New Home & Builder Plumbing Illawarra

What happens at each stage of new home plumbing

In-ground drainage

Before the slab is poured, or before the subfloor is closed in, we lay the sanitary drainage that will carry waste from each fixture to the sewer connection, along with the stormwater lines on your plans. Every waste position is set out from the plans, because once the concrete is down a toilet or floor waste can't simply be shifted.

In the Illawarra, the plumber books an audit inspection with Building Commission NSW for internal and external drainage, timed for when the work is finished and before it's backfilled or covered. Allow for that in the program before the pour.

Rough-in

Once the frame is up and before the walls are lined, we run hot and cold water pipes to every fixture, set the heights for shower outlets, mixers and basin wastes, and run gas pipework if the home will use gas. Fixture selections need to be final by now, since in-wall mixer bodies and concealed cisterns are fitted at this stage.

Fit-off

After tiling, cabinetry and painting, we return to install toilets, basins, tapware, the kitchen sink, dishwasher and washing machine connections and the hot water system, then check each fixture for leaks and flow.

Final connections and sign-off

We complete the connections your plans call for and finish the paperwork. The final inspection stage comes once all fixtures and fittings are connected and the building is ready to be occupied.

What inspections, approvals and paperwork apply in the Illawarra?

Plumbing paperwork on a new home is the licensed plumber's responsibility, but it helps to know what's coming:

• Notice of Work. Before starting work that needs inspection in the Illawarra, the plumber lodges a Notice of Work with Building Commission NSW through its MyInspections Gateway.
• Audit inspections. Internal drainage, external drainage and the final stage are among the inspections the plumber books.
• Certificate of Compliance. This confirms the plumbing complies with the plumbing laws and the Plumbing Code of Australia.
• Sewer Service Diagram. A drawing of where the private sewer pipes run, submitted to Building Commission NSW when the drainage work is complete.

Sydney Water building plan approval

Sydney Water, which supplies the Illawarra, has to assess and approve building plans before work starts, and plans are lodged through Sydney Water Tap in. Check with your builder or certifier that this is done before ground works begin.

Plumbing for owner-builders

Holding an owner-builder permit means you're running the job, not that you can do the plumbing. In NSW the permit doesn't extend to plumbing, draining or gasfitting; that work needs a licensed tradesperson whatever it costs. Our guide to what plumbing you can legally do yourself in NSW covers the detail.

What we can do is make the plumbing one of the simpler trades on your program:

• A walk-through of your plans before the slab design is locked in
• A clear list of what must be ready before each of our visits
• Stages booked around your concreter, framer, tiler and cabinet maker
• Fully qualified advice on fixtures and hot water before rough-in

Builder plumbing for Illawarra builders

If you're a builder looking for a builder plumber in the Illawarra, we work to your program and your plans. Book us for the whole house or for individual stages, and let us know early when a pour date or frame stage moves so we can move with it.

Alongside new homes, the residential plumbing we do for builders includes renovations, additions and alterations; our bathroom renovation plumbing page covers that side. We back our work with a 12+ month warranty, and the phone is answered 24/7 if something goes wrong on site.

Choosing hot water and fixtures for a new home

Hot water is one of the bigger decisions on a new build, because it affects the gas, electrical and space planning. The main types are electric storage, gas storage, continuous flow, heat pump and solar. Our comparisons of gas and electric hot water and heat pump hot water for Illawarra homes are a good place to start, and our hot water installation page explains how we fit them.

Whichever type you choose, a new heated water service has to include a temperature control device, which limits the hot water reaching the shower, bath, basin and bidet to a maximum of 50°C in a home.