Dris proposal for national licensing of the plumbing and gasfitting occupations

Regulatory framework

The occupational licensing of plumbers and gasfitters is typically undertaken by small dedicated licensing boards, or larger generic regulators responsible for the occupational licensing of a number of occupations. A list of the relevant regulators for each jurisdiction is shown in Table A.1.

Table A.1: State and territory regulators of plumbing and gasfitting

State or territory	Regulator
NSW	NSW Fair Trading, Department of Finance and Services
VIC	Plumbing Industry Commission
QLD	Plumbing Industry Council (occupational licensing of plumbers and drainers, restricted or endorsed plumbing work) Petroleum and Gas Inspectorate, Department of Natural Resources and Mines (occupational licensing of gasfitters) Queensland Building Services Authority (trade contractor licensing of plumbers, drainers and gasfitters)
WA	Energy Safety (Gasfitting) Plumbers Licensing Board
SA	Consumer and Business Services
TAS	Workplace Standards
ACT	Planning and Land Authority
NT	Plumbers and Drainers Licensing Board (plumbers and drainers) NT Worksafe (gasfitters)

In Queensland the responsibility for the occupational licensing of plumbers, drainers and gasfitters is handled by three separate agencies. The Plumbing Industry Council, the Petroleum and Gas Inspectorate, Department of Natural Resources and Mines and the Queensland Building Service Authority.

In Victoria, the Plumbing Industry Commission is responsible for issuing licences which authorise plumbers to undertake and certify plumbing and gasfitting work.

In Western Australia and the Northern Territory, the occupational licensing of plumbers is undertaken by a separate board, with the responsibility for the licensing of gasfitters resting with a separate regulator.

In Queensland and Western Australia, responsibility for licensing of gasfitters rests with dedicated energy safety agencies.

In New South Wales, South Australia, Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory, occupational licensing of plumbers and gasfitters is undertaken by generic regulators, who have responsibility for the licensing of a range of occupations that typically includes other classes of trade contractor.

Overview of existing licensing requirements

Plumbing and gasfitting occupations are licensed differently across the jurisdictions. For the purpose of comparing licensing regimes, ten separate licence categories have been identified. Each of these is considered in turn below.

Plumbing work

Currently all jurisdictions, other than Victoria and Tasmania, licence a category of plumbing work, which at a minimum includes water supply and sanitary plumbing work. All jurisdictions that license this category at the tradesperson registration (supervised) licence level, except Western Australia, require completion of a Certificate III in Plumbing as the qualification requirement. However, the streams that must be completed vary according to the scope of the work covered by the licence. At a minimum, the water and sanitary streams are required. In addition, Queensland requires additional units of competency; South Australia requires completion of the drainage stream; and the Australian Capital Territory requires completion of the drainage and gas streams. In Western Australia, the minimum qualification requirement for a supervised licence is a Certificate IV level qualification. In New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia and the Australian Capital Territory, the qualification requirement is expressed as completion of an apprenticeship. Some jurisdictions have additional requirements such as an experience requirement (New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia).

Of the jurisdictions that provide for a tradesperson registration (supervised) licence in the category of plumbing work, all also issue an unsupervised (full) licence and/or a contractor licence. The qualification requirements for an unsupervised (full) level licence and a contractor who is qualified to do the work are the completion of certain units of competency at the Certificate IV level from the CPC08 or BCP03 training packages. Queensland and South Australia also require the completion of business units.

Water (supply) plumbing work

All jurisdictions, other than Queensland, the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory, offer a separate licence in the category of water supply at the equivalent of the supervised/tradesperson level. In some cases the licence is issued as a restricted licence (Western Australia and South Australia). In New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania, the qualification requirement at this level is a Certificate III. In these cases, New South Wales and Tasmania use the training package according to the rules of what is a core unit (that is, electives remain elective), while Victoria lists units of competency that must be completed (that is, certain elective units are made mandatory).

All jurisdictions that provide for a water supply licence have an unsupervised/full (certifier/qualified supervisor) and/or contractor level. In addition, the Australian Capital Territory, which does not offer a water supply licence at the supervised level, does offer one at unsupervised (full) and contractor level. As is the case for the tradesperson registration (supervised) level, Western Australia and South Australia issue this licence as a restricted plumbing work licence. New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory require an applicant to be eligible for the tradesperson registration (equivalent of supervised) licence (in the case of the Australian Capital Territory, tradesperson plumbing work licence) as well as having some additional Certificate IV competencies from the CPC08 or BCP03 training packages. Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania and also require competency in a business unit from the BSB07 training package.

