Plumbing Award Pay Rates 2026-27

Plumbing Award Pay Rates by Level

Ordinary hourly rates (weekly hire; the minimum rate plus the all-purpose allowances) for full-time and part-time employees under the Plumbing and Fire Sprinklers Award 2020. Part-time employees are paid the same hourly rate as full-time employees at their classification — the difference is hours, not rate. The casual column adds the 25% loading (cl 12.2).

Weekly = the cl 18.1 minimum weekly rate plus the all-purpose allowances that classification gets (cl 21.2(b)): for plumbing, the industry allowance $41.41, the special fixed allowance $7.70, the plumbing trade allowance $33.57 (worker Level 2 and tradespeople) and the registration allowance $44.76 (registered tradespeople); for sprinkler fitting, the $42.53 industry disability, $39.17 space, height and dirt and $36.93 ($31.33 at worker Level 1) adjustment allowances, plus the $8.39 sprinkler trade allowance for tradespeople. Hourly = that total divided by 38, which is the award's "ordinary hourly rate" and what Schedules C and D print. Weekly hire only; daily hire adds a 3.17% lost time loading.

Which level am I?

• Worker Levels 1(a) to 1(d): Entry grades. Level 1(a) is a new entrant; Level 1(b) after 3 months and Level 1(c) after 12 months in the industry; Level 1(d) once the substantive requirements of the classification are met (cl 18.1, Schedule A).
• Worker Level 2 and Tradesperson Level 1: Level 2 is the first grade to receive the plumbing trade allowance. Tradesperson Level 1 holds the trade qualification (Schedule A). