Something has stopped working
Shower gone cold? Start with no hot water, then read about a cylinder that won't heat or one that hisses or bangs.
For drains, how to unblock a drain covers the plunger and when to put it down. Smelly drains helps you track a sewer smell to its source, and who fixes a blocked drain shows where your pipe ends and the council's or water provider's begins, place by place.
Before you hire anyone
Plumber, gasfitter or drainlayer? sorts out which trade your job needs. Checking the PGDB register shows how to confirm a current licence in a couple of minutes. How to choose a plumber lists the warning signs PGDB has taken to court, and reading a plumbing quote explains what your consumer rights cover.
Rules and paperwork
Certificates of compliance untangles three different documents that share one name. Building consent for a hot water cylinder covers when a replacement is exempt. What you can do yourself sticks to the Plumbers, Gasfitters and Drainlayers Board's own lists of what a homeowner may and may not do.
Every rule in these guides comes from the law itself, the Board, WorkSafe, Consumer Protection or the water provider named, and each page lists its sources at the bottom. When a guide shows your job needs a professional, we can match you with an authorised local tradie who specialises in it.