Plumbing Award rates 2025/2026 (Australia)

Quick summary for time-poor owners

If you only skim one section, make it this one:

• The Plumbing and Fire Sprinklers Award 2020 [MA000036] sets minimum pay and conditions for many plumbing and fire sprinkler fitting workers.
• Minimum award wages increased 3.5% from the first full pay period on/after 1 July 2025.
• The four biggest compliance levers in this award are:
  1. Correct award coverage (don't assume)
  2. Correct stream/classification (worker vs tradesperson; sprinkler stream; registration)
  3. Correct employment type (weekly hire, daily hire, casual)
  4. Correct overtime/RDO setup (this award uses an RDO accrual system and weekend/public holiday rates can be high)
• Don't "wing it" on allowances: this award has all-purpose allowances (often already built into some rates) and separate task-based allowances (acting on licence, welding, lead burning, ship work, first aid, etc.).

What the plumbing Award actually is

Think of the award as the minimum rulebook you can't go below. It sets:

• Minimum wage rates (by classification/stream and sometimes registration status)
• How overtime/weekend/public holiday rates apply
• Ordinary hours arrangements and RDO accrual rules
• Allowances and reimbursements (industry/trade/registration, leading hand, on-call, travel, etc.)
• Links into the National Employment Standards (NES) and the Fair Work Act framework for certain issues (including casual status changes)

You can always pay more, but you can't legally pay less than the award minimums.

Who the plumbing Award covers (and who it doesn't)

Commonly covered work and roles

The Fair Work Ombudsman summary describes coverage broadly as employers/employees in the plumbing and/or fire sprinkler fitting services industry, including plumbing services like:

• plumbing, gas fitting, roof plumbing
• lead burning, ship plumbing
• heating/air-conditioning/ventilation plumbing
• irrigation installing, pipe-fitting, domestic engineering work

…including work done on established sites or construction sites. Note: some workers may be covered by the Building & Construction Award instead, depending on the work performed.

Examples of covered roles include plumber's labourers, sprinkler fitter assistants, qualified plumbers/gasfitters, apprentices, irrigation installers, fire technicians, and sprinkler fitter tradespersons.

Labour hire

The summary also flags coverage can extend to labour hire businesses placing employees into plumbing/fire sprinkler services where another award doesn't cover that work.

"Most searched" plumbing Award topics (and the real answers)

You can't see everyone's Google search volumes from the outside, but when you look at what Fair Work publishes targeted help pages about (and what payroll platforms write help articles for), the same questions keep coming up — so this guide includes dedicated sections for them.

2025 pay update: why your rates changed

From the first full pay period starting on or after 1 July 2025:

• the National Minimum Wage increased by 3.5%, and
• adult minimum award wages increased by 3.5% (with proportionate flow-on to many other award-based rates).

2025 pay rates snapshot (examples)

Below are examples taken from the Award's published hourly rate summaries for plumbing/mechanical services. Use these as a sanity check, not a "copy/paste forever" solution. For accurate calculations, use payroll software with award interpretation.

Example: plumbing & mechanical services — worker Level 1(a)

Ordinary hourly rate (example classification):

• Plumbing & mechanical services worker Level 1(a) (new entrant): $26.71/hr
• If the same worker is casual, the "ordinary hours" figure shown in the schedule is $33.39/hr (reflecting the casual loading in the schedule's structure).

Example: qualified plumber (tradesperson) — registered (State-based)

For a plumbing & mechanical services tradesperson Level 1 who is registered in accordance with relevant State legislation, the schedule shows:

Example: advanced tradesperson — registered

For advanced plumbing & mechanical services tradesperson Level 2 (registered stream shown in the schedule):

• Ordinary hourly rate: $35.45/hr
• Public holiday: $88.63/hr

Employment types in this award: weekly hire, daily hire, casual

A very common Plumbing Award "gotcha" is assuming the award only has the usual full-time/part-time/casual split. It doesn't.

