Help! -- We need any Plumber.

Finding good plumbers in the UK is difficult. Need a plumber in an urgent situation and you've got a real problem.

There's plenty of articles available on selecting plumbers. We've all heard the advice - get quotes, follow up references and ask friends and families for referrals. All good stuff however it causes it to be sound as though people needing a plumber have a selection open to them.

This really misunderstands the matter which the typical householder faces. Yes we do want to discover a great plumber, that knowledgeable, polite, punctual, reasonably priced paragon of virtue but before we get that far, we've to discover a plumber who is prepared to do business with us.

If you need a plumber in an urgent situation, you'll either find the people which may have priced themselves from the market and so can be often available - Mr or Mrs "It'll run you!" or their more reasonably priced cousin Dave "Quickest I could get to you is next Wednesday." Not great when you have a leak and it's now Sunday.

Indeed the positioning is very little better if you should be planning routine work such as having a boiler serviced or your bathrooms installed. Obtaining a quote could be a challenge - getting the job started a whole lot more difficult.

Now, based on recent reports, the positioning must be easing.

Over the past couple of years, the press has run stories about a lack of plumbers. In 2003, the British Plumbing Employer's Council estimated that the plumbing industry would need to recruit 29,000 new entrants over the next 5 years. This led to reports of City workers leaving their jobs in the hope of earning £70,000 annually as a plumber.

More recently, however, there are accounts of workers with plumbing experience from Eastern Europe filling vacancies on building sites and a surplus of trainees trying to find jobs.

For the householder, this should signify finding a good plumber who can be acquired is significantly easier. The logic is fine but plumbers who are readily available for work continue to be an elusive breed. So when you have water pouring through the ceiling or your bathroom arrives next Wednesday, read on for Hot Hints on investigating a plumber.