How we work

Consent and council fees, design and engineering, asbestos or hazardous material work, electrical work, builders work, painting and finishes, landscaping, and putting right defects that were already there when we arrived.

If any of those apply to your job, we will say so at the time we quote it rather than after.

Invoices are due within 7 days. What happens before that depends on the size of the job.

The deposit covers materials and getting the job underway. Larger projects may be invoiced in stages instead, and where that applies the quotation will set out exactly what the stages are before you accept it. If paying on time is going to be a problem, ring and say so early. Something can usually be worked out.

Old houses hide things. Concealed leaks, corroded pipe, drainage that is not where the plan says it is, and work that was never done properly in the first place. When we find something that changes the scope or the price, you get told what it is and what it will cost before we carry on.

The one exception is where something has to be done straight away to make the place safe, stop it doing damage, or get an essential service back on. In that situation we do what is needed and ring you as soon as we practically can.

Safe access at the agreed time, and somebody with the authority to make a decision if one is needed. Water and power available if the job needs them. And a heads up about anything we should know before we start, particularly asbestos, tenants, alarms, pets, fragile surfaces, or services running somewhere we would not expect them.

If you own the property, tell us. If you do not, we need the owner's authority before we start. Body corporate, landlord and neighbour approvals are yours to arrange unless we have agreed otherwise in writing.

If we turn up and cannot get on with it, because access is not available or another trade is still in the way, we may have to charge for the time we had set aside. Telling us early costs you nothing.

We use materials suitable for the job, and new materials on residential building work. If something we specified is not available we will propose an equivalent, and where that changes the look, the performance or the price we will ask you first rather than just fit it.

You are welcome to supply your own fixtures. If you do, the choice, the condition, the fit and the manufacturer warranty are yours. We will tell you if something is unsafe or non-compliant rather than install it, and extra time caused by parts that turn out not to fit is chargeable.

Tell us. Ring rather than write, and do it as soon as you notice, so we can come and look before anything gets covered up. Give us a reasonable chance to put it right before you bring somebody else in, because once another contractor has been over it, working out what happened gets a lot harder for everyone.

The same goes for an invoice or a charge you are not happy with. Ring and say so. Five working days is the Master Plumbers process for sorting a complaint and it is how we would want to handle it anyway.

We have been Master Plumbers members for more than 10 years, so residential work may also be covered by the Master Plumbers Guarantee. That scheme is run by Master Plumbers rather than by us and it has its own eligibility and terms, so it is not automatic on every job.

Things come up. If you need to move a booking, as much notice as you can manage is appreciated and there is no charge for it. If a scheduled visit is cancelled with less than one working day's notice, or we arrive and cannot get in, we may charge the minimum call out to cover the time that was set aside for you.