Who may connect the kitchen sink
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.
The work then leaves paper behind: plumbers may be required to submit or provide Notices of Work, Certificates of Compliance and Sewer Service Diagrams for plumbing and drainage work to meet legislative requirements.
- 1Power points, rangehoodLicensed electrician (NSW)
- 2Gas line and cooktopLicence at any cost (NSW)
- 3The benchtopEngineered stone: banned since 1 July 2024 (NSW)
- 4The cabinet runLicence over $5,000 (NSW)
- 5Sink trap and water linesLicence at any cost (NSW)
Request sent
Thank you. We’ve emailed you to confirm it, with what happens next.
Request already sent
We already have your request for this site, so there’s no need to send another.
Some details were missing or too long. Please check each field and send your request again.
We couldn’t confirm the request came from a person. Please try again.
This form has had a lot of requests. Please try again later.
This page has changed since you opened it. Please reload it and send your request again.
Licence at any cost, at the sink
The sink is where the water arrives and the waste leaves, and in NSW the licence rule for that work does not move with the price. The government's own gasfitting pages carry the plumbing rule in the same breath: 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.
That is the difference between the sink and the cabinet run around it. A cabinet run is licensed by the value of the work, over $5,000 in labour and materials including GST, while the plumbing under the sink is licensed whatever the number on the quote happens to be. The plumbing pages put it the other way round as well, as an obligation on the trade: plumbers may be required to submit or provide Notices of Work, Certificates of Compliance and Sewer Service Diagrams for plumbing and drainage work to meet legislative requirements.
The paper trail, in order
Building Commission NSW keeps a page for the documents themselves, and it lists them in the order the work meets them.
1. The Notice of Work, before the work
A Notice of Work (NoW) is a form that outlines plumbing and drainage work to be carried out, and the person carrying out the work.
2. The cases where a Notice of Work need not be supplied
The page names its exemptions, and they are worded tightly: circumstances where a NoW does not need to be supplied to Building Commission NSW and the local plumbing regulator include: emergency work and 'minor works' like replacing tap ware and existing hot water systems, and bathroom renovations where the location of fixtures has not changed.
3. The Certificate of Compliance, after the work
A Certificate of Compliance (CoC) confirms the work complies with the Act, Regulation, Plumbing Code of Australia and the Deemed-to-Satisfy (DtS) requirements of AS/NZS 3500 and identifies the plumber or drainer as the responsible person for that work.
4. The combined form, for work outside the inspection net
For work not requiring an inspection the following document can be used: Combined Notice of Work and Certificate of Compliance. And for that same work, a copy does not need to be provided to Building Commission NSW or the local plumbing regulator.
| Document | What Building Commission NSW says it does |
|---|---|
| Notice of Work (NoW) | A form that outlines plumbing and drainage work to be carried out, and the person carrying out the work. |
| Certificate of Compliance (CoC) | Confirms the work complies with the Act, Regulation, Plumbing Code of Australia and the Deemed-to-Satisfy (DtS) requirements of AS/NZS 3500, and identifies the plumber or drainer as the responsible person for that work. |
| Combined Notice of Work and Certificate of Compliance | For work not requiring an inspection, the combined document can be used, and no copy needs to be provided to Building Commission NSW or the local plumbing regulator. |
Reading the trail for a kitchen
Put the two pages together and the shape of a sink job is this. The person doing the work needs a licence or certificate, at any price. The work may bring a Notice of Work before it, and the Notice of Work exemptions on the list are the regulator's own, quoted above. Plumbers and drainers at the completion of all plumbing and drainage work must complete a Certificate of Compliance and provide a copy to the person that has arranged the work (this may be a property owner, or builder); for work not requiring an inspection, the combined form can be used.
Two habits follow for anyone reading a quote. The first is to ask which documents the job will produce, and to read the exemption list as it is written rather than as it is remembered, because the regulator's wording is the wording that counts. The second is to keep the Certificate of Compliance: it is the document that names the plumber or drainer as the responsible person for the work.
The gas line under the bench has a paper trail of its own, with its own certificate and its own clock, in the guide to who may connect a gas cooktop. The electrical side, including the certificate a power point move produces, is in the power point guide.
Request sent
Thank you. We’ve emailed you to confirm it, with what happens next.
Request already sent
We already have your request for this site, so there’s no need to send another.
Some details were missing or too long. Please check each field and send your request again.
We couldn’t confirm the request came from a person. Please try again.
This form has had a lot of requests. Please try again later.
This page has changed since you opened it. Please reload it and send your request again.