Building and plumbing

If you plan to carry out building work, you should obtain advice from a private building surveyor on what approvals you will require, if any.

All plumbing must be undertaken by a plumber with an appropriate certificate of registration, who can assist you to obtain a plumbing permit if necessary.

Approvals process

Building and plumbing applications can only be lodged through PlanBuild.

This will allow you to complete your details and respond to questions, provide building and plumbing details and pay the application fees.

Building and plumbing forms

All forms required to be submitted to the City of Hobart under the Building Act 2016 can be downloaded from the Consumer, Building and Occupational Services (CBOS) website.

The Building Act

The Building Act 2016 and the Building Regulations 2016 regulate building and plumbing work in Tasmania. These laws and codes apply to everyone who undertakes building and plumbing work.

Further information is available at the Department of Justice website.

Cost of building and plumbing permits

We require that all building and plumbing fees are paid when you lodge your online plumbing application.

For more information, see our fees and charges page.

Plumbing work and plumbing permits

As the property owner, it is your responsibility – in conjunction with the designer – to ensure that a certificate of likely compliance and/or plumbing permit is in place before any plumbing work begins.

If you don't think you need a permit, you should check with your building surveyor, designer and the registered plumber undertaking the project before you start work.

You should also discuss with your building surveyor or designer if you need TasWater approvals.

There are substantial penalties for undertaking building and plumbing work without a permit.

Registered plumbers

All plumbing work – including installing, altering or maintaining a plumbing installation (i.e. roofing, drainage, pipe work) – must be undertaken by a plumber with an appropriate certificate of registration under the Occupational Licensing Act 2005.

For further information visit the Department of Justice licence databases.

More information

Further information to plumbing related issues:

Expiry of permits

Please note, there have been some changes to expiry dates of building and plumbing permits. All permits issued between 1994 and 2012 that have not been finalised will now expire on 1 January 2021 unless the expiry date has been extended. Permits issued after 28 November 2012 that have not been finalised will expire on the date specified in the permit unless extended.

For more information, please refer to the Expiry of Permits fact sheet(PDF, 168KB) from the Tasmanian Consumer, Building and Occupational Services.

To check if finalisation or extension of your building permit is required, contact your building surveyor. To check the status of a plumbing permit, contact the City Planning division on 03 6238 2711.

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic the Tasmanian Government issued a Notice on 17 June 2020 pursuant to Section 14 and 16 of the COVID-19 Disease Emergency (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2020 to extend certain permits issued under the Building Act 2016 (the Building Act).

The Notice will extend to building, plumbing, demolition and permits of substantial compliance issued under the Building Act that were current as of 18 June 2020, for a further 6 months past the expiry date of the permit.

The 6 month extension does not apply to permits that have already expired.

For further information, visit the Consumer, Building and Occupational Services website.