The Victorian Government has just released their Regulatory Impact Statement (RIS), ‘Plumbing Regulations 2018’, proposing a few changes to the previous document.
The Victorian Government has undertaken a review of the ‘Plumbing Regulations 2008’, prior to their upcoming November 2018 expiry. The document follows an early public consultation process in March 2017, resulting from targeted industry engagement and consultation with the Plumbing Advisory Council and its subcommittees, from this the Victorian Government has submitted a proposal for new plumbing regulations and released a RIS.
After considering the existing regulatory requirements which are currently supporting the plumbing industry to be broadly appropriate, the Government’s proposed draft regulations largely continue the current regulatory framework with some changes seeking to modernise existing requirements and improve the quality of plumbing work for consumers and the community.
The proposed Plumbing Regulations 2018 provides detailed requirements in relation to plumbing work, plumbing practitioners, and the administration of plumbing work. With the aim of the regulations designed to ensure that plumbing work in Victoria will continue to be carried out safely and competently. The regulations seek to set qualification and experience eligibility requirements for registration and licensing and further define scopes of appropriate classes of plumbing work.
These key changes include:
- Setting additional experience requirements for practitioners prior to being eligible for licensing to reduce the rate of defective work;
- Establishing two new classes of plumbing work, including a new specialised class of work for the maintenance of thermostatic mixing valves and a new class for the installation of basic refrigerated air-conditioning systems;
- Reclassifying classes of plumbing work, such as refrigerated air-conditioning and type B gas fitting work, to better reflect training pathways; and
- Prescribing several new standards and technical requirements, including a new requirement for the replacement of hot water heaters in existing Class 1 buildings
The Victorian Building Authority (VBA) is developing a series of series of explanatory videos on the subject, which will soon be available to the public.
The RIS and further consultation information are available on the Engage Victoria website.