A Better Way Plumbing Ltd.

We had a tankless water heater installed in February of 2018 by ABWP. It was an emergency repair as we came home to an inch of rust-coloured water on the basement floor about 7 in the evening. I immediately got on the Homestars site to find a reputable plumber to install a new unit. Jason at ABWP was friendly and helpful with making the decision in this hour of need to upgrade from a tank to a tankless unit (significant rebate from the AB gov’t) and agreed to come at 8:00 AM the next morning. We found Jason and his employee to be gregarious and outgoing during the installation which communicated to us that they truly enjoyed what they did. The unit was installed by the end of day and has worked proficiently ever since. Jason did go the extra mile and replace a cartridge in the upstairs shower faucet free of charge and this was appreciated. Overall, the work of ABWP was done competently in regards to the installation of the tankless unit but I would caution anyone who contracts them to install a new furnace or tankless hot water tank and insist they show that they have pulled a work permit before commencing the installation or acquiring one immediately thereafter. This was not done in our case and it is absolutely necessary for a job like this as new gas lines had to be installed to accommodate a tankless unit that is always wall mounted. It took over a year for this to happen (City regulation is 6 months after installation) and I would have never known about this stipulation without the expertise of another contractor who inquired as to why there was no inspection tag on the unit. This started the process of contacting ABWP in November to thoroughly complete the installation process by having the final inspection completed. The unit did fail inspection the first time as the air intake pipe was not routed to the exterior as per City of Calgary codes but ABWP did come and make the necessary remediations to meet code and it subsequently passed inspection this past month.
In summary, you will enjoy the genial personality of Jason and his crew, have work done competently but there may be some oversight over aspects such as pulling required permits for the contracted work.

We had a tankless water heater installed in February of 2018 by ABWP. It was an emergency repair as we came home to an inch of rust-coloured water on the basement floor about 7 in the evening. I immediately got on the Homestars site to find a reputable plumber to install a new unit. Jason at ABWP was friendly and helpful with making the decision in this hour of need to upgrade from a tank to a tankless unit (significant rebate from the AB gov’t) and agreed to come at 8:00 AM the next morning. We found Jason and his employee to be gregarious and outgoing during the installation which communicated to us that they truly enjoyed what they did. The unit was installed by the end of day and has worked proficiently ever since. My only complaint of the work at this time was they did not clean up after coring through the concrete to allow the exhaust pipe to be vented to the exterior. There was cutting fluid and residue all over the window and down the wall. There was no attempt to clean this up which indicates the small details are of no concern to ABWP. In November of this year, we had another contractor in to provide an estimate for a furnace replacement and he happened to examine the tankless water heater. He made the observation that there was no inspection tag on the unit. This is absolutely necessary for a job like this as new gas lines had to be installed to accommodate a tankless unit that is always wall mounted. Upon further inquiry by calling 311, I learned that no City of Calgary permit had been pulled for this job so naturally there would have been no subsequent inspection of the work. Somebody in this field who doesn’t pull permits is either negligent or has no knowledge of industry standards which would be astounding to say the least.
I would like to give balance to this review and state that the work of ABWP was done competently in regards to the installation of the tankless unit but I would caution anyone who contracts them to install a new furnace or tankless hot water tank. You should insist that they have pulled the permit on the day of installation as it seems they don’t do due diligence in this regard and insist they arrange the inspection to ensure the installation meets code. On another minor issue, they used 2 inch pipe instead of 3 inch pipe for the exhaust pipe and intake. This meets the minimum code and most contractors do this but as another contractor suggested why not use 3 inch which is more suitable for our high elevation to ensure maximum air flow and exhaust. It is small details like this that distinguishes the contractors that truly exemplify excellence and customer service from those who do work at a minimum level to maximize profit and time/effort. In summary, you will enjoy the genial personality of Jason and his crew, have work done competently with a few shortcuts taken that may or may not meet code, may end up with an installed unit that was not permitted by the City and therefore be illegal because it will not have been inspected.
UPDATE: Feb. 15/2019 The City of Calgary inspector finally came today a year after installation. Inspections are required to take place within 6 months of installation. The unit failed inspection on two accounts: the fresh intake was not routed to the exterior but is merely drawing air within the mechanical room from an elbow mounted on top. The second item indicated on the inspector's report was he used 3/4 inch pipe instead of 1 inch pipe for the gas line. These meet the guidelines as listed in the installation manual but do not meet the code as established by the City of Calgary.

