What a plumbing visit costs in Nellore: the rate card explained

A plumbing visit in Nellore on our rate card is ₹299 per visit plus labour. The common jobs carry a fixed labour price, so for most calls the number on the card is the number you pay for the work, with parts added at their printed MRP. Here is the full card, what each line covers, and what pushes a bill above it.

The rate card

Job	Labour	What it covers
Plumbing Visit	₹299	Per visit plus labour; diagnosis and small fixes not listed below
Tap / Valve Leak	₹299	Washer, O-ring, spindle, cartridge or angle valve replacement
Flush Tank Fault	₹350	Float valve, flush mechanism, flapper, button
Blocked Drain	₹399	Snake, jetting, trap clean
Pipe Burst / Leak	₹499	Copper, CPVC or GI pipe section repair
Motor Install	₹799	Submersible or domestic pump fitted, with pipe and cable

Parts — washers, cartridges, float valves, angle valves, pipe, fittings, pumps — are charged at MRP and shown to you before they are fitted. There is no marked-up "service part" price: you see the item and its printed price and say yes or no.

What each line really means

Visit, ₹299. You have a problem that is not obviously on the list: a smell, a damp patch, low pressure, a noise in the pipes, a geyser inlet that trickles. The technician comes, traces it, and either fixes it within that labour or tells you which line it falls under and quotes before going further.

Tap / Valve Leak, ₹299. The commonest call. A washer or cartridge in a dripping tap, an O-ring on a weeping spindle, an angle valve under a basin. One fitting, one price; the part at MRP. Several taps in one visit are priced per tap.

Flush Tank Fault, ₹350. A cistern that runs, fills slowly, flushes weakly or does not flush. Float valve, flush valve, flapper, button mechanism; the part at MRP. A cracked tank is a replacement, quoted separately.

Blocked Drain, ₹399. Floor trap, basin, sink or a branch line cleared with a hand or machine snake, jetting where the pipe allows, and the trap cleaned. If the block is in the building's main or the chamber outside, the technician tells you rather than clearing your end and leaving it to come back.

Pipe Burst / Leak, ₹499. The damaged section cut out and new pipe joined in — CPVC solvent-welded, GI threaded, copper soldered. Pipe and fittings at MRP. A concealed leak behind tiles adds opening and making good the wall, quoted before any cutting.

Motor Install, ₹799. A submersible lowered into a borewell or a monoblock fitted at the sump, with pipe, cable, rope, foot valve and connections. The pump and materials at MRP. A fault on an existing motor is a visit at ₹299 plus labour, quoted once the cause is found.

What pushes the bill up

• Parts. A washer is a few rupees; a branded mixer cartridge, a new float valve, a length of CPVC or a pump is not. Ask to see the part and its MRP before saying yes.
• Scope. "Tap dripping" is sometimes a pitted seat and a tap that needs replacing. "Slow drain" is sometimes a sagging pipe under the floor. The technician should stop, explain and quote before the job changes shape.
• Concealed work. Reaching a pipe inside a tiled wall or under a floor means opening it and making good after. Ask whether the patching is included in the quote.
• Access. A tank on a high terrace with no ladder, a borewell with a seized cap, a duct nobody can get into — takes longer.
• Second visits. A part that has to be fetched — a particular cartridge, a pump of the right head — means another trip. Telling us the brand of tap or the depth of the bore when booking avoids most of these.

Questions to ask before work starts

1. What is the fault, in one sentence?
2. Which rate-card line is this, and is there anything beyond it?
3. Which parts, and what is the MRP on each?
4. Is there anything else you have noticed that is urgent, or can it wait for the next visit?

A good technician will answer all four without being asked. If the answer to the second is "it is a bigger job than it looked", that is not a problem — it is the point of asking.

When not to spend

Sometimes the honest advice is not to repair. A no-name quarter-turn tap with no cartridge available is cheaper to replace than to hunt parts for. A twelve-year-old monoblock with a burnt winding is rarely worth a rewind against a new pump. Old GI that has had three leaks this year is telling you to re-pipe that run in CPVC, not to patch a fourth. Ask which it is; the rate card is the same either way.

When to call

Anything leaking under pressure, any water through a wall or ceiling, any motor that trips or hums — do not wait to batch those. For everything else, keep a list, book one visit, and have the brand of the tap or cistern and a photo of the motor's nameplate ready. It is the surest way to keep the bill at the rate-card number.