Our work on national Building Confidence Report recommendations
The Building Confidence Report was published in 2018. It made 24 recommendations to improve building compliance. These recommendations are being implemented in stages, outlined in the Building Better: WA Regulatory Reform Map. Progress includes new registration requirements, a code of conduct and auditing programs to improve compliance and consumer confidence.
Background
In 2017, concerns regarding building compliance led to a review of building industry regulation across Australia.
The resulting Building Confidence Report was published in 2018. It made 24 recommendations to improve building compliance. Building Ministers supported the report and agreed to an implementation plan in 2019.
Since then, Building and Energy has been updating Western Australia's building regulatory framework to implement the report's recommendations and modernise the system to meet contemporary building practices. Reforms to building regulation are being implemented in stages.
Priorities:
- registration of building engineers;
- a code of conduct for building surveyors; and
- the building service audit program.
Our second stage focuses on reforms to building design, approval and construction in WA to improve consumer confidence in the building industry and the built environment.
Recommendations from this stage have been accepted by Government and new laws are being prepared to amend WA’s building legislation.
Stage 1
Building Engineers Registration - July 2024
From 1 July 2024, building engineers in Western Australia must be registered. Details on requirements can be found in the Building engineering registration guide.
New Code of Conduct for Building Surveyors
A new Code of Conduct sets minimum standards for building surveyors. It applies to all registered surveyors assessing building compliance.
Building Services Audit Program
We're modernising our building regulations and auditing building designs, certification, and construction to improve compliance. Which are outlined in two documents – Building Compliance Audit Strategy and the Audit priorities statement.
Stage 2
Review of WA Building Regulations - complete
The review found that WA's building regulations need significant changes to:
- Improve construction standards;
- boost consumer confidence; and
- Implement national recommendations.
Reforms are now underway. New laws are being drafted and will be released for public comment before being presented to Parliament.
Next steps
While new laws are being drafted, Building and Energy will start the final stage of reforms in 2024, focusing on:
- Reviewing the regulation of fire system installers
- Reviewing the regulation of building designers (non-engineers)
Further information will be released in the coming months.
If you would like to take part in any further consultation, please email building.better@demirs.wa.gov.au with your area of interest.
Downloads
- Building Better: WA Regulatory Reform Map
- Building Confidence Report
- Building Better - Decision Regulatory Impact Statement - Volume 1
- Building Better - Decision Regulatory Impact Statement - Volume 2
- Building Compliance Audit Strategy 2021-24
- Audit priorities statement 2023-24
- Western Australia Building Surveyors' Code of Conduct
- Review of Regulation of Fire Systems Installers in Western Australia
Plumbing reviews and reforms
Emergency plumbing work in remote Aboriginal communities
In 2019 the Department of Energy, Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety – Building and Energy Division commenced a review of the operation and effectiveness of the remote Aboriginal communities plumbing scheme.
View the Building and Energy consultation paper from September 2019 and the decision paper from July 2020 that were part of the review that found the scheme continues to meet its objectives. This review also contributed to an expansion of permitted work that Aboriginal environmental health workers (AEHWs) may carry out and other minor changes, which came into effect on 10 February 2024.
Information on the scheme
Amendments to the Plumbers Licensing and Plumbing Standards Regulations 2000 (the Regulations) will help to improve health and living conditions in Western Australia’s remote Aboriginal communities.
The changes, which came into effect on 14 December 2016, allow suitably qualified environmental health workers, based in or close to communities where access to a licensed plumber is not available, to undertake a limited range of simple plumbing repairs.
The repairs are designed to keep clean drinking water flowing and prevent unsanitary conditions from arising or getting worse until a licensed plumber is available.
Building and Energy has worked with stakeholders including the Master Plumbers and Gasfitters Association and State Government agencies such as the Department of Health, the Department of Housing, and the Regional Services Reform Unit to develop the new scheme.
Record of emergency plumbing work in remote Aboriginal communities
The Plumbers Licensing Board has a developed a template for service providers.
Frequently asked questions
What work is permitted under the scheme?
