Checklist: hiring a licensed plumber in Bairnsdale

To check a plumber’s licence in Victoria, search their name, business name or licence number on the Building and Plumbing Commission’s find and check a practitioner tool, and confirm the result shows a current licence for the class of work you need. Then get a written quote, and make sure you receive a compliance certificate within five days of the work being finished whenever the job needs one. The checklist below walks through every step from first contact to the final invoice.

Bairnsdale Plumber passes enquiries to independent local plumbing businesses and does not hold a plumbing licence itself, so these checks apply to whichever provider contacts you. The about page explains the referral arrangement.

Who licenses plumbers in Victoria now?

The Building and Plumbing Commission (BPC). According to the state’s building reform page, the BPC was established on 1 July 2025 as a single regulator that brought together the Victorian Building Authority, Domestic Building Dispute Resolution Victoria and the domestic building insurance arm of the VMIA. Older paperwork and fridge magnets may still mention the VBA. Any licence check now goes through the BPC.

The checklist

Before you call anyone

1. Write down the job. What is happening, where, since when, and which fixtures or appliances are involved. Note whether the house is on town sewer or a septic system, and on mains or tank water.
2. Take photos. The fixture, the model plate of any appliance, the area around a drain, and any access problems such as a concrete path over the line.
3. List anything else that needs doing. One visit with several small jobs usually costs less than several visits, especially once travel is counted.

When a plumber contacts you

4. Get the full business name and the licence or registration number. A plumber who will not give you a number is a reason to stop.
5. Search the BPC register. The BPC’s practitioner search lets you look up a plumber by name, business name, registration or licence number, location or type of work. The result shows whether the registration or licence is current, the type of work it covers and any conditions or limits.
6. Match the class to the job. The BPC lists drainage, sanitary, water supply, gasfitting and roofing stormwater among the separate main plumbing classes, and a person may hold one class or several. A plumber licensed for water supply is not automatically licensed for drainage, and gas work needs the gasfitting class. The gas fitting page has more on gas jobs.
7. Check licensed versus registered. Only a licensed plumber can issue a compliance certificate. A registered plumber must either work under a licensed plumber’s supervision or stick to work that does not need a certificate.
8. Search the Compliance and Enforcement Register. It is a separate BPC register that lists some disciplinary action, prosecutions, suspensions and conditions. The BPC notes that not every complaint appears there, so a clean search is useful but not the whole picture.

The BPC’s own advice is blunt: do not rely only on advertising, business cards, quotes or what someone tells you, and check the details before you sign a contract or let work start.

Before you agree to the work

9. Get the quote in writing. It should name the business, the scope, the parts and the price, with travel, investigation, the work and making good shown as separate lines. The cost guide explains how to compare two or three quotes.
10. Ask about the compliance certificate. Ask whether one will be issued and whether it is included in the price. The rules are below.
11. Ask how variations work. Buried drains and old pipes hide surprises. Agree in writing how extra work found on the day will be priced and approved before anyone does it.
12. Confirm any permits. On an unsewered block, septic work needs a council permit before it starts (see below). The plumber should say who applies for it and what it costs, though the fee is the council’s, not the plumber’s.
13. Agree payment terms. When the deposit is due, what it covers and when the balance is payable.

If you are ready at this point, send the job details through the enquiry form and a provider can start with the right information.

After the work is done

14. Receive the compliance certificate. Where one is required, the licensed plumber must give it to you within five days of finishing the work and lodge it with the BPC within the same period.
15. Check what the certificate shows. See the next section.
16. Ask for the as-laid plan for drain work. Where drains were laid or altered, the certificate notes whether an as-laid plan has been lodged with the water authority. Ask for a copy for your records.
17. Keep everything together. Quote, invoice, certificate, warranty cards and any council permit belong with the property documents, where a future buyer’s conveyancer will look for them.

When must a plumber give you a compliance certificate?

Part 12A of the Building Act 1993 sets the rules. The BPC’s compliance certificate page says a certificate is required in two situations.

Situation	Certificate required
Total value of the work passes the threshold the BPC publishes, counting materials, appliances, labour and GST, even if you supplied the parts	Yes
Installing, relocating or replacing a Type A gas appliance	Yes, at any value
Converting a gas appliance to a different gas	Yes, at any value
Installing, modifying or relocating consumer gas piping	Yes, at any value
Building, installing or altering a below-ground sanitary drain or its gullies	Yes, at any value
Small repairs under the threshold that are not on the list above	Not required

Complex gas installations and Type B appliances, the larger or commercial gas equipment, sit outside this certificate scheme and are overseen by Energy Safe Victoria.

What should the compliance certificate show?

A compliance certificate should include:

• the eleven-digit consent number and confirmation that an as-laid plan has been lodged with the water authority, where those apply
• the appliances and fixtures installed, with any notes the plumber needs to describe the extent of the work
• if the work was not finished, a note saying so, why, and how far it got

A certificate certifies that the work complies with the plumbing standards. The BPC also notes that a licensed plumber who certifies work they did not carry out or supervise commits an offence, and that this can leave both the plumber and the customer without the mandatory plumbing insurance cover. That is one more reason to make sure the person whose name is on the certificate is the person responsible for your job.

What changes for taps, toilets and showers from March 2027?

The Plumbing Amendment Regulations 2026 start on 1 March 2027. Under the state’s building reform page, they raise the water efficiency ratings required for toilets, urinals, taps and showerheads in regulated plumbing work that is above the compliance certificate threshold, in both new and existing homes. For a house, basin taps will need at least a five-star water rating, and kitchen and laundry taps, showers and toilets at least four stars.

The rules do not apply when a homeowner replaces a fixture themselves, or to small jobs below the threshold. If you are planning a bathroom renovation for 2027, ask the plumber which fixtures they are quoting and whether they meet the new ratings.

What applies to septic work on a rural block?

East Gippsland Shire Council must approve every wastewater treatment and disposal system of up to 5,000 litres a day before it is installed or altered. A permit to install or alter is needed where there is no reticulated sewer and you build a house or add bedrooms. The application goes in with site plans, a land capability assessment report, a full copy of title and, for an aerated system, a certificate of conformity. A Permit to Use follows once the system is installed, inspected and the plumber’s compliance certificate has been submitted.

So for septic work, add two items to the checklist: confirm the permit to install is in place before digging starts, and confirm who is arranging the inspections. The septic systems page covers servicing and the permit path in more detail.

Common problems the checklist catches

Problem	Which step catches it
A handyman offering to move a gas line	Step 6, gasfitting class
A registered, not licensed, plumber offering a certificate	Step 7
A quote that leaves out making good after digging	Step 9
No certificate weeks after a hot water swap	Step 14
Septic work started without council approval	Step 12 and the septic section

Next step: send an enquiry with the checks in mind

Use the form to describe the plumbing job you want a licensed provider for. Include the type of work (drainage, gas, hot water, septic or general), your town, photos and model plates, and say if you want the licence number and certificate details confirmed in the written quote. Mention any council permit already issued for the property.

Send a job enquiry