New Tenancy Act

Understand the new tenancy Act

The reform of the Victorian Residential Tenancies Act has impacts for gasfitting, which highlights the need for a far better compliance regime. Master Plumbers’ Chief Technical Advisor, Gary Bath explains.

The Victorian Government’s update of the Victorian Residential Tenancies Act this year has 130 reforms to be implemented with a view to making renting safer and fairer. Of interest to our industry’s gasfitting sector is the mandated requirement to undertake a Gas Safety Check (GSC) every two years. The Gas Safety Check defined in the Act has a mix of:

• Compliance audit items on the existing gas installation; • Checking correct installation of isolating valves where required; • Whether the gas cooker is secured; • Clearance from combustible surfaces; • Checking on the condition of gas appliance flue systems including chimneys; • A requirement to test the existing gasfitting line for leakage; and • A set of steps defining the servicing of each gas appliance.

The release of the new prescriptive guidelines again show the failure of adequate regulation for the gas industry. Once again, the government is putting this responsibility in the hands of the attending gas service person.

The history

Victoria has a long and celebrated gas industry that expanded with the natural gas reticulation in the 70’s and generated a strong appliance manufacturing, gas supply, gasfitting and servicing sector overseen by the then Gas & Fuel Corporation. The privatisation of the Gas & Fuel Corporation meant that there was a lack of training – specifically for gas service persons – for a number of years, the industry relying instead on ex-Gas & Fuel trained employees to carry out this work. Servicing of gas appliances has long been recognised as a skill set that requires experience and knowledge above that of a general gasfitter. This is reflected in our current licence regime where individuals who carry out this work must hold a specialised class of gasfitting, namely Type A Appliance servicing. Sadly, the lack of any compliance regime, i.e. oversight of who is carrying out the work, means that many who currently operate in this area are doing so illegally or don’t have the necessary skills and experience to do so.

Learning from the coroner’s report

The Coroner’s findings in the Sofianopoulos case1 highlighted the need to not only mandate gas appliance servicing at a minimum of every two years for public housing, but to underline the importance of having a set of clear guidelines. These guidelines must define the minimum requirements for maintenance and servicing of a gas appliance to ensure its continued safe and efficient operation. AS4575 Gas Appliance – Quality of servicing is an Australian Standard reviewed and republished in 2018, it has yet to be called up by the regulators in Victoria – ESV as the technical regulator for gas and VBA as the compliance regulator for Type A Gas. Master Plumbers has advocated for this to happen as a platform for further developing what is currently a non-existent compliance/auditing regime for this specialised class of work.

Why we need change

When we look at what makes up the Gas Safety Check, we might well ask why there are so many installation compliance checks contained in the requirements. Gas appliances deteriorate through use. Hot combustion gases mixed with condensation, dirt and dust that is drawn into the appliance mean that regular servicing is required to check the operation of the safety devices, condition of the burner assemblies, and condition of the heat exchanger, flueways, etc. Once serviced, the appliance can continue to operate safely and won’t need costly replacement, similar to a motor vehicle where routine maintenance over time can prevent a far more expensive investment. This mandated two-year audit isn’t necessary for the gasfitting line and its components. In most cases they are either compliantly installed or not. Our self-certification regime in Victoria means that the individual plumber/gasfitter certifies their work as compliant by lodging a Certificate of Compliance with the VBA. As a means of monitoring this compliance, the VBA conduct audits of each plumber/gasfitter’s completed work. With more than 420,000 plumbing compliance certificates lodged for the fiscal year 2019-20, the audit rate conducted by the VBA was 2.2% of all plumbing work. There is little doubt that there is a high non-compliance outcome for gasfitting installations currently. The more important question is: How we are adequately addressing it? Surely the answer isn’t to have gasfitters conduct inspection audits on previously certified installation work?