The range of ‘permitted work’ is listed in the Plumbing Regulations and covers repairs such as: unblocking toilets, showers, waste pipes and drains by the use of flexible hand rods, plungers or hand-held water hoses; capping a burst water main or a section of damaged waste pipe or sanitary drain where there is a risk to health or safety or a risk of significant water wastage; maintaining or repairing a tap, other than a thermostatic mixing tap; and replacing P-traps and S-traps in waste pipes under sinks, basins or troughs where access to the P-trap or S-trap is easy.
Which remote communities are eligible under the scheme?
The list of eligible remote Aboriginal communities is comprised of the 274 communities across WA determined to be a ‘remote or very remote Aboriginal community’ by the Department of Aboriginal Affairs.
What qualifications are required to carry out the work?
To carry out work under the scheme, the environmental health worker must hold either a Certificate II in Indigenous Environmental Health (with the corresponding plumbing units of competency), or a Certificate II in Population Health (with the corresponding plumbing units of competency). The environmental health worker must also be employed or engaged by a service provider that has a contract with the Department of Health to provide environmental health services to remote Aboriginal communities.
Will service providers have any obligations under the scheme?
Yes. Service providers will be required to keep a record of all work carried out under the scheme and make the record available for inspection by a plumbing compliance officer, or by a licensed plumbing contractor who reasonably requires a copy of the record to carry out other plumbing work in the remote community. Additionally, a service provider must keep a register of all its authorised workers performing work under the scheme. The Plumbers Licensing Board has developed template forms for service providers to use. A copy of the forms are available to download.
Service providers will also be required to ensure that, before carrying out any work under the scheme, their environmental health workers are appropriately trained and equipped to carry out the work safely and competently. They must also ensure that their environmental health workers only carry out the work in emergency situations where a licensed plumber cannot get to the remote community soon enough.
What does the new scheme mean for licensed plumbers?
As the purpose of the new scheme is to enable simple plumbing emergencies to be attended to in circumstances where a licensed plumber cannot get to the community soon enough, it should have no adverse impact on licensed plumbers.
Service providers are still required to engage a licensed plumber for all plumbing work not covered under the scheme.
Decision Regulatory Impact Statement (DRIS)
Publication of the Decision Regulatory Impact Statement: Reforms to Plumbing Regulation in Western Australia (DRIS) on 27 November 2019 signals the completion of Building and Energy’s extensive review of Western Australia’s plumbing laws.
The next stage in the reform process is the implementation of the decisions contained in the DRIS. This page will be regularly updated to ensure that stakeholders are kept informed of the implementation progress and are able to provide feedback.
Background
The DRIS is the final stage of an extensive review of Western Australia’s plumbing laws which began in 2014 with the release of a report commissioned from independent consultants, ACIL Allen Consulting (ACIL Allen) – see ‘Archives’.
The ACIL Allen report contained 51 recommendations for reform, ranging from relatively simple amendments to complex legislative reforms requiring not only a fundamental re-shaping of the approach to regulating plumbing and plumbing work in Western Australia but also a detailed assessment of the potential impacts.
A staged approach to the reform process was adopted and over the course of the period from 2014 to 2017 many of ACIL Allen’s recommendations were implemented via amendments to the Plumbers Licensing and Plumbing Standards Regulations 2000 – see ‘Implemented reforms’.
On 1 May 2018, proposals relating to the implementation of the remainder of the ACIL Allen recommendations – together with a number of matters that had arisen since the publication of the ACIL Allen report, were released in the form of a Consultation Regulatory Impact Statement for a three-month period of consultation – see ‘Archives’.
Over 1,000 written submissions were received, all of which have been considered in preparing the DRIS.
Decisions
The DRIS contains 20 decisions for change as well as three decisions to retain the status quo. To guide the implementation process, these decisions have been amalgamated into 13 reform areas, as per the below.
- Plumbing regulation funding.
- Governance arrangements.
- Definition of plumbing work.
- Testing and maintaining plumbing safety devices.
- Minor plumbing repairs by and on behalf of private homeowners.
