Back in my day,” my dad would say, “you didn’t need all these silly certifications: You just did the work because that’s what plumbers did.”

Cross-connection control, medical gas installation, residential fire sprinkler systems, service plumbing, hydronic heating and cooling systems, health and safety of construction workers, OSHA, brand “X” water heater installations — the list of certifications go on and on.

If you’re a plumber, you probably have one or more of these types of certifications, or one of many others not listed.

WHY GET THEM?

The need for plumbers to become certified for various installations and/or processes is essential to the success of the modern-day plumber.

Certifications can open doors you didn’t even know existed. When a customer is looking for a plumbing contractor, the simple addition of “Certified in _____,” or “______ Certified” following your name or your company’s name makes a very powerful statement about the expertise and commitment you bring to the trade and assures the customer that you are one of the best in your field.

EFFECTS OF BECOMING CERTIFIED

Certifications can help you earn credibility and respect in your field. I recently had some brake work done on my car. As I entered the mechanic’s shop to set up the appointment, there was a banner hanging there for all to see that stated that all personnel working here were certified. I had no clue what it meant, but internally I automatically felt a sense of confidence that the work I needed done on my car was going to be done by competently trained individuals.

Your potential customer is looking for what sets you apart from the next plumber on the list. The argument could certainly be made that this decision is based on how much your services are going to cost, but we have to give the customer the benefit of the doubt and realize that they know they are going to get what they pay for in the end.

As the current market of customers seems to be doing less of their own work than customers in the past simply due to, in most cases, lack of time to do it, it doesn’t mean that they will just hire anyone. On the contrary, today’s customers are more informed than ever due to technology. They have information at their fingertips 24/7. They will do their research on your company and find out why they should hire you. Your very own advertisements or website is a perfect place to display these industry certifications. It’s an opportunity to demonstrate your commitment to your profession by going the extra mile to achieve them.

From an individual plumber’s perspective, becoming certified in plumbing-related skills can open more opportunities for advancement within your company and also provide some job security when times get slow. We all know the amount of work in the plumbing industry can fluctuate. When times are slow and employers need to look at laying off employees, those without the certifications are more commonly the first to be let go versus those who have them. Case in point are those with backflow tester certifications.

Whether times are slow or not, backflow preventers need to be tested on a yearly basis. If you have a testers certification and the next employee doesn’t, it makes the employer’s decision much easier as to who is let go first.

AN EVER-CHANGING INDUSTRY

I’m pretty sure that the water heaters my 75-year-old dad worked on during his years as a plumber were a little different than today’s water heaters.

Just remove the panel on a modulating tankless water heater or take the control panel off a commercial water heater. It won’t take long to realize that without some form of extra education or industry certification, you wouldn’t be able to troubleshoot the problem, much less make a repair.

The plumbing industry sees this as well and offers certification classes on many products. Water heaters, tools, pumps, CSST gas piping, PEX, copper — almost every facet of the trade has some specialized training available. By attaining these various types of certifications, we as plumbers build confidence in our knowledge of the profession and we can then assure our customers will have confidence in us that we can effectively, and efficiently, repair and/or install the products and services they require.

DAD’S DEFENSE

I tend not to disagree with my dad very often. He still schools this 51-year-old plumber every time we sit down to talk. So, in his defense, he was partially right when he said that we as plumbers should know how to do these now-certified plumbing tasks. By becoming certified, however, we stay up to date on the skills needed to accomplish them.

Every time our industry changes or learns something new, the public can rest assured that the certified plumber they hire is ready to help them.

Sincerely yours,

Master Plumber – Randy R. Lorge
ASSE Certified 5110, 5120, 5130, 12000, 12020, 13000
P.I.P.E. Certified Backflow Tester
Wisconsin Certified Backflow Tester