Plumbing and draining frequently asked questions

You need to wait 30 minutes after the arranged booking time before the work can be covered over.

Contact plumbingcompliance@customerservice.nsw.gov.au advising where the work has taken place and the circumstances that have occurred. A member of the team will contact you to discuss the matter.

You need to:

• pay the relevant fees for any inspection required via the MyInspections Gateway
• submit a Notice of Work, and clearly outline the work that you will be conducting (eg, external drainage, rough in, fit out) via the MyInspections Gateway
• arrange the required drainage and / or recycled water inspection/s through the booking line if appropriate
• submit the sewer service diagram and certificate of compliance via the MyInspections Gateway
• arrange the required final or recycled water final inspection through the booking line.

Due to the volume of these types of enquiries, the Plumbing Team cannot confirm this information.

To advise us of the work you will be conducting onsite, submit your Notice of Work and clearly outline the work that you will be conducting (e.g. external drainage, rough in, fit out).

Have the owner or builder make a complaint, providing any evidence in the form of emails, texts or invoices as necessary to confirm who has conducted the work. 

Provide the complaint reference number to plumbingcompliance@customerservice.nsw.gov.au

Under Section 11 of the Plumbing and Drainage Act 2011 you must give the owner and or occupier of the property written notice of the defective or non-compliant installation and advise the plumbing regulator if it poses an immediate threat to public health or safety.

You need to submit a Certificate of Compliance and Sewer Service Diagram via the MyInspections Gateway for the work you have conducted

For information on how to use the MyInspections Gateway see the MyInspections User Guide.

If you have any issues using the gateway after consulting the user guide send an email to PIASadmin@customerservice.nsw.gov.au with information about the issue.

For renovations or extensions to residential properties, pay as needed a fee depending on the type of work requiring inspection.

Note: Only in the case of renovations and extensions to existing buildings, internal and external drainage work would be considered one inspection when, and only when, the external portion of the drainage works is no longer than three metres.

New single occupancy dwellings and granny flats require a minimum of 3 fees to be paid for:

• 1x internal drainage inspection,
• 1x external drainage inspection, and
• 1x final inspection or recycled water final inspection.

Where recycled water is installed to the property an extra minimum of 2 inspection fees to be paid for:

• 1x recycled water front run, and
• 1x recycled water rough in.

New duplexes require a minimum of 3 fees to be paid for each individual dwelling (each side):

• 1x internal drainage inspection for each dwelling (2x total),
• 1x external drainage inspection per connection point to Network Utility Operator (ie if 1x Connection Point = 1 Inspection required, if 2x Connection Point = 2 Inspections required), and
• 1x final inspection or recycled water final inspection for each dwelling (2x total).

Where recycled water is installed to the property an extra minimum of 2 inspection fees to be paid for each individual dwelling:

• 1x recycled water front run for each dwelling (2x total), and
• 1x recycled water rough in for each dwelling (2x total).

Where the properties have been subdivided prior to starting work (ie separate torrens titles). A separate application and NoW are required for each individual dwelling (ie. two AA reference numbers). 

Where a property has not been subdivided prior to construction, or will be strata titled in the future, one application and NoW is required.

All SSD’s for duplexes are to be one document showing both dwellings and associated drainage for each dwelling.

For townhouses and units see our Multi Unit Development fees document.

For commercial or industrial properties, pay as needed a fee depending on the type of work requiring inspection.

To request a refund for fees that are not used or no longer required, you must email PIASadmin@customerservice.nsw.gov.au with your AA or AE reference number. You must specify the amount of booking fees you wish to have refunded.

If you are eligible for a refund, the funds will be reimbursed to the payment method used to make the initial payment with 2-3 weeks.

To pay an additional fee on a previously made application, hover over ‘Applications’ and select ‘Pay Audit Fees’. After accepting the terms and conditions, fill in your application details, using the same exact details from your initial application.

Once you have reached the ‘Inspection Details’ portion of the application, insert your existing AA or AE number into the field ‘Original inspection reference number’. Proceed to insert the number of additional inspections required and pay additional fees as normal.

