How to check a plumber licence in Tasmania

Who issues it, and where to search

Tasmania's licensing distinguishes practitioner categories within plumbing, so the search result tells you what the person is actually entitled to do rather than only that they are licensed.

How to check it, in order

1. 1Ask 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. 2Search Find a licensed tradesperson yourself. A photograph of a card proves that a licence once existed, not that it is current.
3. 3Check 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. 4Check the expiry date and any conditions or disciplinary history recorded against it.
5. 5Confirm 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.