# "Licensed Plumbing Technician" vs. Licensed Plumber



## Mega Smash (Oct 9, 2009)

I've encountered a company (on more than one occasion) that refers to it's workers as "Licensed Plumbing Technicians". I know, by speaking to them, that NONE of them are in fact licensed plumbers (As in, written and passed the Qualification exam). They are a mix bag of 3rd, 4th, and perpetual 5th year apprentices.

I am a fully licensed Plumber - and I feel as if this is VERY MISLEADING (in the eyes of a customer), especially considering the fact that they charge what a Licensed Plumber would charge. 

Anyone else have some thoughts on this?


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## nhmaster3015 (Aug 5, 2008)

Well, they are licensed (apprentice) technicians then. It's a buzzword that we all learned to make the general public think that we are just a bit more professional. "licensed technician" sounds more professional that licensed plumber. It's just word and marketing games.


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## Bollinger plumber (Apr 3, 2009)

If they never took the exam then they are not licensed. I would think that if the company advertises them as licensed techs/plumbers and never took the exam then they are liable for fraud or false advertising suits. As far as having 4 or 5 yrs in the trade then I would consider them plumbers and they should be able to handle a job on their own, but should have taken the exam before that happens. I was a 2 yr apprentice and I was being sent out on jobs when my journeyman called in sick or went on vacation. I don't know any plumbers whether licensed or not that knows everything about plumbing. I have been in the trade for 35 years and have worked in new residential, commercial, service and drain cleaning and I am still learning. 
As for the technician part, as nh said that is just word play for the customers to make it sound more professional. Everyone is a technician these days. Their are no more auto mechanics they are auto technicians. There no more garbage men they are sanitary engineers etc etc. It makes the employees feel like their jobs are more Important and it makes the customers feel like they are getting more professional service.


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## user2090 (Sep 26, 2009)

As you have said it is a play on words. I hope the company doing it fails. Why the hell is it so hard to do things the right way? The other fact is, if they are not really licensed the guys are not getting paid a journeyman rate. I am going to have a stroke one of these days because my blood pressure goes up everytime I hear about this kind of crap. Turn the compnay in, there is someone who will do something. If we don't remain proactive in defending ourselves against crap like this one of these days plumbers will become extinct, and we will only have ourselves to blame. I refuse to accept that there is nothing we can do. This is a great country and if enough people make some noise, then we can make a change. The squeaky wheel gets the grease.


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## PLUMBER_BILL (Oct 23, 2009)

There are two words in this trade that suck.

#1 Technician instead of Journeyman or Master Plumber.

#2 Client instead of Customer.

IMHO A technician fixes office machines, does not do plumbing.

A client goes to his/her attorney. A patient goes to a doctor.
and a plumber works for his/her customers.


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## Redwood (Sep 8, 2008)

I bet I know which company....:laughing:
Could it be the one that has 6-week plumbing school wonders out there raping and pillaging the public?:whistling2:



> Department of Consumer Protection 52AE-4E2A-43B4-8128-B9B7C264EE30">
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## breid1903 (Feb 8, 2009)

maybe they have a drivers license. or a roofers card. you know that covers everything. lol. breid...............:rockon:


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## breid1903 (Feb 8, 2009)

*where did this take place?*

it seems to me that a large number of people that have complaints, either don't know where they live and/or are spelling challenged. you will notice that i live in fulton, indiana. hey, i can spell it. lol. i'm not ashamed of where i live. it's 500 n monroe st, fulton, in 46931-0277. if you have a problem with me stop by at your earliest and up most convenience. if you can't remember my name and/or address stop at the post office and ask mel for the plumber. she will send you right over. lol. breid............:rockon:


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## rocksteady (Oct 8, 2008)

Funny, Redwood. I was thinking the same thing but with a different company.  When I worked at BF, they made a point of saying we weren't plumbers. We were "technicians". That always bothered me as I get a sense of pride in calling myself a plumber. A technician is somebody who went to Devry or got their degree from Sally Struthers. I'm a licensed plumber and I want people to call me that.







