We had pending laws again in 2013 in Washington State that may have stopped false promoting of plumbing companies to the patron by those who weren’t licensed however… we by no means bought it handed. The explanation it failed was that no one however the cheaters had any curiosity within the invoice Zebra Plumbing.
Lack of efficient plumber license enforcement in Washington State is remodeling a talented licensed commerce right into a business con sport costing shoppers and expert craftsmen dearly.
The Points Affecting Licensed Plumbers and Plumbing Contractors:
1. Unlicensed Plumbers – ineffective enforcement of plumber licensing
2. Fake Plumbing Corporations – Normal Contractors Promoting Plumbing Providers
3. The Value of Promoting – Is extremely excessive as a consequence of unfair competitors from the unlicensed
4. Lack of Shopper Consciousness – They do not know that actual plumbers are a licensed commerce. (Drain cleaners will not be plumbers)
5. Different trades wishing to carry out plumbing companies – i.e. Builders, Normal Contractors and the HVAC trades
The plumbing commerce is a regulated industry in Washington State. All plumbing work should be carried out by these with a certificate of expertise; in different phrases – a license. Over time there can been a concerted effort by these not within the plumbing commerce to violate the regulation that restricts who could interact within the commerce. The attack on the plumber and the plumbing contractor has come from a number of instructions.
There may be not one enemy of the licensed plumber, however many. Probably the most vital root explanation for the plumber license dropping credibility and worth through the years is the passivity and inattention of the licensed plumber. As a rule, as soon as we now have the license in our hand we do not suppose a lot about it aside from to complain concerning the renewal charges or the imposition of the persevering with schooling requirement.
A plumber license represents years of examine, licensed coaching and official permission to have interaction in a regulated career. The dictionary defines license as “a permission granted by competent authority to have interaction in a business or occupation or in an exercise in any other case illegal”. A license excludes others by regulation.
If enforcement of a regulation is weak or ineffective – no one will obey the regulation.
Immediately the plumbing industry is underneath attack from those who want to be engaged within the business of plumbing with out a license. The unhappy truth is that there hasn’t been a lot resistance from these of us which are most affected i.e. licensed plumbers, plumbing contractors and owners. The plumbing industry has been invaded by anyone that wishes to symbolize themselves as plumbers with out the license as a result of no one has had a eager curiosity within the enforcement of plumber licensing.
Who’s violating licensing legal guidelines? Reply: Anyone who needs to…
The next trades and companies all promote plumbing companies at present – successfully violation of current regulation:
1. Rooter corporations with no licensed plumbers or solely a token plumber
2. Normal contractors promoting plumbing companies
3. Plumber trainees that abandon their coaching and promote as contractors
4. Handymen with or with out contractor registration
5. Fraudulent web site plumbing corporations with fake registrations
6. HVAC corporations promoting water heater gross sales and installations
7. Water heater corporations promoting set up of water heaters
8. {Hardware} shops providing water heater installations
9. Constructing upkeep service corporations offering plumbing repairs.
10. Retail Shops – Home Depot, Lowe’s
11. Advertising Corporations with fake web sites promoting leads
12. Third Get together Referral Providers that promote plumbing companies with no licenses
13. Web site re-sellers
14. Amazon is now promoting plumbing companies on their web site (2016)
It’s a lengthy listing…
As a licensed plumber for over thirty 5 years, I’ve to confess that I had no concept how simply my license may grow to be a nugatory piece of paper till I noticed my cellphone site visitors drop off and clients demanding that we match quotes from unlicensed opponents. I did not notice that the worth of a license is predicated solely upon what others suppose it to be. It is like cash. Cash is only a piece of paper with ink on it. It solely has worth in the event you and I agree that it has some consultant worth. A few hundred years in the past a greenback was a day’s wages. Immediately a greenback may purchase you a day-old doughnut. That greenback invoice is simply price what we’re prepared to commerce it for. My father described Italians in the course of the Second World Battle hauling lira in wheelbarrows to alternate on the bank for just a few US {dollars}.
My worry at present is that our plumber licenses might be nugatory quickly and we cannot even discover till it’s too late. The owners do not know that plumbers want licenses so the license is price nothing to them. The rooter corporations promote plumbing with a contractor registration as cowl (anyone can get a contractor registration) – the general public assumes a contractor registration is a license. They do not know the distinction as a result of the rooter corporations, and others, have aggressively been substituting “plumbing technicians” as a substitute of plumbers for years.
So what’s the answer?
Nicely, I do not know. It might assist if the patron knew that any plumber they employed wanted to have a license of their pocket. It might even be useful if there was a neighborhood business listing that wasn’t stuffed with unlicensed plumbing ads.
Fortunately, there’s a new native listing in Seattle that truly checks the contractor registration earlier than permitting the itemizing to be revealed: www.SeattleOnly.com
… It is a begin
