Requirements checklist
What to ask for when choosing software for plumbing contractors.
A checklist built from how plumbing contractors work, to print or save as a PDF and bring to any supplier meeting.
What the software should cover
Tick each one that matters to your business.
- Point and fixture quotation
- Fittings issue per site
- Pressure test record
- Measurement sheets and stage bills
- First and second fix schedule
- Service calls and maintenance contracts
- Fixture receipt log
Roles that need their own access
Who logs in, and what each person may see or change.
- For owners
- For the office
- For supervisors
- For plumbers and technicians
- For store keepers
Reports to ask for
Ask to see each one with your own sample data.
- Quotations open, won and lost, by builder
- Service calls by status, locality and plumber
- Pipe, fitting and sanitaryware issued against each job
- Running bills raised, retention held and amounts received
- Dues by builder, oldest bill first
- Daily wages, piece-rate pay and advances by plumber and helper
- Maintenance contracts due for renewal, with overhead tank and pump visits
Systems it may need to connect to
Note which ones you already run.
- SMS
- Card and payment gateway
- Accounting export
Questions for any vendor
Put these to every supplier you are comparing.
- Is it for repair calls, site contracts or AMC work?
- Can quotations be built from our own rates?
- Can it track material sent to a site?
- Does it handle running bills for builders?
- Can plumbers use it from a phone, and does it work without signal?
- Can plumbing bills go to my accounting package?
- Can open jobs and unpaid bills be moved?
- Who owns the data?
- What does it cost?
- Does it know where each plumber is?
- When could plumbers and the office begin on it?
- What must the plumbing firm gather?
Where the work usually breaks today
Circle the ones you recognise. They set the order of the project.
- There is no proof of the test
- Fittings are over-ordered and lost
- The stage bill waits on a measurement
- Client fixtures cause disputes
- Second-fix visits are forgotten
Prefer to talk it through? See the plumbing contractors page.