Anyone can buy a van and a sign. Here's how to tell whether the plumber you're about to let into your home is the real thing, using tools Arizona gives you for free.
1. Look up their license with the Arizona ROC
In Arizona, plumbers are licensed by the Registrar of Contractors (ROC). Ask for the ROC number (it should be on their website, trucks and paperwork), then look it up on the ROC's website, roc.az.gov. Check:
- The status is active, not suspended or expired.
- The name matches the company you're talking to.
- The license covers plumbing. Plumbing classifications include residential, commercial and dual (residential and commercial).
- The complaint history the ROC shows. Note that the ROC says its site doesn't display everything, so it's one check, not the whole story.
It takes two minutes. Our license, for example, is ROC #347174: OX Plumbing Services LLC, Specialty Dual CR-37 Plumbing.
2. Know why the license matters
- The Recovery Fund. Arizona has a Residential Contractors' Recovery Fund that can help homeowners who were harmed by a licensed residential contractor (news reports put the limit at $30,000 per homeowner, with conditions). Hire unlicensed and that protection isn't there.
- The handyman limit. Arizona lets unlicensed people do only small jobs of a "casual or minor nature": generally under $1,000 including labor and materials, and nothing that needs a building permit. A water heater replacement or a sewer repair is not a handyman job.
3. Read the reviews, not just the stars
Look at Google reviews: how many, how recent, and what people say about showing up, explaining the problem and the final price. Watch how the company responds to the bad ones.
4. Pricing should be clear before work starts
A good plumber tells you what the visit costs up front, diagnoses the problem, then gives you a price before starting. Be careful with a vague hourly quote that keeps growing, or pressure to decide on a big job on the spot. (Here's how our $99 service call works.)
5. They explain your options
A good plumber shows you what's wrong (a camera inspection on a sewer line, for example) and tells you your options, including the cheaper fix when it will do the job.
6. They answer the phone
How a company handles your first call tells you how it'll handle a problem later. A real person, a clear answer about when someone can come, and no runaround.
Red flags
- No ROC number, or one that doesn't match the company name.
- Cash only, or a large deposit before any work.
- Pressure to decide right now.
- A price that changes once they're in the house, with no new explanation.
Want to check us? ROC #347174. We answer 24/7, and our reviews are on Google. More about OX Plumbing.