This award uses:

• Weekly hire
• Daily hire
• Casual

Why it matters (in practice)

• Daily hire has its own rules, and the award explicitly states that for certain daily hire classifications, the ordinary hourly rate includes specific allowances (industry, special fixed, lost time loading, and sometimes trade/registration).
• Casual rates in the award schedules are presented at higher figures consistent with a loading approach (and have their own overtime interactions in the tables).

Ordinary hours & rostered days off (RDOs)

Do all employees get RDOs?

Fair Work's Plumbing Award RDO guidance says: Yes, but there are exceptions.

Key exceptions highlighted by Fair Work include:

• Individual flexibility agreements can change RDO arrangements (including removing RDOs).
• Some small businesses (<15 employees) may agree in writing not to have RDOs if they are not working alongside other building and construction workers and they pay overtime for hours worked over 38 each week.

How RDO accrual interacts with leave and public holidays

The Fair Work RDO article also explains (in practical terms) that:

• Paid leave counts toward accumulating an RDO, and the article describes how the "extra" accrual still builds.
• Public holidays also count for RDO accumulation (even if not worked).

Overtime, weekends & public holidays

In this award, weekend and public holiday work can move fast (and expensive). The Award's schedules show multipliers and dollar figures by classification.

Example (weekly hire-style schedule presentation) for worker Level 1(a):

Example (casual schedule presentation) for the same classification:

Allowances: the extras employers most commonly miss (or double count)

First, understand "all-purpose rate of pay"

The award defines all-purpose rate of pay as ordinary weekly pay inclusive of relevant all-purpose allowances, calculated in accordance with the Award's schedule structure.

All-purpose allowances (plumbing & mechanical services stream)

The award provides, for example:

• Industry allowance: $39.53 per week (plumbing/mechanical classifications)
• Plumbing trade allowance: $32.05 per week (for specified classifications)
• Registration allowance: $42.74 per week (for registered plumbing/mechanical tradesperson classifications)

Common task-based / responsibility allowances (paid in addition when applicable)

Examples shown in the award's allowance summaries include:

Leading hand allowance (daily hire employees)

The schedule summary shows leading hand allowance rates by crew size, including:

On-call (fire sprinkler employees)

The schedule summary includes on-call amounts such as:

• Permanent stand-by: $72.65 per week
• Other than permanent stand-by (Mon–Fri): $7.48 per night
• Other than permanent stand-by (Sat/Sun/Public holiday): $53.42 per day

Travel, fares & vehicle reimbursements

This is another top-search area because it's easy to underpay accidentally.

Examples of rules/rates shown in the award include:

• If employees are transferred from one job site to another during ordinary working hours, they must be paid their ordinary rate for travel time and reimbursed reasonable fares (unless transported by the employer).
• If the employer requests (and the employee agrees) to use their own vehicle for such a transfer, the allowance is $0.98 per kilometre.
• There's also an additional $0.54 per kilometre reimbursement described for certain "beyond defined radius" travel fuel costs.

Casual employment status changes (employee choice pathway)

If you're searching "casual conversion plumbing award", the real answer is mostly in the Fair Work Act, and the award points you there.

What the award says (high level)

The Plumbing Award includes a clause about changes to casual employment status that references sections 66A to 66MA of the Fair Work Act 2009.

What the act requires (key operational points)

Under the Act's Division 4A — Casual employment:

• A casual employee may give an employer a written notification if eligibility requirements are met (including minimum employment period: generally 6 months, or 12 months for small business employers).
• The employer must provide a written response within 21 days, and must consult before responding.
• If the employer accepts, the change takes effect on the first day of the first full pay period after the response (unless another day is agreed).
• The Act sets out dispute processes (including referral to the FWC and possible arbitration orders).

Step-by-step compliance plan

Common mistakes (and why they happen)

Sources & official resources

All pay rates and conditions in this guide are based on official Fair Work resources:

• Plumbing and Fire Sprinklers Award 2020 [MA000036] — Full award text on Fair Work
• Plumbing Award summary — Fair Work Ombudsman overview
• Pay Guide PDF (MA000036) — Official hourly rates and allowances
• Fair Work Pay Calculator (PACT) — Calculate rates for your employees
• Annual Wage Review 2024–25 — 3.5% increase announcement