Essential Plumbing Skills: What Every Technician Needs to Know

What Are the Hard Skills Every Plumber Must Master?

Skilled plumbers demonstrate specific, measurable abilities they’ve mastered through training, education, and experience. 

Beyond working a plunger in the bathroom or sliding under the kitchen sink to tighten loose pipes, skilled plumbers exhibit expertise in other areas listed below.

Pipe installation & repair

Plumbers need to be skilled in all things pipe-related, such as pipefitting—finding the right pipe fittings and connecting them using various techniques. 

In addition, great plumbers can identify different pipe types and materials and understand how they react with each other, making it easy to select the right pipes for each job. They’re also good at: 

• Installing pipes and repairing them. 

• Measuring, cutting, and joining pipes using methods like welding, soldering, and clamping.  

Soldering is another skill plumbers should know. It involves joining two pieces of metal and creating tight seals for fluids or liquids to flow smoothly.

Fixture installation

Skilled plumbers must know how to install fixtures, especially for residential and commercial construction. Specifically, they should know: 

• How to carefully install toilets, dishwashers, sinks, washing machines, or faucets.

• The right tools to use during installation.

• How to maintain warranties on fixtures and fittings, ensuring manufacturers cover defects.

• How to avoid damaging other plumbing fixtures during installation. 

Drainage & sewer systems

Skilled plumbers must be familiar with home drainage systems and sewers. They should be able to read blueprints and understand the layouts immediately.

Plumbers must know how to troubleshoot blockages such as identifying and clearing clogs from drains using different methods (hydro-jetting, drain snakes, or video pipe inspection).

Beyond fixing the problem, they can think outside the box to provide lasting solutions to chronic blockage issues—like pipe relining or tree root removal.

Water heater installation & repair

Imagine answering a call to install or repair a water heater and showing up with no idea where to begin. It would make people question your expertise, considering it’s an appliance everyone uses. 

As such, water heater installation and repair is a must-have skill for any plumber. A certified plumber needs to: 

• Be knowledgeable in installing different water heater types (tankless, electric, gas, or hybrid). 

• Ensure installations comply with safety standards.

• Understand how these heaters work. 

• Know how to troubleshoot and repair any plumbing issues that might come up.

Leak detection & prevention

Plumbers are similar to doctors, only instead of caring for people, they care for pipes and water-related structures in a property. As such, they need to be adept at detecting and diagnosing leaks within a property’s plumbing system. 

Plumbers need to be conversant with the different methods used in leak detection—acoustic sensors, moisture meters, and thermal cameras. 

Not only should they know how to detect leaks, but they should also know the preventive measures to avoid damage and improve the plumbing system’s efficiency.

Blueprint reading & code compliance

Plumbers should know how to read and understand property schematics or technical drawings. This way, they can design plumbing systems matching the blueprint’s specifications and architectural requirements. 

Plumbers are also familiar with local, state, and national plumbing codes, ensuring their projects comply with requirements. This expertise ensures projects are executed efficiently and adhere to safety procedures, preventing mistakes and legal issues.

Plumbing tools & equipment handling

Skilled plumbing techs are familiar with different power tools and equipment, including pipe cutters, pipe wrenches, augers, cartridge guns, and soldering materials. 

They can identify them, know the right tool to use for specific issues, and use them to install or repair fixtures and more.

What Are the Soft Skills That Set Great Plumbers Apart?

Knowing how to install or repair plumbing systems is one part of what makes a great plumber. The other side involves human relations.

Considering plumbers must communicate with construction professionals, supervisors, team members, and clients (e.g. homeowners) regularly, they need to master this part too.

Here are soft skills to balance a good plumber’s technical know-how.  

Problem-solving

Plumbers must think on their feet when confronted with issues, swiftly diagnosing problems and providing solutions. 

Considering every situation is unique, they need serious analytic and problem-solving skills to anticipate different scenarios and determine the ideal strategy, including the appropriate tool to solve the problem.

Customer service

Plumbers deal with clients regularly. As such, they must have strong customer service skills. This includes answering questions respectfully, explaining complex concepts in simple terms, or being clear about the finances involved in the project. 

Part of customer service also includes: 

• Proactive communication, sharing progress reports before they ask. 

• Being empathetic and patient, considering how stressful plumbing problems can be. 

• Client follow-up after the project is completed and ensuring lingering concerns are resolved. 

