If you’re looking for a plumber, Edmonton has three main categories of plumbing professionals—plumbers, plumbing contractors, and backflow prevention testers. In this article, we’ll be focusing mainly on the first two.
However, in case you’re curious, backflow prevention specialists typically work with water systems in which there is a substantial risk of dirty or contaminated water flowing back into the clean incoming water. In most cases, these specialists are referred by plumbing contractors, or they may be employed by builders. Thus, as a private homeowner, you’ll probably never have to get in touch with one yourself.
Before anyone can become a plumber, Edmonton requires individuals to have a certain degree of knowledge, experience, and training, and plumbers have to pass a challenging test. Plumbing contractors, meanwhile, need to have at least two years’ experience as licensed plumbers, and they have to pass another exam on more advanced aspects of plumbing.
Plumbing contractors:
For contractors, along with the more demanding certification process comes the ability to perform certain types of advanced plumbing procedures that plumbers aren’t legally allowed to do. Most importantly, plumbing contractors are certified to work with the connections between your home and the external water and sewage systems. There are two points in or around your home where these transitions take place, and standard plumbers are forbidden from working at these points when not under the direct supervision of a contractor.
In general, plumbing contractors also work on longer, more complicated jobs. This is simply because plumbers usually have full schedules that require them to work with lots of customers, while plumbing contractors work on a contract basis and are better equipped for major projects. they often have a staff of one or two plumbers working under them, and they usually have connections with other types of construction-related tradespeople for those projects that have non-plumbing aspects.
Plumbers:
It’s impossible to generalize about every single plumber Edmonton has to offer, but most plumbers work with both regular clients and new customers who find them in the “plumber Edmonton” section of the directory. All in all, most plumbers work for hundreds of customers per year.
As a result, most plumbers don’t have room in their schedules for long, involved projects. They’re the go-to people for things like clogs, leaks, back-ups, broken pipes, and hot- or cold-water problems. That’s why it’s useful to establish a long-term relationship with your favorite plumber. These issues can come up fairly often, and it’s nice to be able have someone you can call right away.
You’re not necessarily expected to know which jobs are right for plumbers and which are best for plumbing contractors. When you’re unsure, start with a plumber. Edmonton has hundreds of plumbers who would be happy to come over and check things out. This is part of the job. Simply call one and tell them that you need a consultation. Then, if you need a contractor, the plumber will let you know, and he or she may even be able to put you in contact with some reliable contractors.
