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Licensing · NSW · plumber

How to check a plumber licence in New South Wales

The short answer

NSW Fair Trading is the authority for plumbers in New South Wales, and the licence to look for is a plumbing, draining and gasfitting licence, held by class. Ask for the number and the exact entity name it is held under, which is often a company rather than the person on site, then search Verify.Licence yourself rather than accepting a photo of a card.

Checked against 4 published sources, listed in full at the end of this page. How we source this

Who issues it, and where to search

Regulator

NSW Fair Trading

What the licence is called here
plumbing, draining and gasfitting licence, held by class
Register to search
Verify.LicenceNSW Government ↗

NSW plumbing work is notifiable and subject to inspection, and the licence separates plumbing, draining and gasfitting into distinct classes, so ask which classes are held rather than whether a licence exists.

How to check it, in order

  1. Ask for the licence number and the exact name it is held under. It is often a company rather than the person standing in front of you, and the register searches on the name it was issued to.
  2. Search Verify.Licence yourself. A photograph of a card proves that a licence once existed, not that it is current.
  3. Check the class or category covers this work. A licence that is valid for one kind of work is not a licence for another, and that is the gap that most often matters.
  4. Check the expiry date and any conditions or disciplinary history recorded against it.
  5. Confirm the ABN on the quote matches the entity named on the licence, using ABN Lookup. A mismatch between who is licensed and who you are contracting with is worth asking about before you pay a deposit.

What the licence covers

Water supply, sanitary plumbing, drainage and the fixtures connected to them. Plumbing is licensed because it connects to drinking water and to the sewer, and a bad connection contaminates one or the other.

What you can legally do yourself

Narrow and different in every state. Several jurisdictions treat replacing a tap washer or a cistern's internal parts as minor maintenance a householder may do; others do not. What does not vary: cutting into pipework, altering the water service, working on a mains-pressure hot water system and anything connected to the sewer are licensed everywhere.

Plumbing licences come in classes, and the class matters more here than in most trades. Water supply, sanitary, drainage, roofing, mechanical services, irrigation and gas are separate endorsements in most jurisdictions, and a licence that covers one does not cover another.

Licensed plumbing work generally produces a compliance certificate. It is the plumber's statement that the work meets the plumbing code, it is the document a conveyancer asks for when you sell, and it is free to you at the time and expensive to obtain later.

Related questions

Can I change a tap washer myself?
In several states this is treated as minor maintenance a householder may perform, and in others the exemption is narrower or absent. Because it genuinely differs, the regulator named on this page is the only reliable answer, and the rule that does not vary is that anything involving cutting into pipework or the water service is licensed work everywhere.
What is a plumbing compliance certificate?
A certificate issued by the licensed plumber stating that the work complies with the plumbing code and standards. Most jurisdictions require one for notifiable work. Keep it: it is what a buyer's conveyancer asks for, and it is the evidence that the work was done by someone entitled to do it.

Sources

Every source below was fetched and its response recorded on the date shown. Where a government site blocks automated clients, that is noted rather than reported as a successful check.

  1. Verify.Licence · NSW GovernmentChecked 2026-08-10 · responded 200 OK
  2. NSW Fair Trading · NSW Fair TradingChecked 2026-08-10 · responded 200 OK
  3. Public Register of licences · NSW GovernmentChecked 2026-08-10 · responded 200 OK
  4. ABN Lookup · Australian Business RegisterChecked 2026-08-10 · responded 200 OK

Other trades in New South Wales:

Checking a plumber somewhere else: