Plumbing Leads: Where They Come From and What a Job Really Costs
Where plumbing leads come from, what they cost per lead and per job as of October 2026, and how to build a supply of work that nobody else is quoting on.
Plumbing leads are enquiries from people who need a plumber: a leak at ten at night, a boiler that has given up, a bathroom they've been planning since Easter. You can buy them from platforms like Checkatrade, MyBuilder and Bark, pay Google for them, or build your own supply through your website and Google profile. Which is cheapest comes down to one sum most plumbers never do.
That sum is cost per job won, not cost per lead. Below is where plumbing leads come from, what each source charges as of October 2026 (checked against their own pages), and the arithmetic that tells you whether plumbing leads for sale are a bargain or a tax on your margin.
My bias, up front: I build websites and do Local SEO for trades. I don't sell leads, and I don't take a cut of anyone's work.
Where plumbing leads come from
There are more sources than the adverts on your Facebook feed suggest. Roughly in order of how much they cost you per enquiry:
- Lead platforms. Checkatrade, MyBuilder, Bark, MyJobQuote and TrustATrader. You pay a membership, a fee per lead, or both.
- Google's paid spots. Local Services Ads (you pay when a customer contacts you from the ad) and Google Ads (you pay per click).
- Google's free spots. The map results under a "plumber near me" search, and the normal results below them.
- AI answers. More people ask ChatGPT for a plumber now. In my own study of 120 AI answers about plumbers, Checkatrade was cited in 67.5% of them, which tells you who is winning that channel today.
- Landlords and letting agents. Every landlord with a gas appliance needs an annual gas safety check by a Gas Safe registered engineer, plus someone to sort the dripping tap on a Saturday. Agents remember who picks up.
- Other trades. Kitchen fitters, bathroom fitters and builders who need first and second fix done by someone reliable.
- Repeat customers and referrals. The best plumbing leads there are, and the only ones that are genuinely free.
What plumbing leads cost as of October 2026
Most platforms won't publish a price list, which makes comparing them harder than it should be. Here's how each one charges, from its own site, and what you can see before you sign.
| Source | How it charges | Can you see the price first? | How many plumbers per lead |
|---|---|---|---|
| Checkatrade fixed plan | Monthly fee on a 12-month membership, based on your trade, postcode and how many leads you ask for | Starting prices are published (lead plans from £59 a month), but your real price only comes from its online sign-up for your trade and area. There was an introductory offer of free months in October 2026 (conditions apply) | A directory: the customer compares members |
| Checkatrade Opportunities Board | Credits for each lead you choose to open | Yes, the credits are shown before you pay | Up to 3 |
| MyBuilder | Free to join, then a fee for the customer's details if they shortlist you | The fee depends on the job | Several can show interest, you pay only if shortlisted |
| Bark | £1.80 a credit, and each lead costs a number of credits | Yes, shown on each lead | Up to 5 |
| MyJobQuote | Pay per lead, with a free first month | Not published | Up to 3 |
| TrustATrader | Annual fee paid up front, 12-month term, nothing per lead | Price on application | No more than 10 members per trade in your area |
| Google Local Services Ads | Pay when a customer contacts you from the ad | Depends on your area and category | Not resold, but shown beside other ads |
| Google Ads | Pay per click, priced by auction | Keyword Planner, free inside a Google Ads account, estimates bids for your area | Exclusive |
Sources: Checkatrade's sign-up page and its Opportunities Board update, MyBuilder's trade sign-up, Bark's help centre, TrustATrader's trader terms and Google's Local Services Ads help, all checked in October 2026.
One change worth knowing: Rated People is now part of the Checkatrade Group. Its memberships ended in September 2026 and jobs posted there now go to Checkatrade members, so if you were on Rated People for plumbing work, that route now runs through Checkatrade. I've covered it in what Rated People costs now.
Buy plumbing leads? Do the sum per job, not per lead
The price per lead is what you see on the invoice. What matters is your total spend divided by the jobs you actually won. Every figure in this example is made up to show the shape of the sum, so put your own numbers in.
Say you're a plumber in Barnsley. You buy leads for three kinds of job.
| Job (hypothetical) | Price | Left after parts | Lead price | You win | Cost per job won | Share of what's left |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leak repair | £120 | £80 | £15 | 1 in 3 | £45 | More than half |
| Combi boiler swap | £2,200 | £700 | £35 | 1 in 5 | £175 | A quarter |
| Bathroom refit | £6,000 | £2,000 | £40 | 1 in 6 | £240 | About an eighth |
The bigger the job, the easier a lead fee is to carry. The small emergency jobs are where bought leads hurt, because the fee barely changes while the profit shrinks. So judge any lead price against your smallest job type, not your average.
Then there's the time that never shows on the invoice. Thirty leads a month, rung back at ten minutes each, is five hours on the phone, most of it on enquiries that went to someone else.
Shared vs exclusive plumbing leads
Most plumbing leads for sale are shared. Bark lets up to five professionals contact each customer. Checkatrade's Opportunities Board and MyJobQuote allow up to three. When three plumbers ring the same person inside ten minutes, the job tends to go to whoever got there first or quoted lowest, and neither of those is a great way to run a business.
