Plumbing Connection Summer 2017

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PLUMBING CONNECTION Summer 2017

WELS CONTINUES TO RAISE THE BAR

ONWATER SAVINGS

his year, the Water Efficiency Labelling and Standards

(WELS) scheme is looking harder at the building

industry and has been addressing non-compliance by

giving infringement notices to businesses that don’t respond

to educational approaches.

A legislated program, WELS is designed to help businesses

and consumers make decisions about choosing products that

reduce household water usage.

Developed in 2005, the scheme specifies and enforces

efficiency standards and labels on toilets, urinals, tapware,

showers, flow controllers, clothes washers and dishwashers.

Under the regulations, these products are required to be

registered on the WELS database and labelled with their

water consumption and star rating as specified by AS/NZS

6400:2016.

Products regulated by WELS are also required to have

Watermark certification, but the onus on who must make

sure the product meets requirements is different for each

program.

In general, WaterMark certification is required before a

product can be legally installed by a licensed plumber. With

the WELS program, the responsibility to make sure the

product is registered and labelled rests with the supplier

– which can be a builder or developer selling a new unit or

building with WELS products in it, a wholesaler or retail outlet,

or a plumber who provides and installs the product.

“The WELS legislation applies when someone supplies

or offers to supply a new WELS product,” says Dr Carol

Grossman, director of the WELS Section within the

Department of Agriculture and Water Resources. “Any time

a product on that list is offered for sale in Australia, the

legislation will apply and the product should be registered and

labelled. Initially it needs to be tested for its water efficiency,

registered with WELS and then the label or text-based

WELS information must be provided to

purchasers.

“It is not about who installs the

product, but if the plumber supplied

it, then that information needs to

be provided. It only applies to new

products, but it also applies in new

homes when offered for sale for the

first time. If the WELS product is sold

as part of that home, the legislation

is crafted to include new buildings.

So when you look at a display home,

with new taps and toilets, then

the WELS information should be part of the display and the

inclusions list. Water efficiency can be a useful selling point

for the home.”

The WELS label is the recognisable blue and white arch

with stars which indicates its’ water efficiency rating and

water consumption figures, making it easy for consumers to

compare products.

Under the

Water Efficiency Labelling and Standards Act

2005,

civil penalties can be imposed of up to $12,600 for

individuals or up to $63,000 for corporations that do not

supply. The WELS Regulator can also issue infringement

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Selling a plumbing product without a WELS label makes you

liable for any problems that may occur.

WELS