One Man Shop or Larger Plumbing Contractor: Pros and Cons

Spread the love

When you hire a plumbing contractor, it can be hard to tell from their advertising how large of a firm the company name represents. There are plenty of one-man shops where the licensed plumber is the owner, operator and assistant, all rolled into one. There are also large corporate plumbing contractors that have dozens of licensed plumbers working for them. In between those two ends of the spectrum are mid-range contractors who have a significant number of employees but are still in the small business category range.

There is no best answer as to whether you are better off hiring a small plumbing contractor or bigger one. However, there are some pros and cons to take into consideration as you are making the decision.

If you are looking for someone you can rely on to show up for a service call whenever you happen to need them, a one-man shop may not be the best choice. Even though the plumber may be extremely dependable, one man can only be in one place at one time. If he’s a high quality professional, his services will be in big demand. He may not always be available when you need him.

Another negative aspect of a one-man shop is speed and efficiency. The more hands available to work on a project, the faster it will get done. This is particularly true for big jobs like a polybutylene pipe replacement or septic to sewer conversion.  If your plumber has to make all his supply runs himself, it will slow down his progress. In addition, you’ll be paying full plumber rates for all the time on your job, rather than having some of the time being billed at a lower assistant’s rate.

With a larger plumbing company, you may or may not know the owner on a first name basis, but the integrity of the owner is still on the line, no matter the company size. Smaller is not always better or the best choice.

Comments are closed.