Exclusive leads cost more per lead, and some sellers advertise them precisely because shared leads have such a poor name. Before you buy plumbing leads sold as exclusive, get these answers in writing:
- Exclusive for how long, and to whom? Sometimes it means "not sold to anyone else in your postcode this week".
- What counts as a valid lead, who decides, and how long do you have to claim a credit for a dead one?
- Is there a minimum term or a monthly minimum?
- Who owns the phone number and the landing page the customer used? If it's theirs, your reviews and your name stay with them when you leave.
Read the platform terms too. Checkatrade's fixed plan terms say the number of leads it gives you is "only an estimate and is not binding", and its Opportunities Board terms say there's no refund if the customer doesn't respond or picks another trade. That's normal for the industry. It's also worth knowing before you budget.
Emergency plumbing leads vs planned work
These are two different markets, and they're won in different ways.
Emergency work (a burst pipe, no hot water, a blocked toilet with guests coming) goes to whoever answers first. The customer isn't reading reviews for ten minutes. They're ringing the top of the map results until someone picks up. So it's won on being close, being in the map results, and answering the phone. If you're on a job and can't, a missed-call text back replies in seconds and keeps the customer from ringing the next plumber. I've written more on getting found for emergency call-outs.
Planned work (a boiler replacement, a new bathroom, moving a radiator) gets researched. The customer reads your reviews, looks at photos of your work, checks you on the Gas Safe Register and asks for two or three quotes. It's won on trust and on following up, because a lot of quotes are lost to silence rather than to a cheaper plumber. Quote follow-up that chases politely after three days and again after a week wins back some of those.
Pay per call plumbing leads
You'll see "pay per call plumbing leads" advertised a lot, mostly by American firms, because it's a common model over there. In the UK the closest thing is Google's Local Services Ads, where you're charged when a customer contacts you from the ad, and lead sellers who run adverts with their own tracking number and forward the calls to you.
If you try one, find out what counts as a chargeable call (is a 15-second wrong number billed?), whether you can dispute sales calls and wrong numbers, and who keeps the phone number when you stop. If customers have saved their number rather than yours, your repeat work goes with it.
Commercial plumbing leads
Commercial work is slower to win and steadier once you have it. The usual sources:
- Letting agents and landlords. Annual gas safety checks, boiler services and reactive repairs across a whole portfolio. One good agent can be worth dozens of platform leads.
- Property managers and facilities firms who subcontract maintenance in your area.
- Builders and developers who need first and second fix on extensions and new builds.
- Public sector contracts. These are advertised on Find a Tender, the government's service, including smaller contracts from £12,000 for central government and £30,000 for councils and NHS trusts (including VAT).
Commercial customers want to see your insurance, your Gas Safe details and proof you turn up. Many pay on account rather than on the day, so make sure you can carry the wait before you take on a big portfolio.
Plumbing leads for free
Free plumbing leads exist, but they cost time instead of money:
- A finished Google Business Profile, with every service listed, your real service area and photos of real jobs. It's free and often the biggest single source of local calls.
- Google reviews, asked for on the day, every job.
- Your Gas Safe Register entry, which customers can search by postcode. Make sure your business details on it are right.
- Your old customers. A boiler service reminder each year is a lead you already own.
- Other trades, letting agents and the merchant counter.
- Local Facebook groups and Nextdoor, where people still ask for recommendations.
MyBuilder is free to join, but you pay when a customer shortlists you, so it isn't free work. There's a longer list in free advertising for tradesmen.
How to get more plumbing work from a supply you own
Lead generation for plumbers doesn't have to mean renting. This is the order I'd build an owned supply in.
Finish your Google Business Profile
Pick the main category that matches the work you want most ("Plumber" and "Heating contractor" are matched to different searches), list every service in the words customers use, set the areas you really cover, and add photos of real jobs.
Give every service and area its own page
Boiler installation, leak repair, bathroom fitting, and a page for each town you cover. One "services" page with everything on it ranks for nothing in particular.
Answer every call, or reply within a minute
An emergency lead is gone in the time it takes you to get down a ladder. A missed-call text or an AI receptionist holds it for you.
Ask for a review on the day
While the customer is pleased and the heating's back on. A few every month beats fifty in a burst and then nothing.
Book the next job before you leave
Boiler service reminders, landlord gas safety dates, a note to check back on the bathroom in a year. Repeat work costs nothing to win.
Track every enquiry by source
Ask "how did you find me?" and write it down. Within a few months you'll know exactly which plumbing leads are worth paying for.
Where I fit
I do the owned side: websites for plumbers that turn visits into calls, and Local SEO for plumbers so the right people find you, at £495 a month with no contract. If a platform is working for you, keep it while the owned side builds, and I'll tell you if the numbers say you should keep it for good.
If you want to see how the whole thing compares across every trade, read my lead generation for tradesmen guide. If you want to know where you stand on Google right now, the free Search Opportunity Review is the place to start.