The outcomes from the Residential Tenancies Act in regards to mandating and defining a Gas Safety Check is seen by many in our industry as excessive and ultimately costly for the landlords where mandating servicing of each gas appliance would have the same outcome for less cost. The fact is that this will do little to achieve any greater oversight by our regulator for these works as the records will reside in the filing cabinets of property managers and are not required to be recorded in any way by an independent body. The skills and experience required to service and maintain a gas appliance far exceed waving a gas tester in front of the appliance and deeming it safe. We have a skilled workforce in Victoria that is able to deliver safe, cost-effective servicing outcomes, but we need increased regulator compliance outcomes for this work so that individuals without the required licence and skills don’t further undermine the industry in Victoria.

ESV gas safety checklists

ESV has released a gas safety checklist to assist gasfitters in meeting the requirements of the Act. Gasfitters must hold the endorsed class of Type A Gas Appliance Servicing in order to carry out this work and a record indicating the requirements of what constitutes a Gas Safety Report has to be lodged on completion. Visit: https://esv.vic.gov.au/ technical-information/residentialtenancy-changes/ The cardholder can only work in classes where registration is ticked and can only issue compliance where licence is ticked Main Classes Licence Registration Drainage   Fire protection Gasfitting   Irrigation (non-agricultural)   Mechanical Services   Roofing (stormwater)   Sanitary   Water Supply   Restricted Classes Hydrants & hose reels   Res & dom fire sprinklers  Comm & indust fire sprinklers Fire system pump sets Gas - disconnect / reconnect   Gas - restricted to type A appliances   Gas - mobile homes   Solid fuel heaters   Duct fixing   Single head split systems   Class 10A roofing   Domestic hot water services   Refrig air-cond (basic)   Refrig air-cond (intermediate) Refrig air-cond split systems   Specialised Classes Gas servicing - type A   Gas conversion - type A Type B gasfitting Type B gasfitting advanced Refrigerated air-conditioning Backflow prevention   www.vba.vic.gov.au

Are you falling for this trap?

Master Plumbers’ technical expert Aaron Bridger warns installing plumbers to check Watermark certification, as recent changes could leave them exposed.

An enduring issue faced by many plumbers is the final connection of the bath waste to the drain. With often limited space and needing to incorporate an overflow from the bath, there are a number of so-called solutions on the market.

The Plumbing Code of Australia (NCC Volume 3) requires that all fitting and fixtures used must have a Watermark certification, additionally they must comply with AS/NZS3500.2 installation standards.

Many of these ‘flexible connections’ were at one stage ‘certified’ under Watermark but now no longer meet the new specifications so it’s imperative that installing plumbers understand the importance of ensuring that any watermark certification is current. Many that are on the market have been unable to meet these new specifications and due to there not being a ‘point of sale’ requirement on the retailers (it is not illegal to sell these items), the responsibility rests with the installing plumber. This situation can leave the plumber high and dry if there are issues with the wastes down the track. There could even be situations where you will not have access to insurance cover.

Another issue that arises, particularly with bath wastes, is ensuring that the waste outlet has a removable grate for maintenance purposes. AS/NZS3500.2 13.3.7 Fixture grates, “Where a fixture trap is not accessible, the grate shall be removable.”

What to do?

• Be involved early in the construction process to ensure that you have space and time to connect the fixture up along more traditional lines (i.e. fixture trap and waste). • If using a flexible connector ensure that it has the appropriate

Watermark approval. • Make sure any bath fixture outlet has a removable grate in situations where the trap is not accessible.

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Disclaimer: Marsh Advantage Insurance Pty Ltd (ABN 31 081 358 303, AFSL 238 369) (Marsh) arrange this insurance and are not an insurer. When arranging Public Liability Insurance, Marsh act under binding authority on behalf of Pacific Underwriting Corporation Pty Ltd (ABN 77 091 225 535, AFSL 237 270), who act as agent of the insurer, Chubb Insurance Australia Limited (ABN 23 001 642 020, AFSL 239 687). This brochure contains general information, does not take into account your individual objectives, financial situation or needs and may not suit your personal circumstances. For full details of the terms, conditions and limitations of the covers and before making any decision about whether to acquire the product, refer to the specific policy wordings available from Marsh. The Master Plumbers and Mechanical Services Association of Australia receives a financial benefit when an insurance policy is arranged by Marsh for one of its members. LCPA No. 20/093