When you need to engage the services of competent, professional plumbers in Los Angeles, you need to do some homework first. There are many plumbing companies in town – some of them are great and will take care of you — and some of them will rip you off without giving it a second thought.

So how do you find the right plumbing company that will be able to professionally solve your plumbing problem? Do they have the man power, the experience, and the equipment to adequately deal with the problem at hand, do they charge fair prices, and do they stand by their work?

Here are some of the basic things that a consumer can do — and must do — in order to find competent plumbers in Los Angeles that can handle your specific plumbing issue.

7 Things to Look For When Searching Through Plumbers in Los Angeles

Visit Their Website

Visit the company’s website. You can usually tell immediately whether this is a genuine site or a rip-off. Go through the entire site. If there any bad links, or the form doesn’t work, or there is incorrect contact information on the website, do not do business with this company. Find a plumbing company whose website works, makes sense, doesn’t sound like a rip-off, answers questions from users, and so on.

Test out their response time to your questions: fill out the contact form on their website, then see how long it takes for the company to respond. If you asked a specific question, do they give a decent response? – 

Hint: Sometimes plumbing service providers offer weekly, or daily plumbing service discounts, or coupons. 

Check their State Plumbing License

Is the plumbing company licensed by the state. All plumbing contractors must be licensed by the State where they operate. And plumbing contractors must remain in good standing with the authorities. If there have been complaints, you can see them listed on the state licensing board’s website. Never hire a plumbing company — or any other service company — that does not have a state license.

Do They Have the Equipment You Need?

What equipment does this plumbing company have? Do they have the latest hydrojet machines to clear main line stoppages, or are they still using auguring tools (plumber’s snakes).

Do they have the latest equipment to electronically detect underground leaks, or will they have to dig up your yard to find the concealed leak?

Do this company have the latest technology to repair or replace an underground sewer line without doing any digging. It’s called “trenchless technology” and it saves your property and it saves mature trees from having to be cut down.

Make sure when you’re looking through plumbers in Los Angeles, they have when you need to get the job done quickly and effectively. It is also always good to check that they use an effective plumbing software that can make it easy to communicate with them. 

Do They Carry their Own Inventory?

Some plumbers in Los Angeles carry a large variety of inventory, equipment, and supplies in their warehouse. Ask your prospective company if they carry water heaters, toilet systems or faucets, or if they have to buy each item only when ordered by the customer.

You get better prices if your plumbing company buys its inventory in advance, instead of paying “rush” prices when you need an item in a hurry. A plumbing company that carries lots of inventory is the one you want to go with.  

Are They Using Automation Software?

Ask if your prospective company uses automation software. Many plumbing companies are now using field service management software to automate and streamline their business.

Field service management software enables a company to become way more efficient: no more double-booking, no more lost technicians because they can’t find the customer’s home, billing is done electronically (so you get paid faster) and all your financials are available at all times from anywhere — all in real time, so there’s no waiting while your accounting department generates your requested reports on anything from payroll to sales to inventory on hand.

Make sure the plumbing company knows how to use automation software.

Do They Provide a Written Warranty?

It is very important that the plumbing company you select provides you with a written warranty on their work. A written warranty should cover both parts and labor, and should be provided with every job.

Ask to see a copy of the company’s written warranty, especially if you are buying something expensive like a water heater, or you will be requiring the company to replace a sewer line or something else that can be very costly – especially if they do not deliver what they promised.

Finally, Do They Have Enough Plumbing reviews on Yelp or Google?

Good reviews on Yelp/Google is one of the best ways to bring traffic to your website. 90% of American consumers say they trust peer reviews. Some plumbing companies are now getting 75% of their new incoming calls from Yelp and other peer-review sites.

Check out your prospective plumbing company’s Yelp reviews. A competent, professional plumbing company should have a good number of positive reviews (4 or 5 stars). Make sure those reviews are genuine: fake reviews could be those where the reviewer has very few published reviews, or very few friends.

And if you see one or two bad reviews among a large number of good reviews, those reviews are often fake, or are posted by a disgruntled former employee. Or it could have been posted by one of your competitors who is out to destroy you any way they can.

If you follow all these above steps, and you do your homework and your due diligence, you will be able to narrow down the field from multiple prospects to a few.

Then ask the people you know: your family members, your co-workers, your business associates and almost everyone you know can probably advise you about a plumbing company with whom they have had a good experience.

If you own a home or a business, do that research now and find a suitable plumbing company for your needs. You don’t want to wait until you are knee-deep in flowing water before you start doing your research. When you have narrowed down the number of prospects, call them, and ask to speak to a supervisor or even the owner.

A good five-minute discussion with the people who run the company will tell you immediately if this is a company you can trust or if they are going to give you the runaround. If they jerk you around on the phone, they will jerk you around with the work.