What happens when I first get in touch?
We ask what's wrong and how urgent it is, either through our quote tool or a direct enquiry, to work out whether the job is a genuine emergency or can be scheduled.
Not every plumbing problem is equally urgent, so the first thing we establish is which category a job falls into - active water loss, a total loss of heating affecting someone vulnerable, and safety issues get treated as genuine emergencies, while a slow drip or a minor cosmetic issue is usually scheduled as routine. See our plumbing problems we don't take on page for how we draw that line, and our emergency plumber page for what to do while waiting if your situation is urgent.
What happens when someone attends the property?
A plumber attends to look at the problem directly, since many plumbing issues depend on details that aren't visible from a phone description alone.
What looks like a simple blocked drain over the phone can turn out to be something further down the system, and what sounds like a small leak can have a source some distance from where it's showing. Attending in person before confirming a firm price avoids either underquoting or overpromising what we can tell sight unseen. Where a job turns out to involve gas pipework, a gas appliance or a flue, we'll say so plainly - that's legally gas work, not general plumbing, and needs a Gas Safe registered engineer for that part of the job.
Why does every job get a written quote before work starts?
A written quote confirms what's included and what it will cost before any work begins, so there's no ambiguity about scope or price partway through a job.
Once the problem's been properly looked at, we set out what's involved and a clear price in writing before starting work. For jobs with genuinely variable scope - a blocked drain that might need more than a plunger, a leak that might trace back further than expected - the quote reflects what's actually been found, not a phone-based guess. See our plumber cost guide for typical Worthing pricing by job type.
What happens once the work is done?
The work area is checked and left tidy, and for anything involving gas we'll confirm the registered engineer's paperwork rather than sign it off ourselves.
For general plumbing work, we check the fix holds - water's running properly, a leak has genuinely stopped, a drain is properly clear - before finishing up. Where a job needed a Gas Safe registered engineer for part of the work, that engineer provides their own compliance paperwork for that portion, since gas work sign-off legally sits with them, not with us - see our Gas Safe guide for what that paperwork should look like.
