Have to pay for certificate of compliance?

Does it sound right that I have to pay $30 for a electrical certificate of compliance and a $60 for a plumbing? I would have thought the reason why I got certified tradies is so the price already includes all the certificates? What does the certificate cover?

Also... when do you guys normally pay for the job? after the kitchen is completely finished? and I mean once the cs benchtop is in and the sinks and cooktops are working? Or do you use your kitchen for a couple of days to make sure nothing is faulty?

We have final balance due on day of installation, once installation is complete. Does not include CS bench as we do not do this ourselves, stonemason will install the sink and cooktop once the bench is on. As for the sink and cooktop "working", if it didnt work I doubt it would have anything to do with the cabinet maker but your electrician and plumber SHOULD check to make sure its working before they leave. Kitchen has a warranty, so if something was wrong it would need to be fixed regardless, though I do understand you may be hesitiant, especially if you dont know what the company's after sale service is like. Play around with the main things before they leave i.e. open and close drawers and cupboards, make sure pull out pantries close with scraping on anything etc

Have you employed one company to oversee the whole thing, or do you have seperate contractors?

As for certificates, Im not sure how that works I would assume most people work it in to their quotes?

Yep, to explain my situation abit more, I bought the kitchens off a company who recommends these installer/contractors to overseer the entire installation including plumbing and electrician. The kitchen company provides me with all the installation cost required and then I pay the installers directly. The installers will then contact the stone mason to install the benchtop once the cabinets are in. I also pay the stone mason directly for the stone and install. Once the benchtop is in place then the plumber comes in to finish off the sink install etc. So would you pay once the final step, sink, is completed?

Hmm.... from the sounds of it, your kitchen company has recommended particular tradies but has no association with them financially as you are paying each of them seperately? Or at least you are with the stone, what about electrician and plumber? Do you pay them directly when they arrive? Or pay the kitchen company for it? So even though they may "work" together generally, they are not connected with them. Does that make sense? Im having a moment with trying to articulate what I mean

You should have received a payment outline from the kitchen company, outlining what is due when?

Because if the above is correct, than the cabinet maker would be paid for their works when they are done, the stonemason the same, plumber same etc BUT it should have all been outlined

Nope. I know I will pay the kitchen company when the cabinets arrive just for the cabinets itself. Then the stone mason for when benchtop is installed. The rest is all dealt through the 1 contractor/installer person who has a bunch of tradies (electrician/plumbers) working for him. This is the guy I'm not sure when I should be paying him.

Aaron is a plumber, and he issues lots of Certificates of Compliance. Why should he have to pay for it out of his pocket, when he's doing a job for a client? It's just an extra expense you need to factor in.

Last time I looked, I thought plumbing certificates of compliance were around $30 though, not $60.

For windows, we do this free of charge everytime.

Ed

Free of charge? Or factored into the cost of the job? I doubt you'd operate at a loss. Aaron does his fair share of jobs and just charges people materials (some old ladies cannot afford to pay for a plumber), so he'd be operating at a loss if he didn't charge the customer the cost of the certificate

FOC... for me it's just a signed statement confirming that everything is to Australian Standards... but if someone doesn't pay... well then that's a different story.
Ed

So what does the certificate cost and what is involved in your hubby's field? Do you also charge customers the cost of writting and issuing the invoice too?

In my old field of work (telecommunications wiring) all we needed to do is give the customer a bit of paper saying what we have done. As far as I am concerned the 'cost' of doing this is factored into the cost of the job, along with the other hidden costs such as accounting etc.

An example of the form I would have used is found here:

http://www.acma.gov.au/webwr/_assets/ma ... e-tca1.doc

there are some that like to make extra profit, but direct the blame for the extra cost towards the govt.

No, he does not charge to write and issue the invoice That's rediculous. The Certificate of Compliance isn't just something he prints up at no charge on his little computer either.

As I mentioned earlier, he's a plumber, and any job he does where the total cost of materials + labour is over $750, no matter who supplies the materials requires a Certificate of Compliance. Any gas work also requires a Compliance Certficate no matter what the cost of the job.

Once the job is complete, he rings the Plumbing Industry Commission and buys the Certificate from them, which costs around $29.10 (GST inclusive). The certifcate is then sent out to him, then he fills in the licence details, the job details etc etc. Customer gets a copy, and he lodges the form with the Plumbing Industry Commission. The Certificate covers his work for 5-7 years.

Make sense?

Edited: to correct $$ based on current PIC information.

So sounds like this certificate of compliance isn't just your piece of paper with a list of checkpoints and a signature at the end? Though I don't see, in terms of seeing whether the job was done properly, either document makes a big difference other than one is free and the other is costing me clot to $100 for plumbing + electricity?

Nope, not just a peice of paper at all. It's holds your plumber responsible for any issues that occur as a result of his work for the next 5-7 years.

Im a plumber and if I do a job that requires a fee, thats added to the cost of the job, just like any other materials I use.
I invoice my labour, an itemised list of materials and any applicable fees.

If its a certificate that doesnt require a fee, then I dont charge anything for it.

Sounds like a screwed up industry if it needs to go to that extream. As I said the industry that I used to work in I issued my own certificate of compliance that held me legally responsible for life. Doesn't require any fancy certificate, just the form above with my details on it.

Then it sounds like you have a lot less hassles involved to issue such a certificate - I'm suprised that if plumbers have to do all of that to get a compliance certificate then customers are lucky that they are only being charged the actual cost from the plumbing commission and not more for the time involved of the plumber

Exactly what Aaron does, the cost of the certificate is included in the intial quote along with other materials and estimated labour. He makes no profit from the certificate, does not charge the customer GST as there is no GST on that.

If you have an issue take it up with the Plumbing Industry. I didn't realise that issuing a certificate of compliance which is lodged with the Plumbing Industry, costing the customer $30 was extreme and screwed up

Being the member who posted the query was asking specifically about electrical and plumbing, I dont think your attitude towards the information others has given has really helped them

Last time I looked this was a discussion board and my discussion has been on topic. Not sure what my attitude has to do with it though, I am just flabergasted that an industry needs to issue ornate certificates that cost $30 or $60 each, when other industries, where you could argue the stakes of no compliance are higher work in other ways that don't have these costs, but are still appropriately regulated.

Plumbing is not my area of expertise Erin, but is it really necessary to "buy" the certificate? We print our compliance letters for windows which give the same guarantee. Each window and door needs a compliance sticker and I could buy these from the Association, but I print these too at a much reduced cost (everything complies which is more than I can say about some ). So my question, is the certificate issued by the Plumbing Industry Commission mandatory? Or could you make your own?

Ed