Find a NC Licensed Plumber
Word to the wise from the owners
Word to the wise from the owners
Why is it so important to find out if your plumber is (licensed) BEFORE you hire them?
Based on our experience, many people (and they are not alone) hire “Plumber folks” based on paid ads via Google, Angi, FB, Nextdoor and so on...
Even just a “Plumber” parked their work truck/van in the neighbor’s driveway (with or without signage on the van), without ever questioning for a moment what those ads are telling them, and never doubting if the “Plumber” really knows what he's doing. We went to a senior’s home on a no hot water call. Turns out she had just had her guest bathroom remodeled and shortly thereafter realized she was getting only cold water out of both sides of her bathroom sink faucet.
She said it had always taken a long time to get hot water there, so she didn’t really think anything of it, until her family visited and stayed with her about 5 months after the remodel job. Her daughter wanted to use warm water, so she turned on the hot water and waited.
But it never got hot and seemed to get colder the longer she ran it. We asked her if any of her water lines had been altered during the remodel job, and she said that the general contractor had someone replace all of the old water lines since they were galvanized steel from the ’40s.
We asked the homeowner if the general contractor used a State-Licensed Plumbing Contractor. (State of NC Law requires that any plumbing done for hire be done by a State-Licensed Plumber, or who is employed by a State-Licensed Plumbing Contractor.)
She said she was sure he was because of his truck/van, website, and Google ad said he was licensed and insured. She even checked with the NC Secretary of State, and his business is registered. But she didn’t realize that registering a legitimate business name doesn’t require any license, Unless you check on NC State Board of Examiners Of Plumbing, Heating and Fire Sprinkler Contractors.
We explained to her that a General Contractor’s license does not qualify the employees nor the contractor to work on your plumbing system, if they don’t have a license, means they have not been vetted on the plumbing code.
After this explanation, she was no longer optimistic that the contractor was really licensed to do her plumbing work. In the follow-up conversation with her, we were able to determine that the contractor had performed the plumbing work illegally (did it himself). At this point we felt we had some serious investigation to undertake in order to determine the cause of her problem.
As it turned out, it didn’t take us long at all. A quick look inside the cabinet revealed that there was only one pipe (cold water) under the sink.
Apparently, the “contractor” had ‘forgotten” to run hot water lines to this location.
Rather than removing the cabinet and reopening the wall, running the hot water line, patching the hole and resetting the cabinet, he “solved’ the problem by putting in a tee fitting under the cabinet so he could run cold water to both sides of the faucet. After we explained this to the homeowner, she recalled him being very interested in the fact that she never waited for hot water because it took too long.
The homeowner's inability to determine whether the contractor was qualified to work on her plumbing ended up costing her a lot of money (in later repairs).
So, how could this homeowner, OR YOU, have avoided this problem?
First, one should always verify that the plumber in the remodeling firm doing the work shows you his or her NC State Board of Plumbing license.
No legitimate Licensed Plumber would ever leave home without his license any more than you would leave home without your driver’s license.
Second, insist that the company doing the work show you its Certificate of Insurance and legitimate NC Secretary of State business registration.
These two requirements are critical to ensuring that you have a better experience with any plumbing repair or remodel of your home.
Remember, a General Contractor’s registration with your municipality does NOT give him the authority to replace water lines let alone remodel your bathroom plumbing.
Tip: Go to the Verify License Search - State Board of Examiners of Plumbing, Heating & Fire Sprinkler Contractors (nclicensing.org) website if you want to check out a plumber prior to having him work in your home or business.
A A Plumber Inc. is a Licensed Plumbing Contractor. We have been performing complete service/repair and remodeling services for over 33 years for commercial and residential.
We are fully licensed and insured for ALL aspects of the job.
We will provide top-notch, two-year workmanship guaranteed, high-quality finished projects that will suit your budget and design, also perform for years to come. We are ready to serve you!
Lastly: the most-used lead generation companies online DO NOT VET PROPER/REQUIRED LICENSING. They only background check the OWNER of the company.
Based on our experience, many people (and they are not alone) hire “Plumber folks” based on paid ads via Google, Angi, FB, Nextdoor and so on...
Even just a “Plumber” parked their work truck/van in the neighbor’s driveway (with or without signage on the van), without ever questioning for a moment what those ads are telling them, and never doubting if the “Plumber” really knows what he's doing.
She said it had always taken a long time to get hot water there, so she didn’t really think anything of it, until her family visited and stayed with her about 5 months after the remodel job. Her daughter wanted to use warm water, so she turned on the hot water and waited.
But it never got hot and seemed to get colder the longer she ran it. We asked her if any of her water lines had been altered during the remodel job, and she said that the general contractor had someone replace all of the old water lines since they were galvanized steel from the ’40s.
We asked the homeowner if the general contractor used a State-Licensed Plumbing Contractor. (State of NC Law requires that any plumbing done for hire be done by a State-Licensed Plumber, or who is employed by a State-Licensed Plumbing Contractor.)
She said she was sure he was because of his truck/van, website, and Google ad said he was licensed and insured. She even checked with the NC Secretary of State, and his business is registered. But she didn’t realize that registering a legitimate business name doesn’t require any license, Unless you check on NC State Board of Examiners Of Plumbing, Heating and Fire Sprinkler Contractors.
We explained to her that a General Contractor’s license does not qualify the employees nor the contractor to work on your plumbing system, if they don’t have a license, means they have not been vetted on the plumbing code.
After this explanation, she was no longer optimistic that the contractor was really licensed to do her plumbing work. In the follow-up conversation with her, we were able to determine that the contractor had performed the plumbing work illegally (did it himself). At this point we felt we had some serious investigation to undertake in order to determine the cause of her problem.
As it turned out, it didn’t take us long at all. A quick look inside the cabinet revealed that there was only one pipe (cold water) under the sink.
Apparently, the “contractor” had ‘forgotten” to run hot water lines to this location.
Rather than removing the cabinet and reopening the wall, running the hot water line, patching the hole and resetting the cabinet, he “solved’ the problem by putting in a tee fitting under the cabinet so he could run cold water to both sides of the faucet. After we explained this to the homeowner, she recalled him being very interested in the fact that she never waited for hot water because it took too long.
The homeowner's inability to determine whether the contractor was qualified to work on her plumbing ended up costing her a lot of money (in later repairs).
So, how could this homeowner, OR YOU, have avoided this problem?
First, one should always verify that the plumber in the remodeling firm doing the work shows you his or her NC State Board of Plumbing license.
No legitimate Licensed Plumber would ever leave home without his license any more than you would leave home without your driver’s license.
Second, insist that the company doing the work show you its Certificate of Insurance and legitimate NC Secretary of State business registration.
These two requirements are critical to ensuring that you have a better experience with any plumbing repair or remodel of your home.
Remember, a General Contractor’s registration with your municipality does NOT give him the authority to replace water lines let alone remodel your bathroom plumbing.
Tip: Go to the Verify License Search - State Board of Examiners of Plumbing, Heating & Fire Sprinkler Contractors (nclicensing.org) website if you want to check out a plumber prior to having him work in your home or business.
A A Plumber Inc. is a Licensed Plumbing Contractor. We have been performing complete service/repair and remodeling services for over 33 years for commercial and residential.
We are fully licensed and insured for ALL aspects of the job.
We will provide top-notch, two-year workmanship guaranteed, high-quality finished projects that will suit your budget and design, also perform for years to come. We are ready to serve you!
Lastly: the most-used lead generation companies online DO NOT VET PROPER/REQUIRED LICENSING. They only background check the OWNER of the company.
