Plumbing dispatcher and CSR job description: a free template for a small shop

A plumbing dispatcher answers the service calls, books them, assigns each job to a plumber by urgency, location and skill, and re-plans the day when a job runs long. A plumbing CSR (customer service rep) answers and books the calls but doesn't run the plumbers. In many small shops one person does both, so if that's your plan, hire for both and say so in the ad.

CSR or dispatcher: which one am I hiring?

The U.S. Department of Labor's O*NET database files them as two jobs. Customer service representatives talk to customers to give information, take orders and get the details of complaints, and keep records of each conversation (O*NET 43-4051.00). Dispatchers send workers to calls, schedule them, and keep records of what was requested and done (O*NET 43-5032.00). In a plumbing shop that splits like this:

Write down which tasks you're actually handing over before you post. If invoicing, permits or ordering water heaters are in it, they go in the ad too.

The template: copy it and fill in the blanks

Replace everything in [brackets] and delete any line that isn't true for your shop.

Three rules for the ad. Write the real hours, including on-call, and if the job is hourly, federal law requires at least time and a half for hours over 40 in a workweek for non-exempt employees (U.S. Department of Labor). Say the pay: some places require it, for example New York for businesses with four or more employees (New York State Department of Labor); check your own state. And describe the job, not the person: the EEOC says a job ad can't show a preference for or discourage applicants because of things like age (40 or older), sex, race or disability (EEOC).

The booking card: what to write down on every plumbing call

Your plumber needs these details before leaving for the job. Print it, tape it by the phone, and make it part of the training. The new hire fills in every line before hanging up.

On an emergency call the order changes: safety, then the shutoff, then the card.

What should you pay a plumbing dispatcher or CSR?

The Bureau of Labor Statistics doesn't count plumbing shops on their own. The closest group is building equipment contractors (plumbing, heating and air-conditioning, electrical and other building equipment contractors). In May 2025 (BLS):

• Customer service representatives there: about 21,580 people, a mean of $23.55 an hour ($48,990 a year) and a median of $22.39 an hour. Across all industries the CSR median was $21.53 (BLS).
• Dispatchers there: about 14,490 people, a mean of $24.08 an hour ($50,090 a year).

So in this group the two jobs pay about 50 cents an hour apart. Local pay can be well above or below these numbers; read a few local ads before you fill in your range. What the hire costs once benefits are added, and how that compares with an answering service, is in dispatcher or answering service? What a small shop really pays (written for HVAC, and the numbers work the same way for plumbing).

Do they need plumbing experience?

Usually not. O*NET puts both jobs in Job Zone 1–2: usually a high school diploma or GED, and anywhere from a few days to a year of on-the-job training (O*NET 43-4051.00, O*NET 43-5032.00). The trade words (P-trap, cleanout, PRV, tankless) are training; a calm voice on a flooding call and a complete booking card are what the interview should test.

Four phone tests for the interview

Play the caller for five minutes. Score each test pass or fail. You're listening for order (safety, then water, then details) as much as for words.

The gas and electrical safety lines come from federal guidance. Ready.gov says not to touch electrical equipment if it is wet or if you are standing in water (Ready.gov). For a gas smell, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission says to leave immediately, contact the gas authorities from outside, and not to operate anything electric, like lights or phones, before leaving (CPSC). Put both on a card by the phone on day one:

• Gas smell: “Everyone out of the house now, without switching anything on or off. Call 911 or your gas utility from outside.”
• Water near the electrics: “Stay away from it and don't touch switches or outlets. If it's near the panel or anyone is in danger, call 911.”

Our after-hours call script for plumbers covers the shutoff walk-through in detail.

The first 30 days: a checklist

1. Day 1: the safety card by the phone, and the booking card on every call from the first one.
2. Week 1: a day riding with a plumber, to see a main shutoff, a cleanout and a water heater in real houses.
3. Week 1: your written fees (trip, diagnostic, after-hours) and your rule for prices: from a price list, or “the plumber quotes before any work starts.”
4. Week 1: your service area, your plumbers' skills (who does sewer, who does water heaters, who has the camera), and which jobs you don't take.
5. Week 2: takes calls with you listening, then books into your software alone.
6. Week 2: knows what goes to the on-call plumber tonight and what waits for the first slot tomorrow, written down.
7. Week 3: runs the board for a full day while you're on jobs; you read the booking cards that night.
8. Week 4: confirms tomorrow's jobs every afternoon and handles reschedules without asking.
9. Day 30: sit down together: which calls they didn't know how to handle, and what to add to the cards.

Who answers when they go home?

A full-time hire covers about 40 of the week's 168 hours. Nights and weekends are most of the rest, and while your new hire is on one call the second caller still rings out. Decide before you post the ad who picks up after closing, at lunch and on days off, and when two calls come in at once: you, a paid on-call rotation, voicemail or an answering service. If it's your cell, write that down and tell the new hire. What the outside options cost is in how much a plumbing answering service costs.

Where we fit (and where we don't)

Voxlivo is the after-hours and overflow line for owner-run plumbing and HVAC shops. It doesn't replace a dispatcher or do office work. It takes the calls nobody in the office can: it says it's a virtual assistant, takes the name, address and what's broken, books into your Google Calendar and emails you. Starter is $49 a month; Growth ($99) also rings your on-call phone for emergencies (pricing). See it for plumbing shops.

Questions owners ask

Should the CSR give prices on the phone?

Only the ones you've written down for them. Fees you charge every time (trip, diagnostic, after-hours) belong on a card, word for word. Anything that depends on what the plumber finds is “the plumber will quote before any work starts.”

Should they take the night phone too?

Only if it's in the ad and you've worked out the pay. Under federal rules, someone who has to stay on call at your shop is working; someone on call at home who can be reached usually isn't, but the more you restrict their time, the more of it may have to be paid (DOL Fact Sheet 22).

Is a plumbing CSR different from an HVAC one?

The job is the same; the calls differ. A plumbing caller may have water still running, so the shutoff question comes right after the safety check, before the address. The HVAC version of this template, with its own phone tests, is our HVAC dispatcher job description.

How many calls before I need someone full-time?

Count for two weeks before you decide: every call, when it came in, and whether you picked up. The worksheet in our dispatcher vs answering service guide helps you count.

Sources checked 9 November 2026: O*NET OnLine: Customer Service Representatives (43-4051.00) · O*NET OnLine: Dispatchers, Except Police, Fire, and Ambulance (43-5032.00) · BLS Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2025: building equipment contractors and customer service representatives, all industries (figures from the BLS public data API, 9 November 2026) · U.S. Department of Labor: overtime pay · DOL Fact Sheet 22: hours worked · New York State Department of Labor: pay transparency · EEOC: prohibited employment policies and practices · Ready.gov: floods · CPSC winter safety tips.