Water Regs UK received 36 responses to FOI requests from councils across the UK, which helped determine the areas where most complaints were lodged about plumbing tradesmen.

Across the board there has been a 9% increase of complaints about plumbing tradesmen, with some councils seeing an increase of over 150 complaints.

The South West alone received over 700 complaints about plumbers in 2020/21. Devon becomes that county council with the most complaints in the UK, having received a whopping 315 complaints about plumbing tradesmen in 2021; up from 217 in 2020.

Julie Spinks, Managing Director of Water Regs UK, said: “Consumers are experiencing problems with plumbers up and down the country. While it is encouraging to see that so many are using their right to complain about bad tradesmen, it is disappointing that so many have felt the need to.”

Despite there being more than 2,800 complaints lodged to UK councils in the years 2020 and 2021, only two fines were issued, resulting from seven tradespeople taken to court. The only council to take a tradesman to court in 2021 was Oxfordshire County Council.

“I’d urge anyone looking for a plumber to always go through an approved scheme, such as WaterSafe which is supported by water companies. The scheme vets them to check they are suitably qualified and insured to carry out plumbing work. They can also be audited against the water fittings regulations.”