why is "plumber infraction" so common?

[LilyT]

I'm having a hard time in finding a plumbing company that has clean record in our state's license database.

A lot of companies have "plumber infraction" violations with quite recent dates, which means
"Contractor employed a person to engage in the trade of plumbing without a current journeyman, specialty or trainee certificate, temporary permit or medical gas endorsement as required."
​

A lot of companies have the word "plumbing" in their company names, but registered as general contractors not under plumbing category. My remodeling project does need plumbing permit & inspection from the city. If I hire one of them to do the job, is that another case of "plumber infraction"?

These companies knew their work would be inspected by the city, so why did they still send unlicensed person to do the job? I really don't understand. Could somebody shed some light?

 

[TomFOhio]

A lot of licensed plumbers will take a helper out and show him what and how he wants the plumbing done. Then go back and make
sure it is done to his specs. If so, then call for an inspection. By rights the plumber is supposed to be on the job with him but this
doesn't happen all the time.

 

[Mr_David]

Each local jurisdiction is different.
Here the contractor is the responsible party.
The techs don't have to be certified. he could have 100 service trucks on the road all making house calls.
None of them have to have any certifications.
I've been doing service work for 30+ yrs . took a code class about 25 yrs ago. The rest is just experience.
I sleep well at night. Most of the time. If the job is done wrong It's the bosses ultimate responsibility.
If I flooded the house or burned it down because I made a mistake, it's the boss man holding the contractor's license and liability insurance that has to worry about the next action.

 

[LilyT]

TomFOhio & KrazeDav, Thanks for the explanation!

I think I'd better hire a contractor with the plumbing license just to be safe.