Voted Best In Service by our peers.

Robert Bair Services –Plumbing, Heating & Air is the winner of the 2009 Business Ledger Small Business Excellence Award & 2009 Downers Grove Chamber Choice Awards for Service.

Serving the Western Suburbs for 35 years Robert Bair’s business has really grown over the years.  It starting with Bob working out of his garage; he sold his motorcycle to buy his first piece of equipment and as his reputation grew so did his business.  Fast forward to today he now has 20 trucks and about 30 employees. Fundamentally, Bob’s values and work ethic is to ensure his team of employees, all his customers and suppliers are treated fairly.  He does this by celebrating the success of all employees on jobs well done and by rewarding his team.  During the holidays and summer he brings his team together with their families to thank and appreciate their dedication.  He works closely with his suppliers to cultivate good relationships and to ensure they deliver the highest quality products.

The customer service team provides the customer a timely service call with courtesy and professionalism.  The entire team (office & field personnel) have pledged to come in and work during weather emergencies because this is when they are most needed by the community.  The company does regular maintenance, repairs, emergencies and installations. Whether is Plumbing or Heating or Air Conditioning the technician will assess the problem once onsite and provide the customer with a written proposal upfront.  They get the customer’s approval in writing, before starting any work. They maintain an extensive warehouse full of equipment and the fleet of vehicles are all fully equipped to handle large and small service jobs.  Each serviceman is uniformed and wears shoe covers to keep their customers home and business clean.  Additionally they lay down the proper canvas to keep the work area clean and always take extra steps to clean up after each job. Bob has spent many hours finding and training his team.  He hires team members based on honesty & integrity – he feels he can train for the other skills needed.

One of Bob’s favorite sayings is adjust to field conditions.  After 35 years in business the playing field has changed many times and Bob has survived and grown despite many changes. Bob insists he does not want to retire because this business is his family and he loves his work.

Several years ago Robert Bair discovered that it was becoming more and more difficult to hire licensed residential service plumbers.  The plumbing industry nationwide is struggling because the ageing plumbing population and there is not enough young people entering the industry to fulfill the needs of our communities.  Bob decided he would open a plumbing school here in the building at 447 Rogers Street in Downers Grove which is lead by a state accredited teacher.  Young apprentices now entering the field are trained for free one night a week while working alongside a licensed plumber as a helper/apprentice 5 days week.  This is the only school of its kind in the area.  All apprentice plumbers are registered with the state of Illinois and after 4 years must pass a stringent exam which covers building codes and other technical skills to ensure the health and safety of the residents in our community. It is a long journey from being an apprentice to becoming a licensed plumber but it is well worth the hard work. Many plumbers have received their license by apprenticing under Robert Bair; many are still employed here but some have gone of to start their own businesses.  All are serving the local community with much needed services. Robert Bair has weekly safety and training meetings to keep the team apprised of any safety issues and this is the time when outside trainers come in to train on new equipment and procedures.

Bob’s professional relationships with his team members, fellow plumbing contractors and his large customer base serve the community in many ways. When the weather is bad he is at the office – sometimes its seven days a week. For instance last  fall when you could not find a sump in any local store or supply house because of the severe storms Bob knew he had to find some more pumps somewhere for his customers in need and tomorrow was Sunday. He made many calls to local plumbing contractors and vendors with no success.  Then one of his fellow contractors out of St Charles called to say had gone out of state to get pumps and wanted to know if Bob would like to buy some of them?  Harmonious relationships are what serves and drives this company. Bob works to stay on friendly terms with everyone.

Bob was very humbled and surprised when he found out he had won these two awards.  In the first picture Bob is excepting the DG award and the team picture is of Bob celebrating with the technicians.  The day Bob won the DG award he went out and bought every employee a carnation and thanked them each personally for the award.  He knows his people are what makes this company stand above the rest and he wanted to share the victory with them.