PlumbingBossPro Blog — Running a Plumbing Business

Training Apprentices and New Hires in a Plumbing Business

A new hire, whether a seasoned plumber or a first-year apprentice, does not know how your company works. They do not know your prices, your customers, your paperwork or what you expect when they walk into a kitchen. Training is how you turn a good hire into a good member of the crew, and in a small company it usually falls on the owner.

Training Starts Before Day One

Finding the right person is covered in Hiring Plumbers for a Small Plumbing Business. Once they say yes, get ready before they arrive:

• Set up their personal PIN and van assignment in PlumbingBossPro.
• Have their phone ready with the tech app installed to the home screen.
• Plan who they will ride with for the first days.
• Write down the handful of things you care about most.

That last one matters. If you cannot write down what “doing it right” means in your company, the new hire will have to guess. Writing Standard Procedures for a Plumbing Business covers how to put that on paper.

The First Week

A simple first week for most new hires:

• Day 1: Ride along. Watch how the day runs, how customers are greeted, how jobs are closed out.
• Day 2: Ride along and run the tech app for the experienced plumber. Tap Start, take photos, write notes, tap Complete.
• Days 3 and 4: Do more of the work with the experienced plumber watching.
• Day 5: Talk through the week. What was confusing? What do they need to know?

Experienced plumbers may move faster. Apprentices may need much longer. Either way, the first week should be about how your company works, not about proving how much they already know.

Teach the Tech App in One Morning

The tech app is simple on purpose, and most people pick it up on a single ride-along. Focus on:

• Logging in with the company login and their PIN.
• Reading the job card: address, navigation button, equipment, access notes, past notes.
• Start, Skip and Complete, and writing a note when they skip.
• Before and after photos on every job.
• The time clock.

Once those habits are set, the office can see what is happening without calling, and the new hire is not left guessing about what comes next.

Teach the Equipment Habit

The single most useful habit you can teach is recording equipment. Every time a plumber is in a house, the water heater, softener, sump pump and other equipment on the property should be checked against the record and updated. Brand, model number, serial number, size, fuel or power, year installed, location and access notes.

Changes made on a job flow back to the house. That means a new hire who records a water heater swap correctly is building the company's records for every future visit. Show them a good example and a bad one so they understand why it matters.

Teach the Inspection Checklist

The inspection checklist in the tech app walks through the main shut-off, water pressure, water heater temperature, flush, anode rod, T&P valve, venting, visible leaks, toilets, faucets and supply lines, drains, disposal, hose bibs, sump pump and softener. It records readings like water pressure in psi and the water heater setting, a condition, and recommendations.

For apprentices, the checklist doubles as a learning tool. It shows them what a thorough plumber looks at in every house. For the customer, the office can print it as a Plumbing Inspection Report, so the work your new hire does is visible and professional.

Teach Customer Manners

Skill gets the job done. Manners get the customer to call back. Teach the basics plainly: knock, introduce yourself, explain before you start, protect the floor, clean up, explain what you did and what you saw. Teach them to never guess at a price and to bring the office in when a job grows.

Check In, Then Back Off

After the first week, check in regularly but less often. Look at their completed jobs, photos and notes. Watch for callbacks. Praise good notes and good photos as much as good repairs. Over time, back off and let them run their own day.

Use the job records as a training tool. Pull up a week of a new hire's completed jobs and go through them together over coffee. Which notes would help the next plumber? Which photos show the problem clearly? Which equipment records are missing a serial number? Ten minutes of honest review each week teaches more than a manual, and it shows the new hire that the details matter to you.

Training never fully stops, but a good start makes everything after it easier. For more on building a plumbing crew, visit the PlumbingBossPro plumbing business software page.