What it does
The Plumbers Licensing and Plumbing Standards Regulations 2000 (WA) establishes the operative regulatory framework for the plumbing industry in Western Australia. They sit under the Plumbers Licensing Act 1995 and set out who may carry out plumbing work, how they become authorised, what standards the work must meet, and how non-compliance is detected and dealt with. The regulations create five classes of authorisation: a plumbing contractor’s licence, a tradesperson’s licence, a tradesperson’s licence (drainage plumbing), a provisional tradesperson’s licence, and a restricted plumbing permit (regulation 11). Each class confers a different scope of work. A plumbing contractor’s licence authorises the holder to carry out contractor-level work and to exercise general direction and control over tradespersons, apprentices and pre-apprentices (regulation 12). A tradesperson’s licence authorises trade-level work under the general direction and control of a licensed plumbing contractor (regulation 13A). A restricted plumbing permit (water heater) allows only the disconnection, removal, installation and connection of certain components when replacing a water heater, provided no change to existing pipes is required (regulation 13D). A restricted plumbing permit (rainwater storage) authorises water supply plumbing work from a rainwater storage system to a building but not within the building (regulation 13E). The regulations also specify what counts as water supply plumbing work, sanitary plumbing work and drainage plumbing work (regulations 4, 4A, 4B), and they define major and minor plumbing work for notification and certification purposes (regulation 3). They set out a comprehensive system for giving notices of intention, certificates of compliance and records, and they prescribe plumbing standards derived from the National Construction Code Volume 3 (the Plumbing Code) with specific modifications for Western Australia (regulations 48 and 49). The enforcement machinery includes plumbing compliance officers, rectification notices, infringement notices, disciplinary proceedings before the Board or the State Administrative Tribunal, and a special regime for basic plumbing work in remote Aboriginal communities (Part 4A). The regulations also contain transitional provisions for each major amendment, ensuring continuity for work commenced under earlier definitions.