AI coworker

An AI coworker for plumbers

A plumbing business does not run short of work on the tools. What fills the office is the work around the job: a booking that has not been confirmed, a quote still sitting with the customer, a landlord asking for last year's gas safety record, or a tenant who was not in when the engineer called.

None of those messages is difficult. Together they keep the person who should be on the next job, or running the diary, on the chase instead.

Lorework is an AI coworker for that work. It works through the web systems you already use, on its own computer. This page is written for plumbing businesses across the UK. The landlord gas-safety duties described below are those in the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, as set out by the Health and Safety Executive for Great Britain.

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The annual gas safety check is not the same as a service

Under the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, a landlord must arrange for a gas safety check on each appliance and flue they provide, at least once every 12 months, by a Gas Safe registered engineer. They must keep a record of the check, give a copy to existing tenants within 28 days, and give a copy to any new tenant before they move in. HSE sets this out in its landlord FAQs and its page on gas safety check records.

The official record is the landlord's gas safety record. HSE is also clear that the safety check and a service are not interchangeable. You should not assume that an annual service includes the points required by a safety check, and you should not assume that carrying out the safety check is enough to provide effective maintenance.

For a plumbing firm, that distinction matters in the diary. A landlord who booked "the boiler service" may still need the safety check, and the record, on a different timetable. The admin is to keep those jobs straight, and to get the record back to the landlord or agent in time for their duties to the tenant.

The record has a date, a copy, and a two-month window

HSE's record-keeping page is specific about what has to be on the record: a description and location of each appliance or flue checked; the name, registration number and signature of the person who did the check; the date; the property address; the landlord's (or agent's) name and address; any safety-related defect and remedial action; and confirmation that the check covered the matters in regulation 26(9).

A record of the check has to be kept until two further checks of that appliance or flue have been carried out. If the appliance or flue is removed, the record is kept for two years from the last check. Under the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) (Amendment) Regulations 2018, a check can be carried out up to two months before it is due, and the landlord can still keep the original deadline — as if the check had been done exactly 12 months after the previous one.

That window is useful, and easy to miss. A firm that works for landlords or letting agents is often the one who can see the anniversary coming, offer a date inside the two months, and then make sure the record actually goes back. Existing tenants still need their copy within 28 days of the check. New tenants need theirs before they move in. A record that sits in the van, or in an inbox, is a landlord already behind.

Access is part of the job, not an afterthought

HSE's landlord FAQs say the tenancy agreement should allow access for maintenance or safety-check work, and that force must not be used. A landlord has to show they took all reasonable steps. HSE recommends leaving a notice that an attempt was made, writing to the tenant to explain that the check is a legal requirement and is for their safety, and giving the tenant the chance to arrange their own appointment. Inspectors will look for repeated attempts, including those steps; the approach has to fit the circumstances, and it would ultimately be for a court to decide whether what was done was reasonable.

In practice, the plumbing firm is often the one making those attempts. The bottleneck is the sequence after a no-access visit: the notice, the new appointment, the reminder, and a clear log for the landlord or agent. That is repetitive admin, not gas work.

Ordinary jobs have the same shape

Not every day is a landlord gas safety check. A domestic repair, a quote for a bathroom, or a follow-up after a boiler breakdown has the same pattern: confirm the booking, chase if the customer has not come back, update them if the visit slips, and send the next step after the job. The legal timetable on the gas safety record just makes the cost of a missed follow-up unusually clear.

What an AI coworker does in a plumbing firm

Your team works with Lorework in chat. You can require approval before it writes or submits anything. Follow-ups, checks and reminders can run as scheduled, recurring tasks.

Typical starting bottlenecks in a plumbing firm are:

Confirming a booking, and chasing a quote or a date that has not come back.
The no-access sequence on a landlord gas safety check: the notice, the new appointment, and a log for the landlord or agent.
A reminder when a landlord's gas safety record is coming due, including the two-month window before the anniversary.
Sending the completed record back to the landlord or agent so they can meet the 28-day and new-tenant copy duties.
Recurring checks, such as a weekly sweep of jobs with no recent customer update, or records still sitting to be sent.

Lorework does not carry out gas work, issue or sign a gas safety record, or replace a Gas Safe registered engineer. It does not answer the firm's phones. Those stay with the business. It takes on the admin around the work.

How you teach it the way your firm works

You do not have to write a technical specification. Your team teaches Lorework your procedures and templates, in chat, the way you would brief a new starter — a booking confirmation, a no-access follow-up, a reminder that a record is due. You can ask it in chat, or set recurring work on a schedule.

It works in the web systems you already use, on its own computer. There is no need to rip out the diary or job systems you already run.

How a firm starts

Start with one routine job, such as the no-access chase on a landlord gas safety check, or the reminder when a record is due, not a wholesale change of tools. Add the procedures and templates Lorework should follow. A 30-minute demo is enough to walk through that job and see how Lorework would take it on.

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Questions

What can an AI coworker do for a plumbing business?

It takes on repetitive admin such as booking follow-ups, no-access chases for a landlord gas safety check, and reminders when a record is due or still to be sent. Your team teaches it those processes by chat. It does not carry out gas work, issue a gas safety record, or replace a Gas Safe registered engineer.

Can it do the gas safety check or sign the record?

No. Only a Gas Safe registered engineer can carry out gas work, including the annual safety check, and complete the record. Lorework takes on the admin around that work.

Can it send customer or landlord messages without approval?

You decide. You can require approval before it writes or submits anything.

Does it replace plumbers or office staff?

No. It takes on the chase and the regular reminder so your people can spend their time on the tools, and with customers.

Is this only for landlord gas safety work?

No. The gas-safety record is a clear example of a recurring job with a legal timetable, but the same coworker can take on ordinary booking confirmations, quote follow-ups and job updates. Letting agents, who often book this work, have their own page.

How does a firm start?

Start with one routine job, such as the no-access chase on a landlord gas safety check, or the reminder when a record is due, not a change of systems. A 30-minute demo is enough to walk through that job and see how Lorework would take it on.