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Plumbing SOP templates

Twelve templates. Free to copy, no account. Last reviewed 2026-09-07.

Most plumbing shops write their first procedure the week after something expensive happens. A flooded finished basement, a gas line left finger tight, a callback that ate the margin on three other jobs.

These are twelve procedures for the parts of residential plumbing work where the same mistake keeps recurring. They are short on purpose. A technician standing in a mechanical room with wet gloves will finish a seven step list and will not finish two pages of prose.

Copy them, change the parts that differ in your shop, and delete the ones that do not apply. They are free and there is nothing to sign up for.

On this page
  1. Water heater replacement
  2. Gas line leak test
  3. Drain clearing and camera inspection
  4. Repipe preparation and site protection
  5. Emergency water shutoff call
  6. Fixture installation and handover
  7. Backflow assembly test record
  8. Customer handover and payment
  9. Van daily check
  10. Crawlspace and confined space entry
  11. Warranty callback visit
  12. After hours dispatch

Keep the record, not just the paperwork

Copy any procedure on this page into your own documents at no cost. What Intulix sells is the part underneath: a signed, dated, version locked record of which technician read which version, exportable as a PDF when someone asks. Start free or see pricing from $59 a month.

The twelve procedures

Water heater replacement

The most common source of an expensive residential claim, and the job where photographs before and after settle most arguments.

  1. Shut off gas or power at the appliance and confirm it with a sniffer or a meter.
  2. Photograph the old unit and every connection before disconnecting anything.
  3. Drop cloth down and shoe covers on before re-entering the finished part of the house.
  4. Drain to the exterior, never to a floor drain you have not personally checked.
  5. Fit a new flex connector and a new drain pan. Never reuse either.
  6. Pressure test, then photograph the finished connections.
  7. Show the homeowner the shutoff valve and the pan before leaving.

Gas line leak test

The first procedure an insurer asks about when a gas claim comes in.

  1. Isolate the section and confirm the shutoff actually closed.
  2. Pressurize to the value on the job ticket rather than from memory.
  3. Hold and time the test. Record start pressure, end pressure and duration.
  4. Soap test every joint you touched.
  5. Photograph the gauge with the timer visible.
  6. If pressure drops at all, stop and call the lead. Do not chase it alone.

Drain clearing and camera inspection

Sets when you clear and when you sell a repair, which is where technicians differ most.

  1. Ask what has gone down the line and how long the problem has run.
  2. Protect the surrounding floor and fixtures before opening anything.
  3. Clear from the nearest accessible cleanout, not through the fixture, unless there is no cleanout.
  4. Run the camera after clearing, not instead of clearing.
  5. Record the footage distance where any defect appears.
  6. Show the customer the footage on screen before quoting a repair.

Repipe preparation and site protection

Repipes generate more damage complaints than any other residential job.

  1. Walk the whole route with the customer and agree access before touching a wall.
  2. Photograph every room on the route, including existing damage.
  3. Lay protection on floors and cover furniture that cannot be moved.
  4. Confirm where water will be off and for how long, in writing.
  5. Locate and mark the main shutoff and any secondary valves.
  6. Confirm the daily finish time with the customer before starting.

Emergency water shutoff call

The call where minutes matter and the technician has no time to think about sequence.

  1. Get the address and a callback number before anything else.
  2. Tell the caller how to find their main shutoff while you are on the way.
  3. On arrival, isolate at the nearest upstream valve that works.
  4. Photograph the source of the leak before starting repair.
  5. Advise on water damage remediation but do not attempt it yourself.
  6. Record arrival time, isolation time and the condition on arrival.

Fixture installation and handover

Small job, high review impact, and the one customers judge on tidiness.

  1. Confirm the model and finish against the order before opening the box.
  2. Photograph the old fixture and the supply connections.
  3. Fit new supply lines and new shutoffs unless the customer declined in writing.
  4. Test for leaks under full pressure for at least five minutes.
  5. Clean the area to better than you found it.
  6. Photograph the finished install and hand over the paperwork.

Backflow assembly test record

A test with no record is a test that did not happen as far as the water authority is concerned.

  1. Confirm the assembly serial number matches the paperwork.
  2. Record the gauge readings for each required step.
  3. Note the date, the technician and the certification number.
  4. Photograph the completed test form and the assembly tag.
  5. File the report with the authority within the required window.
  6. Give the customer a copy before leaving site.

Customer handover and payment

The difference between a shop that sits at 4.9 stars and one that sits at 4.2.

  1. Walk the customer to the work and show them what changed.
  2. Show the shutoff and hand over any parts paperwork or warranty.
  3. Take the after photographs with the customer present.
  4. Present the invoice on site and take payment before packing up.
  5. Ask for the review while you are still standing there.

Van daily check

Cheaper than a wasted trip back to the shop for a part you assumed was on board.

  1. Walk around the van and photograph any new damage.
  2. Check tire pressures and the spare.
  3. Confirm the standard stock list is complete and restock what is missing.
  4. Confirm the ladder is strapped and the strap is not frayed.
  5. Check the fire extinguisher gauge and the first aid kit seal.

Crawlspace and confined space entry

The place where a routine call turns into a rescue.

  1. Assess the space from outside before entering. Look for standing water and sewage.
  2. Test the air if there is any chance of gas accumulation.
  3. Tell someone where you are and when you expect to be out.
  4. Never enter a space where you cannot turn around or exit unaided.
  5. Take a light and keep a clear path back to the entry.
  6. Report the condition of the space on the job ticket.

Warranty callback visit

How you handle the second visit decides whether the customer ever calls you again.

  1. Read the original job notes and photographs before arriving.
  2. Do not blame the previous technician in front of the customer.
  3. Diagnose in front of the customer and explain what you find.
  4. Photograph the fault and the repair.
  5. Record the root cause on the ticket so the procedure can be fixed.
  6. Confirm with the customer before closing the callback.

After hours dispatch

Night calls are where pricing arguments and safety shortcuts both happen.

  1. Confirm the after hours rate with the customer before dispatching.
  2. Confirm the technician has had adequate rest before sending them.
  3. Log departure and arrival times.
  4. Do not attempt a two person job alone because it is late.
  5. Photograph the work in the same detail as a daytime job.
  6. Debrief the lead the next morning.

How to make these yours

A template written by someone who has never seen your shop is a starting point and nothing more. Three things are worth changing before you hand any of these to a crew.

  1. Replace anything that names a tool, a brand or a supplier with what you actually use. A step that references equipment nobody has is a step that gets skipped, and one skipped step teaches the crew the rest are optional too.
  2. Cut anything that does not apply. A twelve step procedure with four irrelevant steps is worse than an eight step one, because the technician now has to decide which steps count.
  3. Add the local part. Permit rules, inspection sequence and utility procedures differ by jurisdiction, and that is exactly the part a generic template cannot supply.

What happens after you write them

Writing the procedure is the easy half. The half that matters in a dispute is proving a specific person read a specific version on a specific date, which a shared folder cannot do and a binder cannot do either.

That is the part Intulix handles. You send the procedure, the technician reads it on a phone and signs with a finger, and the record is locked against the exact version they saw. When you edit the procedure later, the old signatures stay attached to the old words instead of quietly transferring to text nobody agreed to.

Start free and send your first procedure

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