Why do I need a licensed plumber?
DIY or hiring a handyman can be enticing over hiring a licensed plumber. Especially when it comes to a home renovation or sewer drain repairs. This is generally due to cost savings. From experience, DIY can cost you in the long run, not to mention putting the safety of your loved ones at risk.
- Using an unlicensed plumber is illegal
- Your licensed plumber can be searched on the QBCC website
- A licensed plumber will be qualified.
- Qualifications can build trust in the choice you have made.
- Unlicensed plumbers won’t have insurance for your specified work.
- Defects cannot be lodged with QBCC.
- Financial losses for defective work that may need to be rectified with further expenses.
- No insurance cover for unlicensed work.
- Unlicensed plumbers are more likely to take you for a ride because they are not obligated to report their financial records to QBCC.
Why does a plumber need a licence?
Using a licensed plumber and drainer is essential for making sure that your plumbing complies with regulations and reduces risks to your family’s health and safety.
In Queensland, individuals and companies must hold a QBCC licence to carry out:
- any building work valued over $3,300
- building work valued over $1,100 where it involves Hydraulic Services Design
- building work of any value where it involves:
- Plumbing
- Drainage
- Plumbing and Drainage
- Installing and repairing hot water systems
- Repairs and maintenance to plumbing systems
- Renovations
How do I find a good plumber?
It is important to request a valid licence from a plumber or any contractor undertaking work in your home.
Here are some tips to choosing a licensed plumber.
- Join your community Facebook group and ask for recommendations for local contractors in your area.Ask family and friends that have engaged a contractor for similar work.
- Ask your contractor for references for work completed.
- Call previous clients for their experience.
- Research your chosen contractor.Check their licence credentials on QBCC website or by calling QBCC on 139333.
- Search Find A Master Plumber for free. Find a plumber or gas fitter near you.
- Check the licence of your contractor when they arrive.
- For quotes, get at least 3 to compare prices, inclusions and exclusions.
- Make sure you read over contracts if you receive one. Keep a copy of your contract.
- Never pay full payments up front.
What Plumbing Work Can I do?
- Replacing a shower head or domestic water filter cartridge
- Replacing a jumper valve or washer in a tap
- Repairing or replacing a drop valve washer, float valve washer or suction cup rubber in a toilet cistern
- Replacing caps to ground level inspection openings on a sanitary drain
- Cleaning or maintaining a ground level grate for a trap on a sanitary drain
- Installing or maintaining an irrigation or lawn watering system downstream from a tap, isolating valve or backflow prevention device on the supply pipe for the watering system
- Repairing or maintaining an irrigation system for the disposal or effluent from a greywater use facility or on-site sewage facility
- Fire protection work for testing plumbing carried out by a holder of a fire protection occupational licence or another QBCC licence
- Incidental unskilled tasks (e.g. excavating or backfilling a trench).
Our recommendation is to call a licensed plumber if it’s anything more than a tap washer replacement. This will ensure a quality of work, a guarantee of work, compliancy and safety. Akins Plumbing are Members of the Master Plumbers Association of Queensland and are Brisbane plumbers homeowners and businesses have trusted for over 35 years.
Interested to learn more?
Need more information about the importance of hiring a licensed plumber or need quote on your next project? Speak to the residential plumbing Brisbane team at Akins Plumbing today by calling us on (07) 3891 7480 or emailing us at admin@akinsplumbing.com.au.
Ref https://www.qbcc.qld.gov.au/selecting-contractor/whos-doing-your-plumbing