Plumbing standards regulations being drafted for strata subdivision plumbing work
Amendments to the Plumbers Licensing and Plumbing Standards Regulations 2000 are being drafted in Western Australia to include new plumbing standards for subdivision plumbing work in relation to survey strata schemes.
The changes are outlined in Industry Bulletin 125 – New requirements for plumbing services to survey strata lot developments.
The new standards for plumbing services in relation to survey strata schemes commenced operation on 15 August 2020.
Plumbing services to individual survey strata lots consist of sanitary drainage service lines and connection points, and water supply service lines and connection points.
The requirements apply to survey strata developments consisting of two or more survey strata lots.
Prior to 2015 the Water Corporation provided guidance and direction to land developers in the form of ‘Plumbers advice kits’ for the provision of sanitary drainage service lines and connection points and to;water supply services to individual survey strata lots.
The developer would then engage an LPC to install the services where necessary as part of the process towards obtaining titles for the lots. This generally ensured that survey strata lots were provided with suitable plumbing services prior to the lots being sold and building commencing.
In 2015 the Water Corporation came to a decision that it was not in their remit to enforce requirements for plumbing services to individual survey strata lots beyond providing a connection point at the main lot boundary. Since then there have been consistent issues regarding the provision of plumbing services to individual survey strata lots including:
• new strata lots not being provided with services at all;
• services to lots being inappropriately located, e.g. installed diagonally across other lots where they are susceptible to damage during site-works;
• lots that are not serviced being ‘built out’ when a house is built on another lot that is between them and the main sewer connection point; and
• difficulty locating connection points due to no drainage plumbing diagram being available.
Where sanitary drainage services are required a developer must engage an LPC to install a suitable sanitary drainage service line(s) and connection point(s) to each lot.
Where water services are required the developer must enter into an agreement with a water services provider (in most instances the Water Corporation) to either install infrastructure, or provide direct services or multi-metering to each lot on the survey strata scheme, or alternatively engage an LPC to install water supply services to each lot on the scheme.