AUDITS AND RECORDS
What a VBA audit looks at, and the records that protect you
An audit or inspection from the Victorian Building Authority is not something to panic about, but it is a lot calmer when your records are already in order. Here is what tends to get looked at, and the documentation that puts you in a strong position.
What the VBA is checking
Licensed plumbing work in Victoria is overseen by the regulator, the Building and Plumbing Commission, which replaced the Victorian Building Authority on 1 July 2025. The audit program continues under the new regulator. When work is reviewed, the focus is on whether it was done by an appropriately licensed person, whether it meets the relevant standards, and whether the required paperwork exists and is correct. For regulated work that means the Certificate of Compliance, and behind it, evidence that the installation was actually done to standard.
The certificate is issued by the licensed plumber. What backs it up, and what you want to be able to produce, is the record of the job itself.
The records that put you in a strong position
- The job basics. Address, date, and the type of work, recorded at the time rather than reconstructed from memory.
- Photographs of the completed installation. The key compliance points in shot, clear and in focus, taken on the day.
- The standards the work was checked against. A note that it was assessed against AS/NZS 3500.1 or 3500.4 carries more weight than a blanket claim of compliance.
- Your licence details and sign-off. Name, licence number, and signature, with the date.
- Anything testable, recorded. Pressure tests, measured temperatures, disinfection. If it was done, capture it.
How to have them ready, fast
The hard part is not knowing what to keep, it is keeping it consistently, job after job, in a way you can find again years later. Paper-and-folder systems fall apart here: photos go missing, dates get fuzzy, and one lost job is the one that gets queried.
The strong position is simple to describe: for any job, you can produce a signed, dated record with clear photos of the completed work and the standards it was checked against, within minutes. That is a very different conversation to "I did the work, but I don’t have anything from the day."
Where Elemetric fits
Elemetric exists to make that record routine. You photograph the job on site, the app checks the shots against AS/NZS 3500 and prompts for anything missing, and every job produces a signed PDF with hashed, time-stamped photos and a verification code. Records are kept for the full liability window and exportable in one tap. It does not certify compliance, you do, but when a record is asked for, it is already there.
Build the archive before you need it
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Download on the App Store →General information for licensed tradespeople, not legal or regulatory advice. The licensed plumber remains solely responsible for compliance. Refer to the Building and Plumbing Commission (formerly the VBA) for authoritative requirements on licensing, Certificates of Compliance, and audits.