Sanitary plumbing

Sanitary plumbing is only separately licensed in Victoria, Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania. In Western Australia and South Australia it is issued as a restricted plumbing work licence. At the tradesperson registration level, both Victoria and Tasmania require a Certificate III in Plumbing and additional Certificate IV competencies at the unsupervised/(full) and contractor level. Both also require completion of an apprenticeship or, for Victoria, a specified period of relevant employment.

Drainage work

Drainage work is licensed in all jurisdictions. Western Australia and South Australia issue this licence as a restricted plumbing work licence. In Queensland the requirement is a Certificate II in drainage plus six additional units of competency and one year of experience. In all the other jurisdictions the required qualification is the Certificate III in Plumbing or the Certificate II in Draining. For those completing the Certificate III in Plumbing, some jurisdictions specify that the draining stream must be included.

Fire protection

Fire protection work is only separately licensed in New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland.

In Queensland, fire protection is regulated by the Queensland Building Services Authority under various occupational and contractor licences. The prescribed qualifications for these licences varies with some requiring the Certificate IV in Fire Systems Compliance (Hydrants, Sprinklers and Pump-Sets), which is a Queensland-specific state accredited course, rather than a qualification from the CPC08 or BCP03 training packages.

At the tradesperson registration (or supervised) level in both New South Wales and Victoria, the Certificate III in Plumbing is required, including set units of competency in fire protection. In addition, New South Wales accepts the Certificate III in Fire Protection. Completion of a relevant apprenticeship is a pathway to a licence in both jurisdictions. At the contractor level in New South Wales or unsupervised/(full) licence level in Victoria, both jurisdictions require the applicant to be eligible for a tradesperson licence as well as having additional Certificate IV competencies from the CPC08 training package. Victoria also requires one unit in business competencies from the BSB07 training package.

Mechanical services

Mechanical services work is licensed in Victoria, Queensland and Tasmania. In Queensland, this work is licensed as refrigeration, air-conditioning and mechanical services and is not considered as plumbing work. Licensing is offered at the contractor level only. At the tradesperson registration (equivalent of supervised) level, Tasmania requires the Certificate III in Plumbing (Mechanical Services), while Victoria requires the Certificate III in Plumbing and lists certain units of competency that must be achieved. Both Victoria and Tasmania require the completion of an apprenticeship or, for Victoria, a specified period of relevant employment. At the unsupervised/(full) licence or contractor level, both Victoria and Tasmania require additional Certificate IV competencies to achieve a licensing outcome.

Gasfitting

Gasfitting work is licensed in all jurisdictions. However, in Queensland, Western Australia, the Australian Capital Territory, Tasmania and the Northern Territory, gasfitting is regulated separately from plumbing work.

At the tradesperson registration (supervised) level, the Certificate III in Plumbing (including the gas stream) and Certificate lll in Gas Fitting are used as a pathway in all jurisdictions other than Victoria, Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory. Tasmania does not issue an unsupervised/(full) licence. Where gasfitting is licensed as part of a plumbing licence, in Victoria and in Tasmania, an apprenticeship is required to be completed. In Victoria, a specified period of relevant employment experience is also accepted. To be licensed at the qualified supervisor or contractor level (depending on the term used) all jurisdictions other than Western Australia require the completion of additional competencies from the Certificate IV in Plumbing and Services training package. New South Wales, Queensland, and the Australian Capital Territory also have an additional experience requirement.

In Queensland the Gas Work Licence covers the scope of Type A gas work. It requires completion of a Certificate III in Plumbing or Certificate III in Gas Fitting. For a full licence extra Certificate IV competencies are also required. To contract with the public or a builder it is necessary to obtain a gasfitting contractor licence from the Queensland Building Services Authority.

In Western Australia, a Certificate ll in Gas Fitting can be used as a pathway to a gas licence.

Victoria issues a restricted licence which covers Type A appliances and two specialised classes of licence for Type A servicing and Type A conversion work.

In New South Wales, to be granted a Type A licence an applicant must be eligible for a gasfitting licence, have additional Certificate IV competencies and have an additional two years’ experience.

Gasfitting Type B

Licensing of Type B gasfitting varies across jurisdictions. In New South Wales, to be granted a Type B licence an applicant must be eligible for a gasfitting licence, have additional Certificate IV competencies and have an additional two years’ experience. In Queensland, Type B gas is regulated under an authorisation rather than a licence.

To hold the Type B licence in Victoria, a Type B registration is required, plus the holding of a general gasfitting licence, the holding of a disconnect/reconnect licence and completion of a competency examination. The Type B registration requires the holding of a gasfitting registration, the holding of a disconnect/reconnect licence, completion of a competency examination and employment for two years in Type B gasfitting work.