We had a tankless water heater installed in February of 2018 by ABWP. It was an emergency repair as we came home to an inch of rust-coloured water on the basement floor about 7 in the evening. I immediately got on the Homestars site to find a reputable plumber to install a new unit. Jason at ABWP was friendly and helpful with making the decision in this hour of need to upgrade from a tank to a tankless unit (significant rebate from the AB gov’t) and agreed to come at 8:00 AM the next morning. We found Jason and his employees to be gregarious and outgoing during which communicated to us that they truly enjoyed what they did. The unit was installed by the end of day and has worked proficiently ever since. My only complaint of the work at this time was they did not clean up after coring through the concrete to allow the exhaust pipe to be vented to the exterior. There was cutting fluid and residue all over the window and down the wall. There was no attempt to clean this up which indicates the small details are of no concern to ABWP. In November of this year, we had another contractor in to provide an estimate for a furnace replacement and he happened to examine the tankless water heater… This is where ABWP earned a 5/10 because of his assessment. He made the observation that there was no inspection tag on the unit. This is absolutely necessary for a job like this as new gas lines had to be installed to accommodate a tankless unit that is always wall mounted. Upon further inquiry by calling 311, I learned that no City of Calgary permit had been pulled for this job so naturally there would have been no subsequent inspection of the work. Somebody in this field who doesn’t pull permits is either negligent or has no knowledge of industry standards which would be astounding to say the least. To this date, no work permit has been pulled and no inspection has been completed essentially rendering our unit illegal until this happens. Upon further research and the opinion of a competent contractor I learned that he did not properly seal the vent that connected to the old tank water heater and merely inserted an end cap that came out in my hand as it was not screwed in and sealed. This pipe is still venting the exhaust from the furnace and needs to be sealed to ensure no undue release of carbon monoxide.
I would like to give balance to this review and state that the work of ABWP was done competently in regards to the installation of the tankless unit but I would caution anyone who contracts them to install a new furnace or tankless hot water tank. You should insist that they have pulled the permit on the day of installation as it seems they don’t do due diligence in this regard and insist they arrange the inspection to ensure they did not cut corners and it meets code. I do believe in this case they did not pull the permit because they feared the inspector would not pass the work because of the shortcuts they took in not remediating existing pipes. As well, they used 2 inch pipe instead of 3 inch pipe for the exhaust pipe and intake. This meets the minimum code but as another contractor suggested why not use 3 inch which is more suitable for our high elevation to ensure maximum air flow and exhaust. It is small details like this that distinguishes the contractors that truly exemplify excellence and customer service from those who do work at a minimum level to maximize profit and time/effort. In summary, you will enjoy the genial personality of Jason and his crew, have work done competently with a few shortcuts taken that may or may not meet code, may end up with an installed unit that was not permitted by the City and therefore be illegal because it will not have been inspected.

We had a tankless water heater installed in February of 2018 by ABWP. It was an emergency repair as we came home to an inch of rust-coloured water on the basement floor about 7 in the evening. I immediately got on the Homestars site to find a reputable plumber to install a new unit. Jason at ABWP was friendly and helpful with making the decision in this hour of need to upgrade from a tank to a tankless unit (significant rebate from the AB gov’t) and agreed to come at 8:00 AM the next morning. We found Jason and his employees to be gregarious and outgoing during which communicated to us that they truly enjoyed what they did. The unit was installed by the end of day and has worked proficiently ever since. My only complaint of the work at this time was they did not clean up after coring through the concrete to allow the exhaust pipe to be vented to the exterior. There was cutting fluid and residue all over the window and down the wall. There was no attempt to clean this up which indicates the small details are of no concern to ABWP. In November of this year, we had another contractor in to provide an estimate for a furnace replacement and he happened to examine the tankless water heater… This is where ABWP earned a 5/10 because of his assessment. He made the observation that there was no inspection tag on the unit. This is absolutely necessary for a job like this as new gas lines had to be installed to accommodate a tankless unit that is always wall mounted. Upon further inquiry by calling 311, I learned that no City of Calgary permit had been pulled for this job so naturally there would have been no subsequent inspection of the work. Somebody in this field who doesn’t pull permits is either negligent or has no knowledge of industry standards which would be astounding to say the least. To this date, no work permit has been pulled and no inspection has been completed essentially rendering our unit illegal until this happens. Upon further research and the opinion of a competent contractor I learned that he did not properly seal the vent that connected to the old tank water heater and merely inserted an end cap that came out in my hand as it was not screwed in and sealed. This pipe is still venting the exhaust from the furnace and needs to be sealed to ensure no undue release of carbon monoxide.
I would like to give balance to this review and state that the work of ABWP was done competently in regards to the installation of the tankless unit but I would caution anyone who contracts them to install a new furnace or tankless hot water tank. You should insist that they have pulled the permit on the day of installation as it seems they don’t do due diligence in this regard and insist they arrange the inspection to ensure they did not cut corners and it meets code. I do believe in this case they did not pull the permit because they feared the inspector would not pass the work because of the shortcuts they took in not remediating existing pipes. As well, they used 2 inch pipe instead of 3 inch pipe for the exhaust pipe and intake. This meets the minimum code but as another contractor suggested why not use 3 inch which is more suitable for our high elevation to ensure maximum air flow and exhaust. It is small details like this that distinguishes the contractors that truly exemplify excellence and customer service from those who do work at a minimum level to maximize profit and time/effort. In summary, you will enjoy the genial personality of Jason and his crew, have work done competently with a few shortcuts taken that may or may not meet code, may end up with an installed unit that was not permitted by the City and therefore be illegal because it will not have been inspected.