Who to hire for a leaking tap

Short answer

A licensed plumber. It is a small job — usually replacing a washer or a ceramic cartridge — and the useful move is to have every dripping tap and running toilet in the house done in the same visit, because you are paying for the attendance either way.

Soon, not tonightIt will not usually get cheaper by waiting, and it is rarely worth an after-hours rate.

When it is someone else

Calling the wrong trade costs an attendance fee to be told so. These are the cases where this problem belongs to someone other than a Plumber.

  • your landlord or agent, first

    you rent. A dripping tap is usually a non-urgent repair, and repairs you arrange yourself are generally not reimbursable unless you followed the process in your tenancy legislation.

What to do before anyone arrives

  1. Find the isolation valve under the basin or behind the cistern and check it turns. If there isn't one, find the main stop tap at the meter and make sure you can turn it off — that is the difference between a drip and a flood if something lets go.
  2. Count every dripping tap, running cistern and leaking outdoor tap in the house and have the list ready. The attendance is the expensive part.
  3. Look at the tap body. A drip from the spout is a washer or cartridge; water weeping from under the handle or around the base is a different repair and worth mentioning when you book.
  4. If the tap is more than about twenty years old or the chrome is pitting, say so — parts for some old bodies are no longer made and the plumber can bring a replacement rather than making a second trip.

What to ask when you book

  • Do you charge per tap or per visit once you are here?
  • Will you carry cartridges for this brand, or should I send a photo first?
  • If the seat is worn, can you re-seat it on the day rather than coming back?

What changes the price

No dollar figures here: this directory holds no price data and an invented range is worse than none. What follows is what makes one of these jobs cost more than the same job next door, which is the part you can actually use when comparing quotes.

  • Whether it is a washer, a ceramic cartridge, or a tap body that has to be replaced.
  • Whether the tap seat has worn and needs re-grinding — a new washer on a damaged seat drips again within months.
  • Mixer taps, where the cartridge is brand-specific and sometimes only available from the importer.
  • Whether there is an isolation valve. Without one the water has to come off at the main, which means every tap in the house is out while the work happens.

What you can do yourself

Is this licensed work?

Plumbing is licensed work in every state and territory, and that includes tap work. The practical exception is a tap connected by a flexible hose that you can turn off at an isolation valve, which some states treat as minor maintenance — check with your regulator before you assume.

There is no national register. Search the licence number with the regulator for the state the work is happening in.

Licensing thresholds and certificate requirements differ by state and change with amending regulation, so this page describes the mechanism rather than quoting a figure. The regulator’s own page is the current answer.

Common questions

Who should I hire for a leaking tap
A licensed plumber. It is a small job — usually replacing a washer or a ceramic cartridge — and the useful move is to have every dripping tap and running toilet in the house done in the same visit, because you are paying for the attendance either way.
How much water does a dripping tap actually waste?
Enough to show up on a bill over a quarter, and much more if it is a hot tap, because you are also paying to heat it. The more useful test is the water meter: turn everything off in the house, watch the meter for ten minutes, and if it moves you have a leak somewhere whether or not you can hear it.
Can I replace a tap washer myself?
In several states this is treated as minor maintenance a householder may do, and in others the exemption is narrower. The rule that does not vary: anything that involves cutting into pipework, altering the water service, or working on a mains-pressure hot water system is licensed work everywhere.

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Who to hire for

General information about who does what, not advice about your specific job. Licensing, consumer law and council rules differ by state and change; the regulator for your state is the current source. More guides to hiring a tradesperson.