What a plumber in Western Australia has to hold
In Western Australia the Plumbers Licensing Board, inside Building and Energy, licenses plumbers. The WA Government page says plumbing work can only be done by qualified people with a licence from the Board, and it defines plumbing work as work on water supply, sanitary or drainage systems, including installing, altering, repairing, maintaining, testing or replacing pipes, fittings and fixtures. Minor tasks like replacing a showerhead or clearing a blocked pipe are excluded. The licence types it lists are a plumbing contractor's licence, which lets the holder carry out and supervise plumbing work, a tradesperson's licence to work under a contractor's direction, a provisional tradesperson's licence for overseas-trained plumbers, and a restricted plumbing permit for gasfitters, electricians and rainwater storage installers. Gas is not on the plumbing list: WA issues a separate Class G gasfitting permit for installing natural gas and LPG. Ask for the contractor's licence and check it on the online search before a deposit.
Check a licence yourself: Building and Energy online licence search. Sources: www.wa.gov.au, read 15 Sep 2026 · www.wa.gov.au, read 15 Sep 2026.
Who runs the water in Cockburn
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 Western Australia ask
Do I need a licensed plumber for a hot water system in Western Australia?
Yes. WA says plumbing work on water supply, sanitary or drainage systems can only be done by a person licensed by the Plumbers Licensing Board, and a hot water connection is water supply work. Ask for the contractor's licence number and check it on the Building and Energy search before they start.
Can the same plumber do the gas work?
Only if they hold a WA gasfitting permit. The plumbing licence covers water supply, sanitary and drainage work; gas is a separate Class G permit for natural gas and LPG. Ask to see it. 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 Western Australia?
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 Cockburn
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.