Is Checkatrade worth it for a plumber?
Tighter than it looks. Plumbing's low-value emergency work carries directory fees badly, so the membership usually only pays if it's bringing installation work. If you're mainly winning call-outs through it, check the numbers before renewing.
Why plumbing is a harder case than most trades
Directory fees are broadly similar across trades. Plumbing job values are not. A lead fee that a roofer absorbs into a five-figure re-roof has to come out of a call-out worth a couple of hundred, and after driving and parts there may be very little left.
| Job won | Rough value | Does the fee work? |
|---|---|---|
| Emergency call-out | Low hundreds | Often not, once time and travel are counted |
| Boiler repair | Low to mid hundreds | Marginal |
| Bathroom installation | Low thousands | Yes |
| Boiler installation | Mid thousands | Comfortably |
The ten-minute check
- Add twelve months of membership to twelve months of lead charges.
- List every job you won through it with its value. Won, not quoted.
- Split them into call-outs, repairs and installations.
- Divide total cost by jobs won for your true cost per customer.
- Then ask the harder question: were the installations you won through it actually generated by it, or did those customers find you anyway?
What most plumbers get wrong
Counting the busy weeks as proof. A cold snap fills the phone whatever you're paying for, and the enquiries a directory sends during a freeze would largely have found a well-ranked plumber too. Judge it during a normal month.
The other is cancelling before there's anything to replace it. Search work compounds over months, and the emergency side of plumbing tends to move faster than the rest, so a sensible order is to build first, watch your own enquiries rise, then reduce the directory spend.
Related questions
Are directory plumbing leads shared with other trades?
On marketplace-style platforms you're often quoting against several others, which pushes price down on work that had thin margins to begin with.
Is it worth it for a brand new plumbing business?
Reasonably, yes. With no reviews and no rankings you need enquiries from somewhere while the rest is built.
What about landlord and agent work?
That's usually won through relationships and reliability rather than platforms, and it's some of the most valuable repeat work in the trade.
Want to check whether it's paying?
Send us the split between call-outs and installations you win through the platform. We'll work out your real cost per customer and tell you honestly whether it earns its place.