Two quotes are comparable when they describe the same work. A lower figure on a narrower job is not a saving until you can see the difference. Ask each plumber to list what is included, what is excluded, and who supplies a hot water unit, a fixture or an appliance if one is part of the job. PlumberQuotes introduces you to a plumber. It does not choose the quote and it does not publish a typical price.
Put the scope in words both quotes can use
Write the job the same way for each request. The fixture, whether it stays in place, whether water is still running, and whether the visit is to make safe or to finish the repair should not change between conversations. If one plumber has seen the property and another has not, say that. A price from a photo and a price from a visit are not the same kind of document. Ask each quote to say which one it is.
Ask how a variation will be handled if the pipe, the drain or the unit is not what the quote assumed. You want to know who approves extra work before it is done. You do not need a spreadsheet. You need a sentence on each quote that answers the same question.
Check these before you accept
- The licence class for the work, in the state or territory where the property is, matched to the legal name on the quote.
- Whether access, after-hours attendance or making safe is included or extra.
- Removal and disposal of the old unit or fixture.
- A compliance certificate where the work requires one, and who issues it.
- What the labour warranty covers, separate from any manufacturer warranty on a unit. Ask. Do not assume a period.
- Who supplies materials, and what happens if the item you have bought does not match the connection.
- What is excluded: tiling, plaster, painting, electrical work, gasfitting if it is a different class, and making the garden or paving good.
Check the licence on the public register before you accept. The registers are listed on the sources page. A quote that will not name a licence number is not ready to compare with one that will.
What not to compare
Do not compare a make-safe call with a full replacement and call the gap a discount. Do not compare a quote that includes a tempering valve, a tray and removal with one that is silent on all three. Do not treat a review, a star rating or a promise of how many jobs a business has done as a substitute for the scope and the licence. This site does not publish reviews or job counts, and it will not invent a national rate to “sense-check” a quote. The property, the access and the licence class are the sense-check.
If you are a property manager, compare quotes that use the same invoice name, the same access assumption and the same instruction about whether the tenant must be home. A figure that assumes vacant access is not comparable with one that assumes someone is living there.
When you are ready to ask, the quote form sends the request to a plumber, not to a list of businesses. Sending it is free and does not book the work. You can still decide not to proceed when the quote arrives.
Get a quote
PlumberQuotes introduces you to a local plumber. It is not a plumbing contractor, and it does not promise a time.