The Association of Plumbing & Heating Contractors (APHC) has launched a winter switch-on campaign reminding consumers to use a reputable and qualified heating engineer.
The campaign was launched to coincide with the peak time of year when people switch their heating back on, which generally leads to a high number of boiler breakdowns and to heating engineers being in high demand.
John Thompson, chief executive, said: “We know that many people only search for a plumbing or heating engineer in a distressed situation, when they are desperate to get their heating and hot water working as quickly as possible. This can lead to rushed decisions and sadly, the opportunity for rogue traders to take advantage in an emergency situation. We have been advising the public to make preparations to have the contact details of reputable tradespeople at hand or have access to the right organisations to quickly search for a reputable trader.”
The advice given to people by APHC in sourcing a reputable and qualified heating engineer included to:
- Look for a member of a trade association, such as APHC, who will check that a trader’s qualifications and past work is checked and verified to a high standard
- Check credentials, such as their Gas Safe membership, by looking online or calling the organisation
- Check how much you will be charged for a call out and their rates for on-going time spent on the job
John continued: “Employing a member of a trade organisation also has the additional security of codes of conduct to protect both the customer and tradespeople and often have schemes, which can help to resolve problems. As well as offering high levels of customer service and workmanship as standard, our members are fully vetted with their work checked annually to uphold high standards of workmanship.”
The general public are able to source a local and qualified APHC member by using their search facility at: www.FindAQualityPlumber.co.uk.