WaterMark

What the rule is and who it applies to

The National Construction Code requires any plumbing or drainage product of a type on the WaterMark Schedule of Products to be WaterMark certified. The Australian Building Codes Board runs the scheme. The state plumbing regulators enforce it, and they enforce it at the point of installation.

So the rule binds the plumber. If a scheduled product is not certified, a licensed plumber is not permitted to install it and the regulator may not accept the installation. The board warns this can also void insurance.

Lead Free WaterMark

Copper alloy parts in contact with drinking water must now contain no more than 0.25% lead, as a weighted average, tested to NSF/ANSI/CAN 372.

The change ran in stages. The transition started on 1 May 2023. From 1 May 2026 only lead-free products can be certified or manufactured, and licences that were not recertified were suspended. Certified stock made before then can still be installed until 30 April 2028 in most states. Victoria required lead free from 1 May 2026.

Lead-free products carry the Lead Free WaterMark with the words lead free or LF, and the register says lead free. A recertified product can keep its old model number, so check the register, not the box.

How to check it yourself

• Go to the WaterMark product search on the ABCB site.
• Search by the 6-digit licence number printed next to the mark, then by model ID and brand name.
• The result should say Authorised Product, show an expiry date in the future, list your exact model and brand, and say Lead free product where lead free applies.
• Open the certificate. It lists the licence holder, the trade names, model IDs and catalogue numbers covered, the specification, and the issue and expiry dates.
• The product itself should carry the licence holder's name or brand, the mark, the licence number and the specification number.

What evidence Elje holds per item

• The licence number, the register search result with its date, and the certificate PDF.
• Proof the model ID on the order matches a model ID on the certificate.
• Proof the product is supplied under the licence holder's control, not a copy of a certified model from another factory.
• The Lead Free status, and the WELS registration where it applies.
• A photo of the marking on the production sample, checked again at inspection.

The common traps with China-made product

• The licence belongs to someone else. WaterMark licences are held by the licence holder, which can be a manufacturer, importer, distributor or retailer. A factory that makes a model for an Australian brand cannot sell you that model under the brand's licence.
• A different factory. If manufacture moves to another factory, the product needs recertifying. The same model ID from a second factory is not covered.
• The logo is on the tap but the number is not on the register, or the licence has expired. Licences run 12 months and certificates 5 years.
• Non-lead-free stock from before 1 May 2026, sold cheaply as clearance.
• Bundled flexible hoses that are not certified to AS 3499. Class 1 hoses cannot be certified at all.
• A CE mark or a Chinese certificate offered instead. Neither is WaterMark.

Questions