For information on how to use the MyInspections Gateway see the MyInspections User Guide.

Examples of minor works performed is the replacement of tapware, hot water heaters, or fixtures or a bathroom renovation where the drainage fixtures have not been changed.

The Combined Notice of Work and Certificate of Compliance can be used for minor work not requiring inspection.

Send a copy of the engineer letter or certificate to plumbingcompliance@customerservice.nsw.gov.au

Yes, you are still required to supply a Certificate of Compliance and Sewer Service Diagram to your client as per the Plumbing and Drainage Act 2011.

If you do not supply them a Certificate of Compliance or Sewer Service Diagram you could be in breach of the legislation with potential compliance action being taken.

We cannot provide advice on how to recover any monies you may be owed.

We try to process the SSDs approximately 1 week after the final inspection has been conducted. If you received a non-compliance or the SSD has been selected for a quality assurance check, we will be unable to pass this on to Sydney Water until remedied.

If a significant amount of time has passed since the inspections were carried out, plumbers and drainers can contact PIASadmin@customerservice.nsw.gov.au advising of the property address and fee reference. The admin team will check the necessary inspections have been completed and the required documents have been submitted and will send the SSD onto Sydney Water if appropriate.

Please note an SSD is not required for the sale of a property where it is not available in the ordinary course of administration in accordance with the Conveyancing (Sale of Land) Regulation 2022.

If Sydney Water Tap In does not have an SSD available for the property contact Sydney Water to confirm the availability of a SSD.

If Sydney Water confirm a SSD is not available, you will need to:

• draw an SSD in accordance with the SSD requirements
• email piasadmin@customerservice.nsw.gov.au with the copy of the SSD. Please ensure the subject of the email is titled “Unavailable SSD” with the Address, and contact information provided in the body of the email.

The following steps will take place once your email has been received:

1. The property will be checked to ensure no previous inspections have been conducted.
2. The SSD will be reviewed to ensure compliance with the SSD requirements. If the SSD is not of a suitable quality it will not be passed onto Sydney Water.
3. The SSD will be stamped - “This property has not been inspected by the Regulator at the time of installation. Plumbing and drainage present at this property may or may not comply with the Plumbing Code of Australia and relevant Australian Standards.”

No, a re-inspection is only required for physical plumbing and drainage work, not for document related non-complaint items. The revised Sewer Service Diagram is to be re-submitted via the MyInspections Gateway.

No, we only pass on Sewer Service Diagrams to Sydney Water shortly after a final inspection has been completed with the property information at the time of the inspection bookings.

As per the Plumbing Code of Australia, Specification 41 Cross Connection Hazards, S41C4 notes that each Bidet Toilet Seat where the outlet in any position is not 25mm above the overflow level of the pan and each Bidet Douche Trigger Spray requires individual high hazard protection.

In some instances a Bidet Toilet Seat has a suitable high hazard protection integral of the seat. The device must conform to AS/NZS 2845.1 or 2845.2 and is to be noted on the Watermark Certificate found on the Watermark Product Database.

In all other instances a high hazard backflow device must be installed to protect the cold water supply. See our technical note on the installation of toilet seat douche outlets for more information.

The Plumbing Code of Australia (PCA) contains NSW specific variations to plumbing and drainage requirements. Variations are inclusions or modifications to clauses located in the Plumbing Code of Australia and AS/NZS 3500 Volumes 1,2, & 4.

See the Schedule 5 – NSW Variations for requirements.

Plumbing and drainage must meet the minimum Performance Requirements set out in the Plumbing Code of Australia (PCA).

The Performance requirements can be met through the Deemed-to-Satisfy (DtS) Solution (AS/NZS 3500), a Performance Solution or Combined Solution (Combination of a DtS and Performance Solution)

For work not detailed in the DtS Solution, a Performance Solution is required to be submitted to the Plumbing Regulator. 

For more information see Guideline for plumbing and drainage: Installing code compliant work and performance solutions.