What a plumber in Victoria has to hold
In Victoria the Building and Plumbing Commission licenses plumbers. It is the Victorian Building Authority trading under its new name. The BPC page says each class of plumbing work has two levels, registration and licence, and that both are granted to individuals only, never to companies. A registered plumber can lawfully do the work in that class but cannot supervise or issue compliance certificates. A licensed plumber can do the work, supervise, issue compliance certificates, and has to hold insurance. The main classes the BPC lists are water supply, sanitary, drainage, gasfitting, roofing stormwater, mechanical services, irrigation, fire protection and refrigerated air-conditioning, with specialised and restricted classes under them. Gasfitting is a main class of its own, so a plumber doing gas work holds it in that class. Every registered or licensed plumber carries a BPC practitioner ID card that lists their classes on the back. Ask to see it, and check the register before a deposit.
Check a licence yourself: Building and Plumbing Commission licence check. Sources: www.bpc.vic.gov.au, read 15 Sep 2026 · www.bpc.vic.gov.au, read 15 Sep 2026.
Who runs the water in Ballarat
A plumber answers to two bodies most people never think about until the sewer backs up. Knowing which is which saves a phone call.
What to ask before you say yes
Ask for the licence number and check it on the register before any money changes hands. It takes two minutes and it saves more than anything else you will do on the job. Ask for a written quote, not a number on the phone. A quote has to say what the work is, what it costs, what is not included, and how long it holds. Ask whether the price includes GST. A registered business has to say. Ask what happens if they find something else once the wall is open. The honest answer is a variation in writing before the extra work starts, not a bigger bill at the end. And ask for the deposit terms. A deposit is normal. A deposit with no written quote behind it is not. If any of those questions gets a shrug, that is your answer.
How the request works
You describe the job in your own words. We work out what trade it actually is, which is the part most people get wrong. You pick which businesses get it. It goes to them and to nobody else, so your job is never blasted out to strangers. Nobody pays for your request and nobody pays to sit higher on this page.
Describe your job and pick who gets it →Questions people in Victoria ask
Do I need a licensed plumber for a hot water system in Victoria?
Yes. The BPC registers and licenses plumbers by class, and a hot water system sits in the water supply class. A registered plumber can do the work; a licensed plumber in that class has to issue the compliance certificate. Ask to see the BPC ID card before they start.
Can the same plumber do the gas work?
Only if the back of their BPC card lists gasfitting. The BPC treats gasfitting as a main class of its own, separate from water supply, sanitary and drainage. A plumber without it has to bring in someone who holds it.
What does a written quote have to include?
What the work is, what it costs, what is not included, whether GST is in the price, and how long the quote holds. A number on the phone is not a quote. See what a written quote must include.
What if they do not turn up?
Text first, then ring. If nothing comes back, move on and pick another business from the list. A no-show before the job is a warning about the job. See what to do if a tradie does not turn up.
Is this every plumber in Victoria?
No. It is what the Yamate directory holds for these postcodes on the date at the top of the list, and nothing more. A good plumber can be missing from it. A listed one has not been checked by us. The register is the authority, not this page.
Plumbers near Ballarat
Electricians in Ballarat · Check a tradie's licence · What a written quote must include · Search the whole directory
Listings come from the Yamate directory, loaded 16 Sept 2026. Is one of these your business? Open it and tap Claim it — it is yours to edit, and quote requests reach you. Not here at all? List your business free, in a minute. Or ask us to take it down — one email to a person, and the next update will not put it back. Wrong detail? Same email.
General information only, not legal advice. Yamate is not a regulator and has not checked any licence, any insurance or any work on this page; the state register is the only place a licence can be confirmed. Business names, suburbs and services come from the Yamate directory on the date shown and may be out of date. The founder plan is $19 a month flat if you sign up before 30 October 2026, $29 a month after — that is the software for tradies, and it has nothing to do with whether a business appears here.