From obscure objects blocking drains, to bravely confronting rudely named substances, plumbing contractors easily have the best horror stories of all tradesmen. Veterans of the trade can leave us either laughing hysterically or suffering from mild PTSD. No wonder plumbers are often looked at as superheroes, because you save us in times of true need.
But every so often your plumbing business can experience horrors of a different type. Let’s look at some of the risks you face, and what to do about them.
Curb your enthusiasm
Rookies sent out to jobs unsupervised can easily turn that small, quick job into a nightmare. One of the most common plumbing mistakes is a simple thing: over-tightening joints. Under-tightening will be visible while your team is on site. But over-tightening may only start leaking later that evening, causing Mr. Jones’s DIY alter-ego to “fix it himself”, by tightening it even more.
The broken joint may now turn into a fountain of dismay, spraying despair throughout the kitchen. The resulting water damage, for the plumbing contractors account. Never leave your rookies unsupervised, and make sure your liability insurance is up to date, to pay for the Jones’s new kitchen units.
Beware the drop
Your plumbing company has just taken delivery of the Kardashian’s newly imported antique marble wash basins. Everyone in the workshop has walked over to stare at the basins in which multi-millionares will soon be washing caviar and truffles from their gentle hands.
The day has finally arrived for their solemn installation into the mansion of their eagerly awaiting new owners, when you drop one of the units while loading, causing the antique marble to crack down the middle.
Assumption is the mother…
Pete arrives on site. It’s a standard valve replacement job. Pete is no rookie, so step one, he closes the isolator supply valve. He then starts unscrewing the threads on the valve he has come to change. Pete attributes the initial spurt of water to left overpressure in the pipe, but very soon realizes that the waterflow is not subsiding. He tries to re-attach the valve, but the pressure in the pipe is too high.
Running back to the isolator valve, Pete eventually concludes that it must be faulty. Final solution: Pete hurries to turn off the mains at street level, but finds the connection buried under a slurry of run-off mud and debris.
While Pete is frantically digging through the debris, you (the plumbing business owner) would be well advised to frantically search for the number of your insurance company.
Avoiding the un-avoidable
It is said that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. While this is true that constant vigilance and conscientiousness is your first line of defense, any business owner must be prepared for the day that prevention fails. Insurance is your last line of defense.
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