Who attends
The person who quotes the job is the person who does it
Apple Plumbing & Electrical is owner-managed. Garth Blair has run it since 2008, has 16+ years in the trade, and attends jobs himself. That is the single biggest practical difference between us and a dispatch model: there is no gap between the person who priced the work, the person who carried it out and the person whose name is on the certificate.
It also means accountability is not a policy document. If a repair does not hold, you phone the same number and speak to the same person. Workmanship carries a 3-month warranty, and both trades — plumbing and electrical — are handled in-house, so a geyser job that turns out to be an element or an isolator problem does not need a second contractor booked for next week.
The company is PIRB-registered, VAT-registered and carries public liability cover, and works Monday to Friday 07:00–17:00 and Saturday 08:00–13:00 across Sandton, Midrand, Northern Johannesburg and the East Rand.
Registration
What PIRB registration means for your job
PIRB is the Plumbing Industry Registration Board. A registered plumber is accountable to it for the standard of their installations and is entitled to issue Plumbing Certificates of Compliance. That certificate is what an attorney needs at transfer, what a bank looks for on a bond, and what an insurer asks for after a water-damage claim.
Anyone can hold a spanner. Not everyone can certify. If the plumber you hire is not registered, the work may be perfectly sound and still leave you needing a registered plumber afterwards to inspect and certify it — which usually means paying twice and sometimes means redoing compliant detail that was skipped.
When a Plumbing COC is required
On transfer — when a property is sold and registered in a new owner's name.
After any geyser installation or replacement.
For most insurance claims following water damage.
Whenever a municipality or body corporate requires one for the installation.
The call-out
What happens from your first phone call to sign-off
Most complaints about plumbers are not about the repair — they are about not knowing what was going to happen or what it would cost. This is the sequence on every job.
You phone Garth directly
No queue, no ticket number. Describe the fault and, if it is an emergency, we will tell you what to isolate — usually the main stopcock or the geyser isolator — before we arrive, so the damage stops while we are on the way.
We agree a time before travelling
You are given a slot rather than a nine-hour window. If the job is an emergency it is attended ahead of planned work; if it is planned, we book it for the same or next day where the diary allows.
Diagnosis on site
The fault is found before anything is replaced. On hidden leaks that means acoustic, tracer-gas or thermal equipment rather than opening floors on a guess. Diagnosis is quoted separately from repair so you decide each step.
Written quote, then your approval
You get the price in writing on site. Nothing is fitted and no materials are ordered until you say yes. If the quote changes because the fault turns out to be different, you are told before the extra work happens, not on the invoice.
The repair, with compliant parts
SABS-approved materials throughout. Where the work touches pressure or hot-water components we bring the correct valves rather than fitting whatever is on the van.
Testing, clean-up and certification
The repair is tested under pressure, the area is left clean, and where the work requires a Plumbing COC it is issued by us on the day — not sub-contracted to a third party who never saw the installation.
Quoting & pricing
How the price is arrived at
Plumbing is quoted on site, in writing, before work starts. A phone estimate on a fault nobody has seen is a guess, and guesses are what turn into disputed invoices. You approve the written quote first; nothing is fitted before that.
Where the fault has to be located before it can be priced — a hidden leak under a slab, an intermittent drain blockage — the diagnostic visit is quoted separately from the repair. You then decide whether to proceed with the repair knowing exactly what is wrong. If what we find on opening up changes the scope, you hear about it before the extra work happens.
Published guide figures, so you are not walking in blind: drain clearing R650–R1,800, leak detection R1,800–R2,800, geyser replacement from R5,500. Your written quote is the number that binds.
Hiring guidance
What to check before hiring any plumber in South Africa
This applies whether or not you call us. Three questions asked upfront prevent almost every bad plumbing experience homeowners describe.
Check registration, not just a logo
PIRB registration is verifiable. Ask for the registration and check it — a website badge is not evidence. A registered plumber can certify their own work; an unregistered one cannot, whatever the van says.
