The City is your water company
City of Gold Coast supplies water and sewerage to more than 600,000 people. The State Government owns the region's bulk water, but for a burst main, a wet patch around the meter or a sewer overflowing in the street, the City is who you call.
On your side of the meter, it's all yours. You pay for every litre the meter records, including water lost to a leak you can't see, and the pipes and fittings past the meter tail are yours to maintain. The City repairs leaks in its own supply system, up to and including the meter itself.
Where the City's sewer stops
Each sewered block joins the City's sewer at a connection point, marked by a fitting on the pipe. The City looks after the pipe from the main to that fitting. If no one can find the fitting, its part runs to one metre inside your boundary. Everything on the house side, including your inspection openings, is the owner's.
When a plumber traces a blockage into the City's main, the City may repay the plumber's reasonable costs, up to $300 including GST unless exceptional circumstances apply. The catch: the plumber has to report it on the same day it was found, and then claim from the City instead of billing you. Work on your private sewer, digging, repeat visits and blockages caused by wet wipes or toys aren't covered.
Gold Coast facts that change a plumbing job
More units than most of Queensland
At the 2021 Census, 21.7% of occupied homes in the Gold Coast council area were flats or apartments and 20.6% were townhouses or semis. Across Queensland, flats were 12.5%. In a unit block, find out who owns the shared pipe before anyone starts digging.
Stormwater sneaking into the sewer
From 2020 to 2023 the City inspected about 4500 properties, from Helensvale to Robina, and found stormwater getting into the sewer at 16% of them. Low or faulty overflow relief gullies, missing inspection opening lids and wrong stormwater connections were the usual culprits.
Heavy rain, no frost
Gold Coast Seaway averages 1,330.5 mm of rain a year and 13.4 days with 25 mm or more. Its coldest reading since 1992 is 2.5°C, so pipes on the coast don't freeze. Storms are the bigger test of your drains.
A valve between you and the main
Mains pressure runs from 220 kPa to around 900 kPa, but inside a building the limit is 500 kPa. Newer homes may have a pressure reduction valve, and the City says a blocked one is the main cause of low pressure in houses built after 2006.
Checking a plumber's licence in Queensland
The Queensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCC) licenses plumbers. Search its licensee register and its occupational plumber and drainer register through myQBCC, so you check both the business and the person doing the work.
Gas work has its own licence. A gas fitter also needs a gas work licence or authorisation from Resources Safety and Health Queensland, and you can look one up on the RSHQ Portal without signing in.
A lot of everyday plumbing is notifiable work, a replacement water heater included. The licensee registers it with the QBCC within 10 business days of invoicing you, and you should get a copy. Our Queensland page lists the small jobs the QBCC lets you do yourself.
Hot water rules that apply here
Every new and replacement hot water system in Queensland needs a temperature control device. A heat pump or solar unit has to be fitted by a hot water installer holding the QBCC's solar and heat pump endorsement.
Queensland has no Victorian-style rule pushing gas hot water out. Our Gold Coast hot water page covers choosing a system for the coast.
Gold Coast specialists and suburbs
Start with the page for your problem: hot water, blocked drains, leak detection, pipe relining, gas fitting, commercial plumbing or an emergency plumber.
Suburb pages, including Southport, Robina, Burleigh Heads, Nerang, Coomera and Helensvale, add what's known about plumbing in each area.
What we would do
Find two things before you need them: your water meter, usually near the front boundary, and your overflow relief gully. The meter tells you within an hour whether water is escaping on your side. The gully is where sewage should spill in a blockage, so keep it clear, above the ground and closed to rainwater. If a drain does block, ask the plumber to check whether the fault is in the City's main and to report it that day. Then look up their QBCC licence before work starts.