Plumbing

Wagga City Council is the regulator of plumbing and drainage works in the Wagga Wagga Local Government Area. This means we work with the plumbing industry to ensure that all plumbing and drainage is carried out in accordance with the Acts, Regulations and Standards. These include:

    • On-site Domestic Wastewater Management ASNZS 1547:2000;
    • Local Government Act 1993;
    • Plumbing Code of Australia;
    • ASNZS 3500 Plumbing & Drainage; and
    • Local Government (General) Regulation 2005

Plumbing and drainage inspections

Information for plumbers and drainers

IMPORTANT – The arrangements outlined below apply to NSW plumbing an drainage inspections from 1 January 2013.

NSW Plumbing Reforms

From 1 January 2013 Fair Trading will become the state’s single plumbing and drainage regulator for all on-site plumbing and drainage work.

NSW Fair Trading will be delegating inspection and enforcement powers to regional councils currently conducting plumbing and drainage inspections.

The 2012 plumbing reforms were part of a state-wide initiative by the NSW Government to provide a more consistent and effective approach to standard setting, on-site regulation and licensing in NSW.

As part of the plumbing regulatory framework, Fair Trading licenses plumbers and drainers under the Home Building Act 1989, and all plumbing and drainage work must be completed by a person who holds a licence, qualified supervisor certificate or tradesperson certificate. In addition, a system of on-site regulation ensures that NSW plumbing and drainage work is monitored, so it complies with technical standards and regulations.

What does this mean for plumbers and drainers in Wagga Wagga?

For plumbers and drainers working in the Wagga Wagga area you continue to contact Wagga Wagga City Council to book inspections, pay inspection fees, submit documentation and for all other plumbing and drainage related enquires.

Documents and forms

As part of the reforms, plumbers and drainers are required to submit the following documents at certain stages of the work.

  • Notice of Work is to be issued to the regulator no later than 2 business days before the work concerned is carried out. The Notice of Work form can be found here.
  • Certificate of Compliance is to be issued within 2 business days of the work being completed to the regulator and to the person for whom the work was carried out, on completion of the final inspection. The Certificate of Compliance form can be found here.
  • Sewer Service Diagram is to be issued to the regulator and the owner of the land or the owners agent.

When must I book an inspection

You must book an inspection for the following prior to covering or backfilling:

  • All external drainage including the point of connection to Councils sewer
  • All drainage (internal and external) including trade waste
  • Stack work
  • Alterations and additions to existing water and drainage
  • Connections to stormwater systems
  • Sealing of disused services (water and sewer)
  • Work that did not comply with an earlier inspection
  • Any work on recycled water plumbing
  • Any work relating to the modification of an on-site sewage management system
  • Final inspection at the completion of work and prior to premises being occupied. All Activity Approvals require a Sewer Service Diagram to be submitted electronically to Council at least 48 hours before a final plumbing inspection can be booked.

Codes and Standards

The Plumbing Code of Australia (PCA) is the new technical standard for all plumbing and drainage work in NSW. All plumbing and drainage work in NSW must comply with the PCA.

The new Code replaces the more prescriptive NSW Code of Practice for Plumbing and Drainage and other local requirements. This system means plumbers no longer need to remember a myriad of local variations to plumbing standards. Plumbers will be able to work more easily across different regions, without needing to know local variations.

The PCA sets out performance requirements for the design, construction, installation, replacement, repair, alteration and maintenance of plumbing and drainage installations.

The Code calls up AS/NZS 3500, and it has two provisions that plumbers and drainers can work to and achieve code compliance. One option is for the work to be done under the ‘Deemed to Satisfy’ provision which means that it has been done in accordance with AS/NZS 3500. The other is the performance based provision where work (usually designed by a hydraulic engineer or consultant) meets or exceeds the requirements of AS/NZS 3500.

Plumbers and drainers can get copies of the PCA from the Australian Building Codes Board at www.abcb.gov.au.

For More information in relation to performance based provision, plumbers and drainers can download a copy of the Guideline for plumbing and drainage: Installing code compliant work and alternative solutions from the Fair Trading website.

For further information please see the Frequently Asked Questions Fact Sheet created by the Department of Fair Trading which can be accessed here or on the Fair Trading Webpage.