Insist on a written quote
Verbal estimates are where disputes start. A written quote fixes scope and price before work begins and gives you something to hold the contractor to afterwards.
Ask who issues the COC
If a plumber has to bring in someone else to certify the job, that certifier is signing off work they did not watch. Ask upfront whether the person doing the work can issue the certificate.
Two more worth asking: does the contractor carry public liability cover (plumbing work sits next to ceilings, electrics and finishes, and damage without cover becomes your problem), and are the parts SABS-approved — a non-compliant pressure valve can invalidate both the certificate and an insurance claim.
The work itself
Plumbing services
This page is about who turns up. For what we actually do, start at the plumbing services overview or go straight to a job:
Where we work
Find a plumber in your suburb
Each suburb page covers the property types and faults common to that area. Full list on the service areas page.
- Plumber in Sandton
- Plumber in Midrand
- Plumber in Fourways
- Plumber in Bryanston
- Plumber in Randburg
- Plumber in Rivonia
- Plumber in Morningside
- Plumber in Kyalami
- Plumber in Sunninghill
- Plumber in Rosebank
- Plumber in Edenvale
- Plumber in Bedfordview
Questions
Hiring a plumber — FAQs
Who actually comes to the house?
Garth Blair. He has run Apple Plumbing & Electrical since 2008 and has 16+ years in the trade, and he attends jobs himself rather than dispatching an unknown sub-contractor. When you phone 082 886 9119 you are speaking to the owner, not a call centre taking a message.
What does PIRB-registered mean, and why does it matter?
PIRB is the Plumbing Industry Registration Board. A PIRB-registered plumber is registered to work on and certify plumbing installations, which means they can issue a Plumbing Certificate of Compliance that attorneys, banks and insurers will accept. An unregistered handyman can do the physical work but cannot issue a valid COC — so if the job later needs certifying, you pay twice.
How should I check a plumber before hiring them in South Africa?
Ask four things: are they registered with PIRB, can they issue a Plumbing COC themselves rather than sub-contracting it, will they put the price in writing before starting, and do they carry public liability cover. A plumber who answers all four without hesitating is the one to book. We are PIRB-registered, VAT-registered, publicly insured, and we quote in writing on site.
How does your quoting work?
We look at the job on site, then give you a written quote before any work starts. You approve it before we lift a spanner, and you are not committed to anything by letting us look. Where the fault has to be found first — a hidden leak, for example — the diagnostic work is quoted separately so you are never signing a blank cheque on an unknown repair.
What does a plumbing call-out actually cost?
It depends on the work, which is why we quote on site rather than over the phone. As published guidance: drain clearing runs R650–R1,800, leak detection R1,800–R2,800, and a geyser replacement starts from R5,500. Your written quote is the number that counts.
When is a Plumbing COC legally required?
You need a Plumbing COC when a property is transferred, after any geyser installation or replacement, for most insurance claims following water damage, and whenever a municipality or body corporate requires one. Because we are PIRB-registered, we can issue a valid COC on the day of any qualifying work instead of booking a second contractor to certify it.
Do you use your own materials?
We fit SABS-approved parts, not cheap imports. That matters most on pressure components — geyser valves, vacuum breakers and fittings — where a non-compliant part can void both your COC and your insurance cover.
What happens if something goes wrong after you leave?
Workmanship carries a 3-month warranty, and because the same person quoted, did and signed off the job there is nobody to pass you between. Phone the same number you phoned the first time.
Are you insured?
Yes — we carry public liability cover and are VAT-registered. Insurance matters more than most homeowners realise: plumbing work happens next to electrics, ceilings and finishes, and if a contractor damages something uninsured, the cost lands on you.
What hours can you attend?
Monday to Friday 07:00–17:00 and Saturday 08:00–13:00 for planned work. Genuine emergencies — a burst pipe, a flooding geyser, a sewage backup — are attended outside that pattern across Sandton, Midrand, Northern Johannesburg and the East Rand.
Speak to the plumber, not a call centre
Garth Blair answers the phone. Written quote before any work starts.