Plumbing Connection Summer 2017

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1 4 PLUMBING CONNECTION Summer 2017
INDUSTRY NEWS
WATERMARK - WHAT HAS CHANGED?
The improved Scheme was developed following a review of
the old Scheme by the ABCB in 2013-15 and a decision by
the Building Ministers’ Forum in 2015 to amend the Scheme
to improve its effectiveness.
For Approved Certifiers and Users
The changes will be implemented over a period of time to
allow industry to adjust.
The changes include:
∫ adoption of a sustainable funding model with a simplified
annual flat fee per licence;
∫ establishment of the WaterMark Technical Advisory
Committee (WMTAC) to provide technical advice to the
ABCB;
∫ greater alignment of WaterMark product specification
development procedures, through the Protocol for
Developing Product Specifications, with the Protocol for
Developing NCC Referenced Documents;
∫ commitment for the adoption of the most recent edition
of referenced standards, provided they comply with the
Protocol, to ensure product specifications keep pace with
product evolution and innovation; and
∫ all existing Australian Technical Specifications (ATS) have
been rebranded as WaterMark Technical Specifications
(WMTS) – i.e. product specifications published by the
ABCB; future new or amended WMTS will require a Deed of
Assignment and Licence of Intellectual Property signed by
contributors prior to publication.
For Plumbers, Builders, Architects and Regulators
The key change that will benefit all plumbers, builders,
architects and regulators and onsite trades is the improved
WaterMark Product Database with enhanced user interface
and search functionality.
WaterMark certificates and/or products can be searched
for by WaterMark licence number, licensee name, product
specification, product type, brand name, model name or
model identification, with additional filters to enable refined
searching. From the search results a specific certificate/
product may be selected to view more detailed information.
This provides a simple means of verifying that plumbing and
drainage products have WaterMark certification.
Further information visit
Certification/WaterMark-Certification-Scheme
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