each price includes it.

Compare the guarantees as closely as the prices, because they cover different things. T & S Heating’s 15-year warranty on the boilers it installs covers the boiler, radiators, pipework and labour as long as the system is serviced. MB Plumbing & Heating offers up to a 10-year manufacturer’s warranty on the Vaillant boilers it fits, and C-T Boiler Installations gives a 24-month workmanship guarantee. Get each guarantee in writing, with its length, what it covers and any condition attached.

Agree the terms in writing before you sign

Giving a plumber the go-ahead makes a contract even if nothing is written down, and anything you took into account before agreeing is part of it, Citizens Advice says. Put the details in writing before work starts.

If the job has to be finished by a certain date, make that clear in writing. Otherwise a plumber who runs late has to be given a second chance to finish the work, Citizens Advice says.