- Modular plumbing installations.
- Regulation plumbing designers and plumbing design verifiers.
- Scope of a restricted plumbing permit.
- Transition from apprentice to tradesperson.
- Advertising to perform plumbing work.
- Supervision and general direction and control by Licensed Plumbing Contractors.
- Penalties and prosecution limits.
- Compliance notification for ‘minor plumbing work’.
Please see ‘further information’ below for more detail on each of the reforms including a description of each reform, contact details to request further information and details about possible information sessions.
Further information
Reform area 1. Plumbing regulation funding.
Relates to DRIS Decision 1
The current model for funding the compliance and enforcement activities of the plumbing technical regulator will be replaced once the development of a suitable alternative funding source has been finalised.
Reform area 2. Governance arrangements.
Relates to DRIS Decisions 2
The Plumbers Licensing Board (PLB) will continue to administer the plumbers licensing scheme. However, the PLB’s role as the technical regulator will cease and pass instead to the Building Commissioner supported by staff from the Building and Energy Division of the Department of Energy, Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety.
Membership of the PLB will also be reformed to align more closely with the skill set required for a licensing administrator.
Reform area 3. Definition of plumbing work
Relates to DRIS Decisions 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9 and 23
The overarching definition of “plumbing work” in the Plumbers Licensing Act 1995 will be broadened to apply to any work prescribed in the Plumbers Licensing and Plumbing Standards Regulations 2000 as the design, construction, testing, installation, alteration, extension, replacement, repair or maintenance of pipes, fixtures, fittings, devices, or apparatus used or intended to be used to convey water, wastewater and other wastes.
The definition of water supply plumbing, sanitary plumbing and drainage plumbing will be refined, with water supply plumbing to also include non-metered drinking water (e.g. drinking water from rainwater tanks and bores) and non-drinking water services (e.g. recycled water).
A number of other reforms are proposed to provide greater clarity about the definition of plumbing work, including around the definition of minor plumbing work and residential reticulation work.
Reform area 4. Testing and maintaining plumbing safety devices.
Relates to DRIS Decision 8
The scope of the Plumbers Licensing Act 1995 will be broadened to require owners/persons with control of high-risk facilities to put systems in place to ensure that plumbing safety devices such as backflow prevention devices and thermostatic mixing valves are inspected, tested and maintained in accordance with the relevant Australian Standards and manufacturers’ instructions.
Reform area 5. Minor plumbing repairs by private homeowners.
Relates to DRIS Decision 10
Private homeowners may carry out the following plumbing tasks in their own homes without a plumbing licence:
- Repairing or replacing a shower head,
- Repairing a tap or tap mixer valve but not a thermostatically controlled tap,
- Replacing an inlet or outlet washer in a toilet cistern,
- Replacing a domestic water filter cartridge, and
- Clearing a blocked waste pipe by the use of a plunger.
Reform area 6. Modular plumbing installations.
Relates to DRIS Decision 11
Prefabricated plumbing modules with integral plumbing will be able to be installed in a plumbing installation as either:
- a WaterMark certified product in accordance with the WaterMark certification scheme; or
- the integral plumbing may be constructed by or under the direction and control of a WA licensed plumber in accordance with the Plumbing Regulations.
Prefabricated plumbing modules that do not meet these requirements will not be able to be installed.
Reform area 7. Regulation plumbing designers and plumbing design verifiers.
Relates to DRIS Decision 12
The scope of the Plumbers Licensing Act 1995 will be broadened to implement requirements for the design of plumbing installations in Class 2 to 9 buildings, and for the verification of performance solutions
Reform area 8. Scope of a restricted plumbing permit.
Relates to DRIS Decision: 16
The scope of work permitted to be carried out by the holder of a restricted plumbing permit will be amended to ensure that permit holders are able to comply with the regulations when replacing a water heater.
Reform area 9. Transition from apprentice to tradesperson.