Paul


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## Miguel (Aug 10, 2009)

The "technician" term is simply a CYA term applied to employees that work under a license but not neccesarily (usually NOT) their own.
I can think of several, but there's a large shop in particular close to here that keeps ONE licensed journeyman in as many trades as possible (but only one of each) in plumbing, oil burner mech, gasfitter, sheet metal, refrigeration, etc. That way he can send his army of drones out to do all aspects of P/HVAC work and _technically :whistling2:_ be licensed.

Skirting the law to be sure but he's making a killing charging out top dollar and paying tech wages. It kinda burns my butt but it's not as bad as seeing all the Nacho vehicles driving around with "and plumbing repairs" tagged after their "Appliance Service", "Painting & Drywalling", "Pizza Delivery", etc. They can legally do it due to the fact that plumbing _repairs_ don't need to be done by qualified people in this province. :furious:

As for the *client *_vs _*customer* my thoughts are that a customer is a one-off or infrequent user of your services. He may call you next time or he may call the other guy. Maybe he's only ever hired a plumber once in his entire life.

A client, on the other hand is a repeat customer that you've built a long term relationship with. They might have you on speed dial and you probably know the name of their dog. You might even have a key to their place because they know and trust you and the services you offer.

If you have enough customers who've become clients over the years then you can prolly save a bundle on YP ads.

My 2¢


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## Redwood (Sep 8, 2008)

rocksteady said:


> Funny, Redwood. I was thinking the same thing but with a different company.  When I worked at BF, they made a point of saying we weren't plumbers. We were "technicians". That always bothered me as I get a sense of pride in calling myself a plumber. A technician is somebody who went to Devry or got their degree from Sally Struthers. I'm a licensed plumber and I want people to call me that.
> 
> Paul


IMHO I think you will find that many of these outfits are above the law...

I believe that they could build similar charges very easily against most of the rooter companies in this state and elsewhere...

I haven't seen a Ben presence here...


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## nhmaster3015 (Aug 5, 2008)

I am so damned tired of fighting the unlicensed plumber fight. The plumbing boards are just about useless, the judges just slap them on the hands and 99% of the diy sites out there only make the problem worse by giving folks the idea that it's ok to forget about permits, inspections, and licensed contractors as long as they can get it done for cheap. This crap will continue until WE licensed plumbers finally put an end to it.


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## holman23 (Feb 16, 2010)

lots of good points out there, it bothers me when it took me my 4 yrs of apprenticeship then take my test to become a fully licensed plumber and all the money it takes me to keep up on my licenses not counting my contractor licenses to have guys out there calling thenselves plumbers and or licensed techs. theres a company in champaign,il that is very well known thruout the country with a very known jingle for getting your troubles away that do this. especially when the license holder lives in ohio. how does your customer know things like this, false advertisement. if my inspectors would follow what my code says these guys should payup


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## plumb4fun (Feb 18, 2009)

A lot of those so called licensed techs get their "make believe " licenses by sitting through some franchiser's orientation seminar or simular, and have never gone to any formal training. It is a big misrepresentation! :furious:


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## Redwood (Sep 8, 2008)

plumb4fun said:


> A lot of those so called licensed techs get their "make believe " licenses by sitting through some franchiser's orientation seminar or simular, and have never gone to any formal training. It is a big misrepresentation! :furious:


Exactly it's all a pull the wool over the customers eyes gimmick...:whistling2:


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## Mega Smash (Oct 9, 2009)

Miguel said:


> The "technician" term is simply a CYA term applied to employees that work under a license but not neccesarily (usually NOT) their own.
> I can think of several, but there's a large shop in particular close to here that keeps ONE licensed journeyman in as many trades as possible (but only one of each) in plumbing, oil burner mech, gasfitter, sheet metal, refrigeration, etc. That way he can send his army of drones out to do all aspects of P/HVAC work and _technically :whistling2:_ be licensed.
> 
> Skirting the law to be sure but he's making a killing charging out top dollar and paying tech wages. It kinda burns my butt but it's not as bad as seeing all the Nacho vehicles driving around with "and plumbing repairs" tagged after their "Appliance Service", "Painting & Drywalling", "Pizza Delivery", etc. They can legally do it due to the fact that plumbing _repairs_ don't need to be done by qualified people in this province. :furious:
> ...


 
Wow. You really hit the nail on the head with some of your comments. Especially with regards to charging "Licensed Plumber Prices" and paying "Technician Wages".

You guys have really opened my eyes on this one.


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