Help-A notifiable work was done by an unlicensed plumber

[Weidong66]

I recently had a blocked drain in my investment house in Brisbane. The property manager sent a plumber to repair it. I asked the plumber in the phone if he is a qualified person before he started to work. His answer is Yes. I finally got a bill around $4000 from his company. Because this work involved replacing a part of pipe in the connection to the main sewer, I asked the plumber to provide the complinance certificate and a copy of his license. The company sent me a lodged Form 4 - A notifiable work form next day. But in this form the plumber name and license number is his boss's name and license number. I said to them the person who performed this work shoud be a licensed person based on the law. The company reduced a little bit cost finally and replied me below:

"Licence Issue

Under Queensland Licensing requirements our company xxxxx Plumbing Pty Ltd has a license number of xxxx and this licence number covers all employees of this company and therefore is overseen and insured by the Queensland Building and Construction Commission. Therefore the work that was done at your property was within the licensing requirements for Queensland.

Supervisor

On the 9/05/14 a licensed representative of our company joined our other 2 plumbers to supervise and ensure the work was performed according to Australian standards. The licensed representative deemed the job was compliant to Australian plumbing standards and consequently the job was finalised and backfilled. "

Could anybody advise whether the company's reply correct or not? Also in plumber's original report, there is no anything mentioned about this supervisor and there is no any charges for this supervisor as well. I am not sure if they made this supervisor up or not. The company threatened to forward this account to the debt collection company if I pursue the matter further and do not pay by the due day. The invoice was sent to PM and in property manager's company name.

 

[AJB]

I am a registered but not yet licenced plumber in Victoria. What the company stated is correct assuming the same laws apply in qld as Vic.
You will find that most plumbers working for a company aren't licenced, therefore the boss signs off on all their work. If you are signing the compliance certificates you need current insurance in case something goes wrong. The boss of the company has insurance and takes full responsibility for all of his employees work.

 

[AJB]

I work for for a company of approx 40 plumbers. If we all had to take out insurance that's around 40k worth! Instead the boss probably pays around 10k for his.

 

[Weidong66]

In the notifiable work information for consumers fact sheet, it says that "Notifiable work must be performed by a plumber or drainer licensed by the plumbing industry council". Does it mean that even if the work was performed by an unlicensed plumber and not supervised by his boss on site, the work is still legal because his boss's license covers his work?

 

[Perp]

In the notifiable work information for consumers fact sheet, it says that "Notifiable work must be performed by a plumber or drainer licensed by the plumbing industry council". Does it mean that even if the work was performed by an unlicensed plumber and not supervised by his boss on site, the work is still legal because his boss's license covers his work?

Yes. The plumbers working under the licence need to be qualified, but they don't all need an individual licence. "Supervision" is construed pretty broadly; the licenced plumber doesn't need to physically monitor every job, they just have to generally supervise the work of that plumber, and accept responsibility for their workmanship.

 

[turk]

There are registered plumbers and there are licensed plumbers.

There are various categories which the plumbers may be licensed or registered in,
E.g. Drainage, roofing, heating and ventilation, mechanical, gas to name some.

Plumbers can only work in the categories they are registered in and only sign off on the categories they are licensed in.

Work is done by a registered plumber which is then signed off by a licensed plumber.

 

[Perp]

There are licensed plumbers and there are registered plumbers.

There are various categories which the plumbers may be licensed or registered in,
E.g. Drainage, roofing, heating and ventilation, mechanical, gas to name some.

Plumbers can only work in the categories they are licensed in and only sign off on the categories they are registered in.

Work is done by a licensed plumber which is then signed off by a registered plumber.

I'm not sure we use the same terminology in Queensland. Only one QBCC (Queensland Building and Construction Commission) licence is required per company: QBCC - Who needs a licence? Weidong66 referred specifically to the QBCC licence, and it's accurate that only one QBCC licence is required.

Registration - or an "occupational licence" is required for every individual plumber: Occupational licences, which comes from the Plumbing Industry Council.

Or have I misunderstood something?

 

[AJB]

There are licensed plumbers and there are registered plumbers.

There are various categories which the plumbers may be licensed or registered in,
E.g. Drainage, roofing, heating and ventilation, mechanical, gas to name some.

Plumbers can only work in the categories they are licensed in and only sign off on the categories they are registered in.

Work is done by a licensed plumber which is then signed off by a registered plumber.

You have this around the wrong way. Either a registered or licensed plumber can do the work, but only a licensed plumber can sign off on work.
This is for Vic. It may be different in qld. I'd say it is the same process only different terminology is used.

 

[Perp]

You have this around the wrong way. Either a registered or licensed plumber can do the work, but only a licensed plumber can sign off on work.
This is for Vic. It may be different in qld. I'd say it is the same process only different terminology is used.

That accords with my understanding of Queensland - company has to have licence, individual plumber needs to be registered (also called an occupational licence). Phew!

 

[turk]

You have this around the wrong way. Either a registered or licensed plumber can do the work, but only a licensed plumber can sign off on work.
This is for Vic. It may be different in qld. I'd say it is the same process only different terminology is used.

Your right, edited my post

 

[Jolly123]

How much the std plumber fee?

Hi All,

How I love somersoft, it's always full of useful information.
I hv a blocked drain at home which only affecting the back section of the house, between a toilet and kitchen. We had a plumber came yesterday with a camera, after half an hour, he still couldnot find the problem. We had been charged $325 for yesterday. Today he will come again to remove the toilet and check from there, he said it will cost $300 per half hour as he will come with another person to help him. How long should we let him to try solving the problem? The time is ticking and it will be very costly. What happened if I got the dumb one that will take longer, like 2 hours and still not solved? Where should I stop him? I don't have any idea how long should a professional plumber fix this blocked drain issue. Any advise about time estimation and standard cost?

BTW, I will query today whether he is a registered or licenced plumber. Good to know this difference. I'm in NSW.

Thanks.

 

[Perp]

How long should we let him to try solving the problem? The time is ticking and it will be very costly. What happened if I got the dumb one that will take longer, like 2 hours and still not solved?

How long do you let him try to solve? Depends how badly you want the problem solved, I suppose! What alternative do you have?

If you're not confident that he's a competent plumber, get another one.

BTW, I will query today whether he is a registered or licenced plumber.

Why do you care?