Every plumbing product with a WaterMark licence has its own listing on the Australian Building Codes Board's WaterMark Product Database. When an inspector or a plumber asks whether a product is compliant, that listing is the record that answers. If you know how to check WaterMark certification yourself, five minutes before a spec goes into a quote, you avoid the rework that eats a job's margin at fit-off.
The ABCB's product listings are public, so any builder, tradie or owner-builder can look one up. Most don't bother, because the logo on the box looks like enough. It isn't.
Why the listing matters more than the box
Under the Plumbing Code of Australia (NCC Volume Three), products covered by the WaterMark Schedule of Products have to be certified and authorised before they're installed. A WaterMark is a licence. A specific company holds it for specific products, an accredited conformity assessment body issues it and the ABCB records it in the database. The requirement itself is in the NCC on the ABCB site.
So a WaterMark stamped on a mixer's packaging only tells you that somebody, at some point, held a licence for something. The listing tells you whether that licence is still current and whether it covers this exact model. Those are the two questions the plumber is answering when they sign the compliance certificate, and the stamp can't answer either one.
How to check WaterMark certification in five minutes
Open the WaterMark Product Database, search the licence number or the product, and read these fields:
- Licence number. It should match the number marked on the product or its packaging. If the database can't find the number, stop there.
- Licensee. This is the company that holds the licence, often a manufacturer or importer rather than the brand on the showroom shelf. A mismatch isn't automatically a problem, but it's a reason to read the model list closely.
- Licence status. Only a current licence covers what you're about to install. Anything else needs a conversation before the product is ordered, not after.
- Standard or specification. This is the Australian Standard or WaterMark Technical Specification the product was assessed against. For tapware it's usually AS/NZS 3718.
- Product scope. The model codes, sizes and configurations the licence covers. Most problems hide here.
Save the listing as a screenshot or PDF and put the date on it. That's your evidence that the product was compliant when you specified it.
The traps that catch builders out
Near-enough model codes. A licence covers the models it names. A product whose code is one suffix off the listed one, which is common with online retailers and parallel imports, isn't covered just because it looks the same. If the exact code isn't in the scope, treat the product as uncertified until the supplier shows you otherwise.
Star ratings aren't certification. The WELS rating is a Commonwealth scheme about water use. WaterMark is about whether a product is fit and safe to connect to the supply or drainage system. A product can carry one without the other, and only the WaterMark answers the compliance question.
Client-supplied gear. The owner who found a "bargain" basin mixer online is the most common source of uncertified product on residential jobs. We've covered how to handle that conversation in what to do when a client supplies their own tapware.
The register moves. Licences lapse, get varied or get suspended, so a product that checked out at quote time can have a problem by fit-off on a long job. That's why it pays to re-check, as we explain in why the ABCB register can change between your quote and your fit-off.
Put the check into quoting, not fit-off
The plumber signs the certificate, but the builder usually wears the delay when a product fails. Pulling it out means a return trip, a replacement on order and a handover that slips, and none of that was priced into the job. Five habits keep it off your plate:
- Check at selection. Look up the listing when the product is chosen, not when it arrives on site.
- Write the licence number on the line item. Put it in the quote or selections schedule next to the product, so everyone downstream is working from the same model.
- Cover client-supplied products in your terms. State that client-supplied plumbing products must be WaterMark certified where the scheme requires it, and that replacing a non-compliant item is a variation. Price that variation like any other, including your margin and GST.
- Re-check before ordering on long jobs. It takes two minutes for high-value or long-lead items when months have passed since the quote.
- Give the plumber the list. They'll catch a scope mismatch faster with the licence numbers in hand, and it shows you did your part.
Keep the evidence with the job
A dated listing screenshot is only useful if you can find it six months later when a defect claim or an inspection query comes in. Keep it with the quote, the selections and the photos for that job, not in a camera roll mixed in with everything else. If you're still running jobs from folders and group chats, our guide to job management software for tradies covers what to look for when keeping documents against each job.
The builders who never get caught by this aren't experts in the WaterMark scheme. They just check the listing, record the licence number and keep the proof in one place.
The free Built Simple app puts 45 trade calculators on your phone, with no signup needed. When you're ready to keep quotes, selections and job documents together, every paid plan starts with a 14-day free trial.
