Roof Plumbers
Install, maintain and repair flashings, metallic roof and wall claddings and rainwater products such as gutters and downpipes.
Gutters, ladders and a ticking clock
You are a roof plumber replacing the gutters on an old house, working with a mate and a ladder on a steep part of the roof. It is 10am on Monday. The weather bureau says showers will arrive in the afternoon. You are at the front of a house with a half-finished gutter run, and your phone has started to buzz.
Choose what you would do. Then see what happens. There are often good reasons for each choice.
Oh, you have started on the front. Lovely. While you are up there, could you also fix the little bit on the back that drips onto my veranda? I am sure it will only take a few minutes.
Say yes and work out the details later, since it is only a few minutes
It is a kind gesture, but it turns out to be a rusted join that needs a proper repair. The few minutes become two hours and the front run is still unfinished when the rain arrives.
Offer to look at it after the front, and say what it might involve
You look at the back after the front is finished, and it needs more than a few minutes. Joan understands, because you did not promise something you had not seen.
Say no because it was not in the quote and you are already behind
She feels dismissed, and the drip that was bothering her gets worse before anyone returns. A short look and an honest answer would have cost you nothing.
Wind has picked up and the ladder keeps shifting on this soft ground. I can steady it from here but the rain is not far off. Do you want to push on and finish the run, or come down and set it up properly?
Come down, reset the ladder properly on firm footing, and carry on
It costs fifteen minutes. The ladder sits firm for the rest of the day, and the run is finished before the first drops. You both feel better and work faster for it.
Push on quickly while Tyrone holds the ladder, to beat the rain
A gust catches the ladder and it slides. Tyrone grabs it, and nobody falls, but both of you know how close it was. The gutter is still half finished when the rain begins.
Come down and call the job off for the day, since the conditions are poor
It is a safe call, but you could have fixed the ladder problem. The half-finished gutter is exposed to rain, and Joan has water coming over a gap you left open.
I have got four storm leaks stacking up. A shed, a house with a wet bedroom, and an aged care facility. I know you are mid-job but can you finish up and head to the bedroom one first?
Agree to head to the first leak immediately and leave the gutter half done
The bedroom gets looked after, but the half-done gutter at Joan's is left open to the rain. You solved one problem while quietly creating another, and nobody told Joan.
Ask Stef to handle the angry callers while you carry on with the gutter
Stef is left alone on the phone with people who want answers. You stayed on the job, but the team has stopped working as a team, and your boss is less willing to back you.
Finish the current section so Joan's roof is closed in, then tell Stef your arrival time
Stef passes on a time to the bedroom customer, and sends another plumber to the aged care facility. Joan's roof is watertight. Nobody was left in the dark, including you.
How it went
By dusk the front run is closed in, the storm jobs are sorted by urgency and the ladder is back on the van. Roof plumbers work high up, in bad weather, for people having a bad week. Would you feel good being the person who shows up when the storm has passed?
This is a simplified, fictional situation to help you explore. It is not professional instruction or a test of your ability.
Case study: Forty leaks and one weekend
A fictional case set in a roof plumbing business fitting gutters, flashings and metal roofs on homes, sheds and school buildings.
The situation
After a big storm swept through a coastal town, Rosa's roof plumbing business received more than forty calls in two days. Her small crew could not reach everyone before the next rain. One caller, an older man called Mr Haddad, rang three times, upset that his neighbour had been helped before him. Another was a childcare centre with a leak over its sleeping room.
What they did
Rosa did not just work in the order of the calls. She spent a morning on the phone asking each person where the water was coming in and whether it was reaching a bedroom, an electrical area or a vulnerable person. She sorted the list by how serious each leak was, told every caller honestly roughly when they might be seen, and placed temporary covers on the worst ones first. The childcare centre went to the top of the list.
How it turned out
Most jobs were done over ten days. Mr Haddad waited longer than his neighbour and was unhappy, but he did get a real answer when he asked. Rosa found it hard to say no to anyone, but a clear list stopped the calls turning into arguments.
What would you do?
- How would you decide who to help first when everyone needs help?
- How would you speak to someone who feels they were overlooked?
- What might be the hardest part of telling people to wait?