Whether you are figuring out exciting plans for a new restaurant or are trying to fix those pesky bathrooms on the seventh floor of an office block, commercial plumbing comes in a huge range of shapes and sizes, which only a specialist commercial plumber will be able to fix. This is mostly because of the increased number of complications found on a commercial site compared to a residential site. For example, you will have more stringent health and safety regulations and you may need to involve the local fire authority and gas safety authority if the work is linking in to the same main supplies that they use or manage, not to mention the generally higher costs and the business investment which is going into the work.
So, if you are in need of a commercial plumber, how can you ensure that you get the best service available? How do you find someone who will balance cost and quality, leaving your project in a better state than they found it? While there are an ever-increasing number of commercial plumbers, finding the best person for the job still remains a challenge, so here are three ways to find a reliable commercial plumber.
1. Ask your local small business group
If you are starting a venture in the hospitality trade or are a small family business with offices, you are likely to have good connections to your local small business group. Talk to other local members to see if any of them have worked on similar projects in the past and who they used for their plumbing work. These word-of-mouth recommendations are highly valuable, and you can trust that the plumbers they recommend will have experience working on similar projects to your own.
2. Contact your local WorkSafe authority or training centre
Across Australia, work such as plumbing is highly regulated, and each state or territory will have a local authority in charge of qualifications and training. They work closely with local trade schools, so you may want to get in touch with them and see if they have a list of local commercial plumbers who have been through their rigorous qualifications process. You can be sure that the plumbers you find will be trained at the highest levels.
3. Go online
The internet is a great place to start identifying potential firms. A quick search will pull up plenty of websites, but the advantage of the internet is that you will be able to see photographs of their previous work before deciding to contact them. Always ask for references as well to find out what the plumber was like to work with.
