What each state regulator says
| State | The rule | Check a licence |
|---|---|---|
| New South WalesBuilding Commission NSW | A licence or certificate is needed for any plumbing, draining or gasfitting work, whatever it costs. Doing that work unlicensed can bring a fine of $22,000 for an individual or $110,000 for a company. | NSW Government: plumbing, draining and gasfitting |
| VictoriaBuilding and Plumbing Commission (BPC) | Plumbers may carry out plumbing work only with a current registration or licence, or as a plumbing apprentice. | BPC: find and check a practitioner shows status, type of work and any conditions. |
| QueenslandQueensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCC) | Most plumbing and draining work is regulated and must be done by a licensed plumber and drainer; a short list of work is unregulated. | QBCC licensee register, which gives a complete licence history. |
| Western AustraliaBuilding and Energy | Apart from a short list of basic tasks, all water supply, sanitary and drainage plumbing work must be done by a licensed plumber or permit-holder. | Building and Energy’s online licence search, linked from its plumbing page. |
| South AustraliaConsumer and Business Services (CBS) | Its licensing register includes plumbers, and CBS says always to check that the person working for you holds the appropriate licence. | CBS: find a licence holder |
| TasmaniaTasmania’s occupational licensing register | Its search covers plumbers among other licensed trades, and shows current licence holders only. | Find a licensed tradesperson |
The small jobs a householder may do
Queensland and Western Australia publish a list, and one water utility sums up the position for its customers in a sentence. Neither list includes repairing a pipe in a wall or under a driveway.
A homeowner or occupier may
- maintain, repair or replace a shower head
- maintain or repair a tap, other than a thermostatic mixing tap
- replace a cistern washer
- replace a water filter cartridge
- clear a blocked fixture or waste pipe with a plunger.
Someone else may do these for you if no payment is involved.
Unregulated work includes
- swapping in a new shower head or household water filter cartridge
- fitting a new jumper valve or washer to a tap
- fixing or swapping a toilet cistern’s drop valve washer, float valve washer or suction cup rubber
- putting in or maintaining an irrigation or lawn watering system on the downstream side of a tap, isolating valve or backflow prevention device on the watering system’s supply pipe.
A selection from the QBCC’s list. The work must still meet the minimum standards in the legislation and codes.
Sydney Water’s summary for its customers: you may be tempted to fix a leak yourself, but the law lets you do only minor plumbing work, such as changing a tap washer.
Who did the repair matters for the allowance too
Most hidden leak allowances ask who fixed the leak. Hunter Water won’t accept an application where someone other than a licensed plumber did the repair, and Icon Water and TasWater both ask for evidence from a licensed plumber. Sydney Water accepts a repair by a licensed plumber or a qualified technician.
Water Corporation splits the work: a licensed plumber for internal plumbing, or one of its Waterwise Garden Irrigators for irrigation systems. It notes that a Garden Irrigator isn’t authorised to repair leaks on internal plumbing. The full conditions are in Leak allowances and bill support.
Checking the person at the door
- Victoria: the BPC says not to rely only on advertising, business cards, quotes or what someone tells you, and to check their details before signing a contract or letting work start.
- Western Australia: licensed plumbing contractors, tradespersons and restricted permit holders must carry their licence or permit card and show it on request; the card shows the type of work they may do. Building and Energy says it is an offence to advertise or imply a licence you don’t hold.
- Queensland: QBCC licences come as a physical card or a digital licence, and the QBCC says that if someone isn’t in its register, there’s a chance they’re not licensed.
And on the utility’s side of the meter, the utility’s own rules apply: see Whose pipe is it?