We answer our own phone
No call centre, no booking platform taking a cut and no promise to call you back tomorrow. If it rings out we are under a house, so try again.
The plumber who quotes it is the plumber who does it
Cape Rapid Plumbing is small on purpose. One owner, a short list of people we trust, and a rule that nobody gets handed off to a stranger halfway through a job.
Started because too many people were being left waiting
Most plumbing emergencies happen at the worst possible time, and most people phoning about one get an answering service, a promise of a call back and then silence. That gap is why this business exists.
We kept the setup deliberately simple. The emergency line goes to the owner's mobile. The van carries the fittings that fix the majority of urgent jobs on the first visit. Quotes are written down before anybody starts. It is not complicated, it is just what most people expected in the first place.
Day to day we work on older homes in the southern suburbs where the galvanised pipe is finally giving up, on guesthouses that cannot afford a morning without hot water, and on the sectional title buildings where one leak turns into three unhappy owners.
Six things you can hold us to
None of these are remarkable. They are simply the things people tell us went wrong with the last plumber they used.
You see the price first
Callout fee on the phone, repair price on site, both before any work starts. If the job grows, we stop and talk instead of adding it to the invoice.
We tell you when it can wait
If your problem is a Tuesday morning job rather than a midnight one, we will say so. Talking someone out of a callout fee is how you earn the next five.
We leave it clean
Drop sheets down, boots off inside, old fittings and packaging taken away with us. You should not be sweeping up after a repair you paid for.
We stand behind the work
If a repair we did fails, we come back and sort it out. Parts carry their manufacturer warranty and our labour is guaranteed in writing on the invoice.
The paperwork is done properly
Itemised invoices, photographs for insurers, and Certificates of Compliance issued where the work requires one. Conveyancers and assessors get what they ask for the first time.
Four things we will not do
Trades get a bad name for a short list of specific behaviours. These are the ones we hear about most, so they are worth ruling out in writing.
- We will not quote a burst pipe over the phone. Nobody can see through a wall, and a low guess on the phone becomes an argument on site.
- We will not sell you a new geyser when the element is the problem. Replacement is a last resort, not a default.
- We will not disappear halfway through your job to take a bigger one. Started work gets finished before the next job starts.
- We will not send you an invoice with a number on it that you have not already agreed to.
Registered, insured and working to standard
Plumbing in South Africa is a regulated trade. Anyone can buy a van and a set of spanners, so it is worth checking who is actually registered before you let them near your geyser.
PIRB registration
Registration with the Plumbing Industry Registration Board is what allows a plumber to issue a valid Certificate of Compliance.
Add your PIRB numberIndustry membership
Membership of an industry body such as IOPSA gives your customers somewhere independent to go if a dispute ever comes up.
Add your membership numberPublic liability cover
Cover for the rare occasions when something goes wrong on site. Ask any plumber for proof of this before work starts, including us.
Add your insurer and cover amountInstallations are carried out to the South African national standards for water supply and drainage, SANS 10252, and for fixed electric storage water heaters, SANS 10254. That second one matters more than it sounds: a geyser installed outside the standard is the most common reason an insurance claim is turned down.
A small team, the same faces
You will not meet a different subcontractor every visit. The same small crew works across every job, which is why we can pick up a repair someone else started three weeks ago without a long explanation.
Everyone arrives in a marked shirt, carries identification and will happily wait at the gate while you check. If someone turns up claiming to be from us and you were not expecting them, phone the office before you open the door.
Rather speak to a person?
One number, answered by the person who will be doing the work.