Plumbing phone script: book the job and handle price shoppers

A plumbing phone script is a short list of questions in a fixed order. Greet the caller in your company's name, ask whether there's water or a gas smell right now, sort the call into one of eight types, ask that type's three or four questions, say your fee in the same words every time, then book a window and read it all back.

Below is the script word for word, with blanks for your own fees, plus a booking card to copy. It's written for daytime calls in a shop where the owner, a spouse or one office person picks up. For calls after closing, use our after-hours script for plumbers; it covers on-call rules and what can wait until morning.

Why does a small shop need its own script?

In a small shop the person answering is often you, under a sink, with wet hands, or one office person on the other line. So this script puts three things in writing: what the caller should do while they wait, your exact fee wording, and a ready answer for each thing a price shopper might say.

1. What should we say when we answer?

“Thanks for calling [Company], this is [name]. How can I help?”

Then let the caller talk and write down their words: “running” and “overflowing” are very different toilet calls. If you record calls, add your state's disclosure here (call recording laws by state).

2. Is water or gas a problem right now?

Ask this on every call, before anything else that isn't the greeting:

“Before we go on: is water running or spreading right now, and do you smell gas anywhere?”

• Gas smell: “Please leave the house now and call 911 or your gas utility from outside. Don't switch any lights or anything else on or off, and don't use your phone until you're out.” That follows the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission's advice to leave immediately, contact the gas authorities from outside, and not operate electronics such as lights or phones before leaving (CPSC). Book nothing until the utility or fire department has made it safe.
• Water near outlets, a panel or appliances, or someone standing in it: “Don't touch anything electrical while you're standing in water, and keep out of that room.” Ready.gov warns not to touch electrical equipment if it's wet or if you're standing in water, and to turn off the electricity only if it's safe to do so (Ready.gov floods). If the panel is in the wet room, they leave it for your plumber or an electrician.
• Water running but no electrical risk: go to the shut-off lines in step 3, then continue.

3. What do we tell a caller with water on the floor?

Check your version with your lead plumber and tape it by the phone:

1. “Is there a shut-off valve under the sink or behind the toilet? Turn it to the right, clockwise, until it stops.”
2. “If you can't find one, or the leak is in a wall or the ceiling, the main shut-off is usually where the water line comes into the house: [where it usually is in your area, e.g. the basement wall facing the street, a garage or a utility closet].” Don't send callers to a valve box by the curb.
3. “If it's a tank water heater leaking, there's usually a cold-water valve on the pipe going into the top. Turn that off. Don't touch the gas valve or the electrical panel.” (For tankless units, write the line your plumbers use for the models you install.)
4. “If the ceiling is bulging or sagging, stay out from under it. Otherwise move what you care about out of the way and put down towels or a bucket. That's all you need to do until we get there.”

If a valve is stuck, don't talk them into forcing it. Book the earliest window and say plainly when that is.

4. What kind of call is it?

Once nothing is spreading, sort the call into one of these eight types. Each one gets different questions and a different kind of slot:

Two calls are easy to book wrong: the “slow drain” that is really every drain backing up (a sewer-line call, so always ask “one drain or more?”), and the “15-year-old water heater, should I replace it?” caller, who needs an estimate visit, not a short repair slot.

5. What do we ask on each kind of plumbing call?

Leaks and burst pipes

1. “Where is the water coming from: a pipe, a fixture, the ceiling, a wall?”
2. “Is it shut off now, or still running?”
3. “Is the water clean, or is it from a drain or toilet?”

Drains, toilets and sewer backups

1. “Is it one drain or more than one? Does anything come up in the tub or a floor drain when you flush?”
2. “Has anything been tried: a plunger, a drain cleaner from the store?” (Your plumber needs to know if chemicals are in the line.)
3. If it's backing up: “Until we get there, please don't run any water or flush any toilets, and keep everyone, kids and pets out of that water.”

Water heaters

1. “Is it gas or electric?” (If gas, the gas question from step 2 has already been asked; ask it again if they mention a smell.)
2. “Is it no hot water, not enough, or water leaking? If leaking, from the top, the side or the bottom of the tank?”
3. “Do you know roughly how old it is, or can you read the brand off the label?”

Ask only what the caller can see safely from where they stand. The point is that your plumber arrives with the right parts and enough time booked, not a repair over the phone.

6. How do we answer “how much?”

Pick the version that matches how you charge, fill in your real numbers, and give every person who answers the same card. We don't print typical fees here: what's right depends on your area and your costs, so the only number on the card should be yours.

• Service call or trip fee: “Our service call is $[fee]. That covers the plumber coming out and finding the problem. Before any work starts, they'll give you the price and you decide.”
• Flat-rate price book: “There's a $[fee] service call. The plumber finds the problem and shows you the price for the fix from our price book before doing anything, so you know the price first.”
• Hourly: “It's $[fee] for the first hour, then $[rate] an hour after that. The plumber will tell you how long it should take before starting.”
• Estimates (installs and replacements): “The estimate is [free / $fee]. We'll come out, look at what you have, and give you a written price.”

For everything else the card doesn't cover, one line: “The plumber will give you the exact price on site before any work starts.” Nobody guesses at a repair price on the phone. A wrong guess turns into an argument at the door.

7. What do we say to price shoppers?

Give the fee straight away (dodging it sounds like you're hiding something), say what it includes once, and ask for the booking. Here are six things shoppers say, with a line for each. Change the words to sound like you, and keep only what's true of your shop:

And the dripping faucet caller who wonders if it's worth paying a service call? The EPA says the average household's leaks can waste more than 9,300 gallons of water a year, and that nine percent of homes have leaks wasting 50 gallons or more a day (EPA WaterSense). That's a fair thing to mention once, then let them decide.

8. How do we close the call?

1. “Can I get your full name?”
2. “And the address, with any unit number or gate code?” Read it back.
3. “What's the best number to reach you?” Read it back digit by digit.
4. “Is it your home, or a rental? If it's a rental, who approves the work?”
5. “Any dog, locked gate, or anything the plumber should know about getting in or where to park?”
6. “So that's [day] between [time] and [time] at [address], for [what they told you]. The service call is $[fee]. Did I get all that right?”
7. “If anything changes, call us at this number. Thanks for calling [Company].”

The rental question means your plumber doesn't find out on the doorstep who approves the work.

The booking card: copy this

Whoever answers fills this in on every call. Our plumbing dispatcher job description has a hiring version with interview phone tests.

When nobody can pick up

When you're under a house and the office person is already on the other line, the second call rings out. Decide now who takes that call, and who takes the one at 9 PM: you, voicemail, a live answering service or an AI receptionist. Our plumbing answering service cost guide prices the options with a worked example, and the voicemail greeting generator writes a better voicemail in the meantime.

Voxlivo is the after-hours and overflow line for plumbing and HVAC shops. It picks up the calls you can't in your company's name, says it's a virtual assistant, sends anyone who mentions gas or fire to 911, says your fee word for word, and books the job into your Google Calendar with an email summary to you. Starter is $49 a month for 100 minutes; on Growth ($99 for 200 minutes) a real emergency can be put straight through to your on-call phone. See pricing or our answering service for plumbers.

Questions owners ask

Is it safe to tell callers how to shut off their water?

Telling them where a valve usually is and which way to turn it is common sense; telling them to force a stuck valve, touch a gas valve or work near a wet panel isn't. Keep your lines to the four in step 3, checked by your lead plumber.

Sources checked November 11, 2026: CPSC winter weather safety tips · Ready.gov: floods · EPA WaterSense: Fix a Leak Week.