Relates to DRIS Decision: 17
The Plumbers Licensing and Plumbing Standards Regulations 2000 will be amended to provide a two-month transition from apprentice to licensed tradesperson. This will enable newly qualified apprentices to carry out plumbing work under the general direction and control of a licensed plumbing contractor while their application for a plumbing tradesperson’s licence is being processed by the PLB.
Reform area 10. Advertising to perform plumbing work.
Relates to DRIS Decision 18
Implementation timeframe: 2020/21
The Plumbers Licensing and Plumbing Standards Regulations 2000 are to be amended to make it an offence for people who are not Licensed Plumbing Contractors to hold themselves out to be a plumber by advertising to carry out any kind of licensed plumbing work.
Reform area 11. Supervision and general direction and control by Licensed Plumbing Contractors.
Relates to DRIS Decision 19
The Plumbers Licensing and Plumbing Standards Regulations 2000 are to be amended to clarify the meaning of ‘general direction and control’ and to allow for fines to be imposed in cases where a licensed plumbing contractor has failed to exercise adequate direction and control.
Reform area 12. Penalties and prosecution.
Relates to DRIS Decisions 22, 23
Amendments are to be made to the maximum penalty amount and the maximum timeframe for bringing a prosecution so as to align with practices in other similar industries. The maximum penalty under the Plumbers Licensing Act 1995 will increase from $5,000 to $50,000 and the maximum allowable timeframe for bringing a prosecution will increase from one year to two.
Reform area 13. Compliance notification for ‘minor plumbing work’.
Relates to DRIS Decision 22
The requirement to submit multi-entry certificates has being replaced with the requirement that licensed plumbing contractors must maintain a record of minor plumbing work at their principal place of business.
Next steps
Building and Energy will begin working on developing the legislation to implement the reforms set out in the DRIS. This will be done in consultation with the relevant stakeholder groups.
If you would like further information about any of the reforms, including arranging for a DEMIRS representative to attend an industry engagement, please contact the ‘Plumbing Review’ team at plumbingreview@demirs.wa.gov.au.
Implemented reforms
Emergency plumbing work in remote Aboriginal communities (14 December 2016)
In December 2016, amendments were made to the Plumbers Licensing and Plumbing Standards Regulations 2000 to help improve health and living conditions in Western Australia’s remote Aboriginal communities.
The changes allow a suitably qualified environmental health worker based in or close to communities where ready access to a licensed plumber is not available to undertake a limited range of simple plumbing repairs. The repairs are designed to keep clean drinking water flowing and prevent unsanitary conditions from arising or getting worse until a licensed plumber can get there.
Plumbers Licensing Board disciplinary powers (30 April 2016)
Amendments to the Plumbers Licensing and Plumbing Standards Regulations 2000 (the Plumbing Regulations) effective from 30 April 2016 brought in a number of changes to the compliance and disciplinary arrangements for licensed plumbers and permit holders. As a result of those changes, the Plumbers Licensing Board (PLB) now has broader powers when dealing with disciplinary complaints against licensed plumbers and permit holders. In addition, plumbing compliance officers are now able to issue infringement notices in a broader range of cases. The amount of the infringement notice penalty (known as the ‘modified penalty’) has also increased in cases where notices of intention and certificates of compliance have not been submitted within the prescribed timeframes.
Plumbers licensing renewals process (30 April 2016)
A number of changes to the renewal process for plumbing licences and permits also took effect on 30 April 2016. As part of the changes, the Plumbers Licensing Board now has the power to assess whether a person applying to renew their licence or permit continues to satisfy the ‘fit and proper person’ test. Further information about the new processes is available on the licence renewal webpage.
Adoption of the Plumbing Code of Australia (1 May 2015)
On 1 May 2015, the Plumbers Licensing and Plumbing Standards Regulations 2000 (the ‘Plumbing Regulations’) were amended to call up the Plumbing Code of Australia (the PCA) as the primary technical reference for water supply plumbing, sanitary plumbing and drainage plumbing in Western Australia.
Compliance with the PCA is achieved by satisfying the Performance Requirements listed in the PCA.
Archive
Please find below links to previous documents prepared as part of the review of Western Australia’s plumbing laws.
