Your electronic certificate of compliance
South Australia calls it an eCOC. A plumber who has carried out plumbing work on a property must issue one, and the customer must receive it within 7 days of the work being completed.
Keep it with your property records, and ask for it if a week passes without it arriving.
Work the certificate covers includes
- Installing or replacing a water heater.
- Sanitary plumbing and drainage.
- Work on a backflow prevention device.
Checking an SA plumber's licence
We couldn't read South Australia's licensing pages during our research, so the regulator's search tool and licence classes aren't confirmed here. Ask for the plumber's licence number before anything starts, and check it with the state's licensing body.
SA rules on licence numbers in ads, and any list of jobs homeowners may do themselves, are also unconfirmed. If you're unsure whether a job needs a licence, ask the regulator first. Our licence check guide covers each state.
Hot water in South Australia
SA has its own rule for temperature control devices on replacements. A new heater needs one only where a device was already in place before the old heater was replaced. Solar is treated differently: every new solar water installation needs one, solar replacements included.
Hot water at bathroom fixtures is capped at 50°C. Because water heater replacements are covered by the eCOC, expect a certificate when a new system goes in.
Any South Australian can use REPS, whichever energy retailer they're with, and upgrading household water heating is one of its activities. We don't quote REPS amounts. Federal STCs can also cut the price of an eligible heat pump or solar system: see STCs explained.
Questions to ask an SA plumber
- What is your licence number, and which class of work does it cover?
- Will this job need a certificate of compliance, and where will you send it?
- Did my old hot water system have a tempering valve?
- Is the replacement model on the STC register?
South Australian cities
Find Adelaide, Mount Gambier, Whyalla, Murray Bridge and Port Lincoln in the list below. Choose yours and describe the problem. SA plumbers who specialise in that kind of work can see it, and only the one who takes it receives your contact details.