Product Quality/Certification

WaterMark Certification Scheme (WMCS)

Inappropriate materials and product failure in plumbing installations can cause contamination of the water resource or supply, environmental degradation, water and energy wastage, increased costs through excessive maintenance, personal illness, injury, and even death.

The WMCS sets out the certification and authorisation requirements and procedures for plumbing and drainage materials and products so that they may be authorised for use in plumbing installations.

Provisions for the WMCS are outlined in Section G of the Plumbing Code of Australia and AS 5200. Jurisdictions that do not call up the PCA still require relevant plumbing products to carry a WaterMark as outlined in AS/NZS 3500 and MP52 – Manual of Authorisation Procedures.

While it is not illegal to sell products without a WaterMark, WaterMark certification is mandatory for products to be legally installed in accordance with state and territory plumbing regulations. Those products required to be certified are listed in the Plumbing Code of Australia and AS5200.000.

Products must be marked with the WaterMark logo, the product Standard against which the product has been certified and the product Licence Number.

Authorisations are issued by Conformity Assessment Bodies accredited under the WMCS. However, if a new technical specification (ATS) for a product is required, the ATS must be ratified by the NPRF before a product can be certified.

Standards Australia is responsible for the administration of the WMCS and maintains a database of certified products on behalf of the NPRF and a list of all accredited CABs on its website.

http://www.watermark.standards.org.au/

Water Efficiency and Labelling Scheme (WELS)

The Water Efficiency and Labelling Scheme is a federally run scheme to provide information on certain products. For plumbing, WELS products are taps (with some exceptions), showers, toilets, urinals and flow controllers (optional).  These products cannot be legally sold in Australia without a WELS rating. For more information see http://www.waterrating.gov.au/