Gas fitting in Launceston
On the gas licence maps
Launceston has its own plan among the Office of the Tasmanian Economic Regulator's gas distribution licence maps. Mains gas or bottled LPG, connecting an appliance is licensed work.
One in three homes rented
33.8% of occupied homes in the City of Launceston's area were rented at the 2021 Census. If you rent, a gas fault goes to the landlord or agent first.
Safety has its own regulator
Gas safety in Tasmania is regulated by the Director of Gas Safety under the Gas Safety Act 2019, separately from the Economic Regulator, which licenses networks and retailers.
The licence to ask for
Tasmania's Occupational Licensing Act 2005 names gas-fitting work as one of the occupations it licenses, alongside plumbing and electrical work. Its contractor rules apply: a business must hold a contractor licence to carry on as a contractor, and section 38(2) bars anyone from representing that a person is prepared to contract for the work without a contractor licence of the right class.
That's why a quote should carry the business's contractor licence number. Ask, too, who will actually do the work and what licence they hold, and check both on the state's licence register.
Replacing gas hot water in Launceston
A gas hot water unit can be replaced with another gas unit here: Victoria's 2027 end-of-life rule stops at the border, and we found no Tasmanian rule like it.
What does apply is the temperature rule. A replacement hot water heater in Tasmania needs a temperature control device, so water reaches the bathroom at no more than 50°C, unless it's a single unit in a bank of heaters. Hot water itself should be stored at 60°C or more to control Legionella. If you're looking at a heat pump instead, STCs can reduce the price of eligible models.
Heaters and cold snaps
TasWater notes that temperatures below zero aren't unusual in Tasmania's colder months, which is when gas heaters run hardest. A heater that hasn't been looked at for years, a flame that has changed colour, or soot around the flue are reasons to book a gas fitter before winter, not during it.
Five questions for a Launceston gas fitter
- What is your contractor licence number, and does it cover gas-fitting work?
- Who will do the job, and what licence do they hold?
- Is my appliance set up for natural gas or LPG?
- For a hot water replacement, is the temperature control device included?
- Will you leak-test the line once you've finished?
What we would do
Ask for the contractor licence number before you agree to anything, because Tasmanian law makes that licence the key to who may offer the work. Get heaters checked in autumn. And if your gas hot water is near the end, price gas and heat pump replacements side by side, each with the temperature control device, so you're comparing like with like.