ACT’s peak plumbing body has introduced a nation-first $5,000 Consumer Guarantee in response to a stream of complaints about non-member plumbers operating in the ACT region.

Master Plumbers ACT Chief Executive Officer, Claire Howe, said the Association had introduced the $5,000 Consumer Guarantee to emphasise to all ACT residents the importance of hiring an ethical, MPA-accredited plumber.

“Plumbing is a fully-licensed industry, regulated by the government, and it’s a blight on our professional reputation to have unethical operators giving our industry a bad name.  So we’re doing something about it by reassuring residents with our Consumer Guarantee”, said Ms Howe.

“It’s unfortunate we need to introduce a consumer protection policy such as this, but having only been in this role since early 2021, I’m stunned by the number of complaints we receive from the Canberra community about unethical practices taking place.”

“We’re seeing a stream of problem cases – some worth tens of thousands of dollars – being referred to Fair Trading at Access Canberra, to the Consumer Legal Service at Care Inc, and ending up in the ACT court system.  This Consumer Guarantee is one way we can reassure our Canberra community that you can trust our MPA plumbers.”