02-A · Which form
One certificate, more than one way of lodging it
The certificate confirms the work complies with the Act, the Regulation, the Plumbing Code of Australia and the Deemed-to-Satisfy requirements of AS/NZS 3500. In Sydney, for work that needs an inspection, the plumber submits it to Building Commission NSW through the MyInspections Gateway; for work that does not need an inspection, the plumber can use the Combined Notice of Work and Certificate of Compliance, and does not have to send a copy to the regulator.
Building Commission NSW’s plumbing and draining questions page gives examples of the minor work that form suits. The combined form is the one the regulator publishes as a download, so it is the one read below.
02-B · The form
Reading the owner’s copy
This is a redrawing of the certificate part of Building Commission NSW’s combined form, with the fields in the order the form gives them. The numbered notes beneath it say what each part means for you.
Certificate of Compliance
for plumbing and drainage work
Owner’s copy · Serial number 1
2Property and owner details
3Licensee’s details
4Work of water supply
- Install water supply
- Install irrigation system
- On-site alternative water services
- Install, commission or maintain a thermostatic mixing valve
- Connection to water supply
- Install, alter, disconnect or remove a backflow prevention device
- Other
Plumbing work to comply with: AS/NZS 3500 · Alternative solution · Combined
5Sanitary plumbing and drainage
- Carry out work of sanitary plumbing or drainage
- Connection to sewer
- Sewer disconnection
- Carry out trade waste drainage
- Other
Drainage work to comply with: AS/NZS 3500 · Alternative solution · Combined
6Inspection fee and dates
7The licensee certifies
i. corresponds to the notice of work · ii. tested and passed · iii. notice of pre-existing defects given: Yes / N/A · iv. complies with the relevant Acts, Regulations, Codes and Standards · v. date completed, signature
8The two-year undertaking
The licensee’s promise to fix defects the regulator traces to their work.
- 1
The serial number
The notice of work the plumber fills in before starting and the certificate at the end are numbered to match: the notice says the corresponding numbered certificate must be submitted to the regulator after the final inspection. The form prints three copies of the certificate, marked for the regulator, the licensee and the owner.
- 2
Property and owner details
The street address, the lot and plan numbers, the nearest cross street and the council area, then the owner’s name and address. Check it names your property: a certificate is about one address.
- 3
Licensee’s details
The form asks for a qualified supervisor number and a licence number, each with an expiry date. Both can be looked up on the NSW Government’s online licence check, which shows a licence’s categories, expiry date and current status. Tag 01 covers what to read there.
- 4
Work of water supply
Tick boxes and a full description. Two of the boxes point to other rules: a thermostatic mixing valve, and a backflow prevention device. In Sydney, Sydney Water keeps a register of installed testable backflow devices, and medium and high hazard devices are tested every year (see Tag 05). The line beneath says what the plumbing complies with: AS/NZS 3500, an alternative solution, or a combination.
- 5
Sanitary plumbing and drainage
The same pattern for the waste side: sanitary plumbing or drainage, a connection to the sewer, a sewer disconnection, trade waste drainage, or other. After drainage work the plumber or drainer must also give you a Sewer Service Diagram, which shows where the private sewer pipes run.
- 6
Fee and dates
The inspection fee details, the date work began and the estimated completion date, with the contractor’s signature.
- 7
What the licensee certifies
Five statements: the work corresponds to the notice of work; it has been tested as the regulator requires and passed; where section 11 of the Plumbing and Drainage Act 2011 requires it, written notice has been given of any pre-existing defective plumbing or drainage they found (ticked Yes or N/A); the work complies with the relevant Acts, Regulations, Codes and Standards; and the date the work was completed.
If item iii is ticked Yes, a written notice about those defects should come with the certificate; the duty behind it is explained on Building Commission NSW’s questions page.
- 8
The two-year undertaking
The last clause is the one most worth keeping the paper for. If a defect is found in the licensee’s work within two years of the final inspection, or within a time the regulator specifies, and the regulator certifies in writing that it is due to faulty workmanship or defective materials, the licensee undertakes to fix it at their own expense if the regulator directs them to.
02-C · Gas
Gas work comes with its own paper
A plumbing certificate does not cover gas. After any gas work, the licensed gasfitter has to hand you a certificate of compliance for network gas, or a certificate of inspection for bottled gas. The NSW Government says these confirm that a licensed gasfitter completed work that complies with the relevant industry standards, and that the certificate must include the licensee’s name and licence number.
02-D · If it is missing
When the paperwork does not arrive
The plumber left part way through
A plumber who stops working on a job must submit a Certificate of Compliance and Sewer Service Diagram for the work they did.
Earlier work was never inspected
Where a plumber finds that earlier work on a property was not arranged for inspection, Building Commission NSW’s advice is for the owner or builder to make a complaint, with emails, texts or invoices that show who did the work.
A diagram drawn after the fact
If a plumber later draws a Sewer Service Diagram for a property that was never inspected, the regulator stamps it: “This property has not been inspected by the Regulator at the time of installation. Plumbing and drainage present at this property may or may not comply with the Plumbing Code of Australia and relevant Australian Standards.” For a buyer, that second sentence is the one to read slowly.
Unpaid bills and sales with no diagram on file are answered on Building Commission NSW’s plumbing and draining questions page.
02-E · Keeping it
Where the copies live
Keep the owner’s copy with the invoice. Building Commission NSW’s page on plumbing inspection documents says where older Sewer Service Diagrams are held. The certificate itself names the person responsible for the work, which is the fact you will want if anything goes wrong inside the two years.