Time management

One skill that sets plumbers apart is good time management. Many plumbing techs are known for not being on time—it’s a running stereotype in the industry. 

If you’re one who always keeps to time, it shows your clients that you respect them. 

However, time management isn’t only about arriving on time. Other aspects of this skill include:

• Efficiency: You can complete a project within a specific time range and with minimal disruptions.

• Proper emergency handling: You know how to prioritize projects in order of importance.

• Adequate preparation: Ensuring you have everything needed to complete projects on or ahead of time. 

Attention to detail

Plumbing projects may look simple to the average person, but they’re very delicate, as any little oversight can lead to serious and costly water damage.

That’s why attention to detail is an important skill every plumber should possess. They must ensure proper measurements of pipes and careful installation of fittings. 

In addition, plumbing professionals need to:

• Double-check installations, soldering works, and other fittings. 

• Closely follow blueprints for correct specifications.

• Pay close attention to leakages and their source, and more. 

Teamwork & collaboration

Plumbers typically work with construction professionals like electricians, HVAC, and other experts, making it a must for them to know how to collaborate. 

They should be familiar with technologies that aid effective communication, e.g., the ServiceTitan app, Slack, Trello, or  Telegram. 

Plumbers also need to know the duties of other professionals and how they operate to ensure both parties work together. For instance, a plumber should know when a tiler is scheduled to work so they can complete their part before the tilers get to the site.

How Can You Improve and Stay Competitive?

If you’re a plumber lacking in either the hard or soft skills shared in this article, here’s how you can get better at your craft:

Ongoing training & certifications

To develop yourself as a plumber, commit to continuous learning. The plumbing industry keeps changing, with new techniques and tools being created. As such, you need to stay up-to-date with the evolving industry.

That means watching videos, reading magazines, attending shows, joining online forums, and listening to podcasts to stay updated and expand your skill set.

Staying on top of trends also involves registering for new certifications. What’s a new administrative skill or technology you should know? Are there governing bodies to determine their proficiency? If yes, register for them and get certified ASAP.  

Hands-on experience & mentorship

Still learning the plumbing ropes? Serve as an apprentice to an expert or join a plumbing school to gain practical experience from experienced plumbers. 

Because these professionals have taken on different projects and built technical know-how, it will be in your best interest to utilize them as mentors. 

They can show errors to avoid, relationships to form, and the best vendors to get good deals on equipment. Learning from people with such experience can boost your plumbing career and prepare you for real plumbing work better than anything else could. 

Using technology to improve efficiency

Technology is inescapable, including in the plumbing and construction industries. 

Knowing how to leverage technology to help you get better is more important than ever. 

With useful software like the ServiceTitan app, you can schedule appointments, track inventory, find your way to the site, provide access to information, and keep team members updated with the progress on the project. 

Overall, technology like this helps simplify how you carry out plumbing tasks, ensuring nothing slips through the cracks.

Let’s take this up a notch by sharing other ways a tech app such as ServiceTitan improves productivity and efficiency.

How ServiceTitan Helps Plumbing Businesses Manage Skilled Technicians

Do you run a plumbing service business? Think of ServiceTitan as a virtual assistant committed to your productivity and ensuring smooth business operations.

Here is what ServiceTitan can help you with:

Technician performance tracking: Track how many plumbers are in the field, including what job they’re on in real time. The ServiceTitan platform helps monitor the number of plumbing jobs they’ve completed, the number of hours worked, and the revenue generated. Instead of waiting for plumbers to return and fill out long forms, they can log necessary information via mobile while you oversee progress from a dashboard.

Smart scheduling & dispatching: Assign plumbers to projects based on availability and expertise. With ServiceTitan, you can receive customer requests via text messages, dispatch experts to handle the projects, and keep everyone on the same page. 

Mobile app for plumbers: ServiceTitan isn’t only for business owners; it’s also useful for plumbers. Firstly, it gives them access to project information ahead of time. They can see job details, client work history, address, specialized requests, and a checklist of tasks to be done. 

ServiceTitan also enables plumbers to connect with clients and the main office, keeping everyone in the loop of their progress. ServiceTitan allows plumbing techs to show up to a work site armed with the information needed to start work immediately. 

ServiceTitan is a digital tool that enables plumbing business owners to be more efficient. ServiceTitan simplifies brand growth through seamless scheduling, team communication, client work history, and invoicing. The platform supports accounting, job costing, reporting, and customer management.