Last updated: September 2026
1. How PlumbGrade Earns Revenue
PlumbGrade is an independent plumbing media brand. Our mission is to provide homeowners, DIYers, apprentices, and heating professionals with practical, field tested guidance, clear buying guides, and honest product recommendations.
To keep our editorial articles, in depth reviews, and educational guides freely accessible without paywalls or intrusive display banner ads, we earn revenue through three primary channels:
- Affiliate Marketing: Commission earned when readers purchase tools, fittings, or equipment through links featured in our editorial coverage.
- Digital Products: Direct sales of proprietary digital assets, including technical sizing calculators, trade handover checklists, and comprehensive study guides created by our editorial team.
- Sponsored Content & Brand Partnerships: Select collaborations with industry manufacturers. Any commercial sponsorship or brand partnership is clearly identified and kept completely separate from our independent product testing.
This disclosure page specifically explains how we use affiliate links and how they relate to our editorial standards.
2. What Are Affiliate Links?
Some of the links featured across PlumbGrade : particularly on our product review pages, annual tool guides, and equipment roundups : are affiliate links.
When you click on one of these links and complete a purchase with the destination retailer, that merchant automatically tracks the referral and pays PlumbGrade a small referral fee or percentage commission. This happens at zero additional cost to you. The price you pay for any item is identical whether you use our link, go directly to the merchant’s website, or navigate through a search engine.
In many cases, our relationships with trade suppliers also allow us to highlight special reader discounts, voucher codes, or bundled offerings that save you money.
3. How This Affects Our Content & Recommendations
Our editorial integrity is paramount. Our product evaluations, ratings, and verdicts are NEVER influenced by affiliate partnerships, commission rates, or merchant incentives.
We do not accept payment to rank a tool higher, nor do we promote inferior tools simply because they offer an attractive affiliate payout. If a product fails in the workshop or does not hold up to everyday trade demands on site, we call it out directly : or decline to recommend it altogether.
Every single product recommendation on PlumbGrade is rigorously grounded in four core pillars:
- Real World Testing and Use: Hands on evaluation in real plumbing and heating environments : testing jaw grip, ergonomics, durability, battery endurance, and ease of service.
- Genuine Trade Experience: Deep domain expertise from qualified professionals who understand the day to day demands of plumbing, heating installation, and pipework.
- Honest Assessment of Quality and Value: Candid appraisals of whether a tool justifies its price tag, how it compares to trade alternatives, and where budget alternatives fall short.
- Personal Endorsement: We only recommend products we would genuinely spend our own money on and carry in our own toolkits.
4. Our Commitment to Independence
PlumbGrade was founded by a qualified plumbing & heating engineer. In the trade, your reputation is everything : poor advice or cutting corners leads to failed fittings, water damage, and wasted money. We carry that exact professional code into our digital publishing.
Our readers rely on us for honest verdicts before investing hundreds or thousands of pounds in power tools, press guns, flue gas analysers, and pipework equipment. We will never compromise that trust for short term affiliate revenue. When a high end tool is overpriced or underpowered, we say so plainly. When a budget friendly option outperforms expectations, we celebrate it.
5. Our Affiliate Partners
We participate in trusted affiliate programmes run by established tool retailers, trade merchants, and major ecommerce marketplaces, including:
- Amazon EU Associates Programme: As an Amazon Associate, PlumbGrade earns from qualifying purchases. Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.
- Trade Tool & Equipment Retailers: Specialised suppliers of professional pipe cutters, press tools, testing gauges, plumbing consumables, and safety gear.
We regularly review our merchant partnerships to ensure that we only link to reputable, established retailers with secure payment processing, reliable delivery networks, and sensible return policies.
6. Have Questions or Feedback?
Transparency is an ongoing commitment. If you have any questions about how affiliate links work on PlumbGrade, wish to suggest a tool for independent testing, or have feedback on our disclosure policies, please reach out to us:
- Editorial & Compliance Team: adam@plumbgrade.com
- Brand: PlumbGrade (plumbgrade.com)
- Contact Page: plumbgrade.com/contact