Complaints made against plumbing tradesmen - Find a freedom of information request

Request

1. Number of complaints made against retailers about faulty or inadequate plumbing fittings and/or installations (e.g taps, boilers, water pipes, toilets, showers) in 2020 AND 2021

2.Number of complaints made against plumbing tradesmen about faulty plumbing fittings and/or installations in 2020 and 2021

3. Number of complaints made about plumbing tradesmen in 2020 and 2021

4. Number of plumbing tradesmen taken to court under consumer protection legislation in 2020 and 2021

5. Number of plumbing tradesmen taken to court under consumer protection legislation about plumbing and/or fittings in 2020 and 2021

6. Number fines issued to plumbing tradesmen under consumer protection legislation faulty plumbing fittings and/or installations in 2020 and 2021

7. Total value of fines issued to plumbing tradesmen under consumer protection legislation for faulty or inadequate plumbing fittings and/or installations in 2020 and 2021

8. Number of retailers taken to court under consumer protection legislation for plumbing fittings and/or installations (e.g taps, boilers, water pipes, toilets, showers) in 2020 and 2021

9. Number fines issued to retailers under consumer protection legislation for faulty plumbing fittings and/or installations in 2020 and 2021

10. Total value of fines issued to retailers under consumer protection legislation faulty plumbing fittings and/or installations in 2020 and 2021

Decision

I can confirm that the information requested is held by Lincolnshire County Council. I have detailed below the information that is being released to you.

1. Complaints to Lincolnshire Trading Standards are coded based on the goods (including services) being complained about. Below is a breakdown of the relevant goods codes being complained about.

The figures reflect complaints received where either the consumer and/or business is based in Lincolnshire. Some of these will relate to complaints about businesses outside of Lincolnshire, but where the consumer is resident in Lincolnshire.

Not all complaints about these goods are shown (i.e. non delivery, wrongly priced, etc), but the types of complaints reflect – defective, unsafe, unsuitable or wrong goods, substandard services and negligence. It is not possible to break this data down by complaints relating to whether the business in question was a retailer or a tradesmen. To be able to do this would require knowledge of all business names complained about, a substantial proportion of which are not based in Lincolnshire.

 

2020

2021

Total

AB03 Plumbers and plumbing

33

35

68

AB19 Fitted bathrooms

43

34

77

AD10 Bathroom fittings

22

23

45

AG01 Gas fires

4

4

8

AG07 Heating systems/boiler installation

33

52

85

AG08 Heating systems/boiler servicing

9

14

23

AG09 Renewable energy

6

4

10

AN09 Gas cookers

7

21

28

Grand Total

157

187

344

2. Please see response to question 1

3. Below is the number of complaints made where the goods codes has been recorded as ‘AB03 Plumbers’ or the trader has been recorded as a Plumber on our database. The actual number will be higher as not all business are allocated a trade type as this is not always known, especially for those based out of county. Likewise a complaint about a fitted bathroom by a plumber can be recorded under AB03 or AB19

 Total Plumbers and plumbing -    2020 - 84     2021 - 94    Total -  178 

4-10. None.

Reference number
FOI 5195950
Date request received
30/09/22
Date of decision
18/11/22