In Western New York, the courts have ordered that a man who operates a drain cleaning service stop advertising plumbing services. Fake plumbers aren’t something you hear about often, but as a homeowner, it’s good to be aware that these individuals do exist. Under the current law, anyone who has the proper equipment can offer drain cleaning services, which are useful in the event you have a clogged toilet or backed up sink. However, if you need plumbing repairs or new plumbing installed, you need to work with a licensed NYC plumber.
Here’s why: NYC building codes are among the most stringent in the country. You need to work with a knowledgeable, experienced professional to ensure that all work done is in compliance with state and local statutes. This protects you in the event that anything goes wrong. When you let just anyone work on your building’s vital plumbing systems, you may have no recourse available to you when there’s a problem.
People who fraudulently present themselves as licensed plumbers often market their services specifically to people who are vulnerable or in a bad financial position. This can include people who are elderly, disabled, or who have limited income. Once they’re in the home, fraudsters take advantage of their position by bullying the homeowner into having unnecessary work done, taking much longer to complete work than is needed, and inflating their bill exponentially beyond initial quotes. Then, when homeowners can’t pay these fraudulent bills, they’re put in collections, which wrecks their credit, and are sometimes subject to aggressive collection techniques.
A licensed NYC plumber won’t do that, because there’s consequences for misbehavior. Losing a plumbing license is a very big deal – any reputable plumber doesn’t want to imperil their livelihood. For this reason, it’s important to work only with licensed plumbers. Ask for their license number. You can verify it’s legitimacy on the official NYC website here.
