Plumbing and Drainage

Shoalhaven City Council is the regulator of plumbing and drainage on behalf of NSW Fair Trading within the Shoalhaven Local Government area.

All plumbing and drainage work carried out in the Shoalhaven Local Government area must comply with the Plumbing Code of Australia and Australia Standard AS/NZS 3500 and all work must be undertaken by a NSW licensed plumber.

Do I need approval?

You need to obtain Council approval if you are planning to connect or disconnect with any of Council’s:

  • Sewer systems
  • Stormwater systems
  • Water systems
  • Or if you intend to carry out any work which may affect these systems

This includes any major or minor plumbing and drainage works involved with:

  • Minor alterations
  • Renovations
  • Additions
  • Relocation of an existing drainage line

Council approval is also required for sanitary drainage work being carried out on properties connected to On-site Sewage Management Systems (Septic Systems).

How do I get approval?

  1. To obtain approval, the property owner must complete and submit a section 68 application together with the prescribed fees via the NSW Planning Portal
  2. Once approval is granted, a Section 68 Approval will be issued together with conditions specific to the proposed works (these conditions will also identify the stages when inspections will be required prior to covering or backfilling work)
  3. A Notice of Work Form is to be sent to Council by the licenced plumber no later than two business days before work commences

Emergency works and replacement of old for new works, involving no additional or relocated fixtures, do not require approval

When do I need an inspection?

Council is required to conduct inspections for the following:

  • Drainage work finished before backfilling or covering the installation
  • Connection to Council sewer main
  • Water supply before cladding walls and or ceilings
  • Final inspection after completion of all works prior to occupation
  • When required, re-inspections of incomplete and or non-compliant works

To book an inspection contact:

  1. Call Council's Plumbing and Drainage team
  2. Inspections must be booked at least 24 hours in advance
  3. Ensure you have your Drainage Application (DR) reference number
  4. Prior to the final inspection a Certificate of Compliance, Sewer Service Diagram and Stormwater Diagram as executed is to be provided to Council and the property owner by the licenced plumber

FAQs

Outdoor showers

External showers are to comply with the following Council requirements:

  • Discharge directly to natural ground or a hard surface draining to natural ground (with no subsurface drainage connecting to the stormwater drainage), or
  • Discharge to the sewer system through a disconnector gully with a shower base that has a roof overhead which has an overhang 10% larger than the shower base, any adjoining finished surface level shall be 75mm below the shower base, except if located in a path or paved area where the finished surface will be sloping away from the shower base to prevent ponding or ingress of water

Removable shower and floor waste grates

Floor waste gullies shall be installed with an accessible removable grate and have a riser of not less than DN 80 to finished floor level. Where the sole function of the floor waste gully is to dispose of water spillage and wash-down water, a minimum DN 50 riser may be used. Reference AS3500.2.

Channel grates must have a minimum DN 80 outlet, unless the shower waste water is going through the floor waste gully.

Charged stormwater flush point

The charged line to an above ground rainwater tank is to have a flush point installed at the lowest reduced level (RL) into a 450mm x 450mm pit to enable the line to be flushed. This is to prevent the line becoming blocked.

The pit must overflow to an approved absorption trench or to Council's approved stormwater disposal connection.

Overland stormwater flow, redirecting and/or concentrating stormwater

All excavation, backfilling and landscaping works must not result in:

  1. Any change to the overland stormwater flow path on your property and or a neighbouring property. If any change to the overland flow path occurs on a property, the stormwater runoff shall be collected and directed to a legal point of discharge
  2. The redirection and/or concentration of stormwater flows onto neighbouring properties

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