Box 5 · The licences
Plumbing licences behind each Central Coast Council step
Council runs the inspections, but the licences come from Building Commission NSW, and in NSW one is needed for any plumbing, draining or gasfitting work, whatever it costs. Council’s pages name the licence for some steps, from the licensed plumber who signs the notice of work to the plumber with backflow accreditation who tests a device, and the commission’s licence categories cover the rest.
General information, not legal advice. Building Commission NSW’s plumbing, draining and gasfitting page sets out the licences, and its online licence check shows whether a contractor or tradesperson is licensed to do the job.
One licensing body, one council
The rule is statewide. In Building Commission NSW’s words, “In NSW, you need a licence or certificate to do any plumbing, draining or gasfitting work regardless of the cost of the work or whether the work is residential, commercial or industrial.” Doing that work without one “is a breach of the Home Building Act 1989”.
The commission issues the licences and certificates, and it is also the state’s plumbing regulator. On the Central Coast, though, it is Council that sets the inspection requirements and receives the paperwork, as the guide to who regulates explains. So a plumber on a Central Coast job answers to the commission for the licence and to Council for the inspection.
The commission keeps an online tool for checking that a contractor or tradesperson is qualified or licensed to do the job.
Step by step: who signs what
| Council step | Who does it | What the source says |
|---|---|---|
| Inspection application and payment | An owner, builder, plumber or other relevant person | Council accepts the form from any of them; no licence is named. |
| Notice of work | The plumber | Signed by a licensed plumber. |
| Certificate of compliance | The plumber | The certificate names the plumber or drainer as the person responsible for the work. |
| Drainage diagram | The plumber | Drawn for any sanitary drainage work; draining is its own licence category. |
| Backflow hazard rating and yearly test | An accredited backflow plumber | A licensed plumber with backflow accreditation. |
| Backflow device installation and repairs | A qualified plumber | Council’s words for who installs, tests and repairs the device. |
Read down the “Who does it” column and the pattern is plain: the one step an owner can take is the application and its payment. Everything that touches the pipes, or certifies them, is work NSW reserves for licence holders and the people working under their supervision.
Categories that matter on the Central Coast
Three of Building Commission NSW’s licence categories line up with Council’s stages:
Plumbing
“‘Plumbing’ includes water plumbing, sewerage and sanitary work. It does not include draining work or roof plumbing.” Sewerage work in that definition reaches fittings that connect with a sewer or with on-site wastewater management systems, which is where the on-site sewage guide picks it up.
Draining
Draining is sanitary drainage: the construction, repair, maintenance and cleansing of any sanitary drain that connects with a sewer. That is the work Council’s drainage diagram records.
Water plumbing: urban irrigation
Irrigation has a water plumbing category of its own, covering irrigation systems that connect, or are meant to connect, with a water main, and their connection to it. One of the commission’s qualification routes for a contractor licence in that category lists a unit called “Install backflow prevention devices”. The two sources meet here: Council lists properties with irrigation systems connected to the water supply among those that could need a backflow device. The backflow guide covers the register that follows.
Two bodies, two questions
When a question comes up on a Central Coast job, it usually belongs to one body or the other. Whether a person holds the right licence, in the right category, is a question for Building Commission NSW and its licence check. Whether the work was inspected, and whether the certificate and diagram reached Council, sits with Central Coast Council and its five inspection steps.