In Victoria, each class of plumbing work has two levels of accreditation, also known as ‘occupational licensing’:
Registration
Licence.
Plumbing accreditation is only granted to individuals. The BPC does not register or licence plumbing companies.
Registration
For each class you are registered in, you:
Are able to lawfully carry out that plumbing work
Must comply with the relevant standards and Regulations.
Registration does not authorise you to:
Supervise apprentices or other plumbers
Issue compliance certificates.
Registration is granted for up to three years. When your registration expires, you will be required to renew.
If you carry out plumbing work that requires a compliance certificate, your supervising licensed plumber in the relevant class(es) must issue the compliance certificate within five days of completion.
Licence
A licensed plumber is expected to have additional knowledge and experience compared to a registered plumber. For each class you are licensed in, you can:
Lawfully carry out that plumbing work
Undertake design work
Supervise apprentices
Supervise other plumbers registered in the classes you are licensed in
A plumber registered in the classes you supervised
An apprentice you supervised.
A licensed plumber must hold and maintain the required insurance, see plumbing insurance requirements. A licence is granted for up to 12 months. When your licence expires, you will be required to renew it.
Practitioner ID cards
Registered and licensed plumbers are issued a BPC plumbing practitioner ID card. The back of the card outlines the classes you are registered and/or licensed in.
Once registered or licenced, you must carry your BPC practitioner ID card with you whenever you undertake plumbing work. You must show the card upon request.
Building practitioners are issued a Building practitioner ID card. If you become a registered building practitioner in the future, you will hold two BPC practitioner ID cards.
Registration and licence differences summary
This chart displays the a summary of the differences between a plumbing registration and licence
Photo and identification requirements
You are required to submit a photo of yourself and documents to verify your identity when you apply or renew a registration or licence with the Building and Plumbing Commission (BPC).
You must provide a passport photo of yourself with your application. This must be:
Good quality and in colour
Less than six months old
Approximately 5cm in height and 4cm in width (passport photo size)
Without a border.
In the photo you must:
Be in sharp focus
Have a plain, light-coloured background
Be uniformly lit (no shadows or reflections)
Look directly at the camera
Not have hair or garments covering your face
Have a neutral expression (no laughing, smiling or frowning).
If you are submitting your application via email, please attach a photo with your application.
If you are submitting your application via the BPC Portal, you can either upload a photo when prompted or provide a photo when you verify your identity through Services Vic. Find out more about navigating registration applications and the VBA portal for further guidance.
You are required to verify your identity as part of the application process. To do this you will need to provide two identity documents from the appropriate categories (see below).
All identity documents provided to BPC must be certified photocopies. A certified photocopy is a photocopy of an original document that has been verified as being a true photocopy of the original document. This can be completed by an authorised person, who can certify documents. People authorised to certify documents can be found on the Victorian Justice and Community Safety website.
Evidence of identity documents
To verify your identity you must provide certified photocopies from the following:
One document from Category A
One document from Category B.
At least one of the identity documents provided must contain your photograph.
If your identity documentation is under different names, you will need to provide one document from the difference in name documentation section.
Category A (one document)
Australian photo driver’s licence or learner permit photo card
Australian Passport
Overseas Passport (if it has expired by more than two years, it is acceptable if accompanied by a current Australian visa)
Full Australian birth certificate issued by a Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages (Note: Birth extracts and commemorative birth certificates are not accepted)
Immicard issued by the Department of Home Affairs
Australian Naturalisation or Citizenship Certificate
Victorian marine licence photo card
Victorian firearm licence photo card (Note: Minor and junior permit/licence are not accepted)
Category B (one document)
Medicare card
Working with Children’s Check card
Australian Proof of Age card
Australian Keypass card
Australian Defence Force photo identity card (excluding civilian staff)
Department of Veterans Affairs card
Difference in name documentation
Marriage certificate issued by a Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages in Australia
Change of name certificate issued by a Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages in Australia.
