Finding a Good Tradesman

First of all, let’s look at the vocabulary for the professions, as it can be rather confusing. In this article, we’re covering the services provided by an instalatér (plural: instalatéři), as well as locksmiths. The term instalatér can mean both a plumber and a gas fitter. Firms providing such services also offer electrical services (elektřina) or heating (topení). In addition, they may carry out construction work (stavebnická práce) on a small scale. An údržbář is a handyman, and in some cases an instalatér can also do the work of a handyman. A locksmith in Czech is a zámečník (plural: zámečníci; zámečnictví is the profession).

GENERAL ISSUES
Whether you’ve just moved to the Czech Republic or have been here a long time, it’s a good idea, if you’ve not done so, to make inquiries about plumbers, heating engineers, etc., for future reference. If you live in rented accommodation, the landlord may already deal with certain companies, so when a problem arises, it may be relatively straightforward to deal with. But if you’re an owner-occupier, you’ll have to do a bit more shopping around. When something goes wrong, bear in mind that in some cases it may not just be your problem but an issue that’s affecting the whole neighborhood. For example, in summer you may encounter the highly irritating odstávka teplé vody, when in some locations water companies shut off hot water for a few days for maintenance reasons.