Check the register first, then the card, then the paper

Before the work: the register, state by state

The checking rules that matter are the ones that come with a register a reader can actually reach. Every jurisdiction that licenses plumbers keeps one, and each says something different about how to use it.

Two rules come with the registers. In Victoria, a plumbing accreditation is granted only to individuals: the commission does not register or license plumbing companies, so the person on the card is the person to check. And in Queensland, it is the householder’s responsibility to check that the person is licensed to do the work, whatever anyone else did before.

At the door: the card, and who may work alone

Victoria issues registered and licensed plumbers a practitioner ID card, with the classes they are registered or licensed in printed on the back, and they must carry it whenever they undertake plumbing work and show it on request. A gasfitter’s card can be read the same way: Energy Safe Victoria says to check the registered classes listed on the back of the card, and that routine servicing and carbon monoxide checks need the gas servicing Type A accreditation.

NSW regulates who may work under supervision rather than only who holds the licence. Work by a person holding a tradesperson certificate must be done under the general supervision of a contractor licence or qualified supervisor certificate holder, and signed off by them; work by a person with no licence at all, apprentices included, must be under that holder’s immediate supervision. Building Commission NSW can issue fines of up to $1,500 for each breach for not supervising, and up to $1,100 for each breach for doing work unsupervised.

After the job: the paper, dated

What a plumber must leave behind, and the periods the pages this guide draws on set for it:

1. 2 days before the workOn the Central Coast (NSW), at least two days before a plumber starts work on a property, the plumber must provide Central Coast Council with a notice of work.
2. 48 hoursIn WA, Building and Energy says that when any gas fitting work other than servicing is carried out, the gas fitter must provide a Notice of Completion to the owner and the relevant gas supplier within 48 hours of finishing.
3. 2 daysOn the Central Coast (NSW), within two days of completing plumbing works, the plumber must submit a certificate of compliance, with a copy to Central Coast Council and the owner, and give the council and the customer a drainage diagram of any sanitary drainage work.
4. 5 daysIn Victoria, a compliance certificate has to be given to the person who requested the plumbing work within five days of the work being completed, and lodged with the commission within five days of completion.
5. 5 working daysIn WA, Building and Energy says that when major plumbing work is carried out, the licensed plumbing contractor must give the owner a certificate of compliance within five working days of completing the work.
6. 7 daysIn South Australia, the SA Government says that after a tradesperson completes work the law requires an electronic certificate of compliance, and a plumbing one must reach the customer within 7 days of the job being completed.
7. 10 business daysIn Queensland, a plumber must lodge a Form 4 for notifiable work with the QBCC within 10 business days and give the customer a copy. Failing to register a Form 4 within that period is one of the offences the commission can be told about.
8. 20 business daysIn Queensland, the Plumbing and Drainage Act 2018 requires that, within 20 business days after notifiable work is finished, a copy of the notice and an explanatory statement must be given to the occupier or whoever asked for the work.
9. 30 daysIn South Australia, the SA Government says that an electrical or gas certificate of compliance must reach the customer within 30 days of the job being completed, alongside the 7-day plumbing period.
10. 6 years of coverIn Victoria, a compliance certificate confirms that the work is covered by insurance for 6 years, and licensed plumbers must hold that insurance for work which requires a certificate.
11. 10 years to complainIn Victoria, the commission can assess complaints about plumbing work carried out within 10 years of the date of the compliance certificate, or the date the work was completed if the plumber is still licensed.

Queensland’s copy to the owner is not the only place the paper is checked: a Form 4 that has not been registered can be looked for in the QBCC’s registers, and a householder who has not received one for notifiable work can complain. In NSW, a notice of work does not have to be given to Building Commission NSW or the local regulator for emergency work or for minor work such as replacing tap ware and existing hot water systems, or for bathroom renovations where the fixtures have not moved. On-site plumbing work within the Central Coast region is inspected by Central Coast Council, whose page sets out the notice of work and the certificate steps a plumber there follows.

What the paper is for

The certificate is not a receipt. In Victoria it certifies that the work complies with the plumbing regulations and the relevant Australian Standards, and that the products and materials used are fit for purpose, and it is required for work costing $750 or more including the product, and always for all work on below-ground sanitary drains, gas appliances, gas piping and cooling tower works. In WA it is your six-year guarantee that the plumbing work has been completed in accordance with the plumbing standards.

It is also the hinge of the insurance. Where a licensed plumber will not rectify defective work and will not claim on their insurance, the Victorian commission may give the owner the plumber’s insurance details to approach the insurer directly, though it cannot resolve a dispute between an owner and the insurer. The surest check available before any of that is the plain one: check the practitioner on the register first, and ask for the card at the door.