New South Wales Consolidated Acts

PLUMBING AND DRAINAGE ACT 2011 - SECT 4

4 Plumbing and drainage work--meaning

Note : The plumbing and drainage work to which this Act applies is commonly referred to as on-site plumbing and drainage work.

(1) In this Act,
"plumbing and drainage work" means--

(a) the construction of, or work on, a plumbing installation that connects, directly or indirectly, with a network utility operator's water supply system, downstream from the point of connection to a network utility operator's water supply system, or

(b) the construction of, or work on, a plumbing installation that connects, directly or indirectly, with any other water supply system, if the construction or work is residential building work within the meaning of the Home Building Act 1989 , or

(c) the construction of, or work on, a sanitary plumbing system, or

(d) the construction of, or work on, a sanitary drainage system upstream from its point of connection to--

(i) a system for the disposal of sewerage, or

(ii) a system for the re-use of sewerage or other wastewater, or

(iii) an on-site wastewater management or treatment system, or

(iv) a network utility operator's sewerage system, or

(e) any other type of construction or work declared by the regulations to be plumbing and drainage work.

(2) A
"plumbing installation" means an installation that conveys, or controls the conveyance of, water but does not include anything connected to, extending or situated beyond the outlet from a fixture, fitting or pressurised line.

(3) A
"sanitary plumbing system" means an assembly of pipes, fittings, fixtures and appliances used to collect and convey sewage to a sanitary drainage system.

(4) A
"sanitary drainage system" means an assembly of pipes, fittings and apparatus (usually located below ground level) used to collect and convey the discharge from a sanitary plumbing system, together with discharge from fixtures directly connected to a drain, to a sewer.

(5) Subject to the regulations,
"plumbing and drainage work" does not include any of the following work--

(a) the construction of, or work on, stormwater pipes,

(b) the construction of, or work on, fire suppression systems,

(c) the construction of, or work on, network utility operator, local council, joint organisation or county council water or stormwater mains, sewers or sewerage systems,

(d) roof plumbing work (being work declared by the regulations under the Home Building Act 1989 to be roof plumbing work),

(e) exempt owner/occupier work, being work that--

(i) involves repairing a tap or showerhead in a dwelling (other than a repair of a thermostatic mixing valve, tempering valve or backflow prevention device) or the installation of water-restricting or flow-regulating devices to tap end fittings (including showerheads) in a dwelling, and

(ii) is carried out by the owner or occupier of the dwelling, or a person authorised to carry out the work by the owner or occupier of the dwelling who does not receive payment or other consideration for carrying out the work.

Note : Work excluded from the definition of
"plumbing and drainage work" still has to be done in accordance with any other relevant legislation, for example the Home Building Act 1989 .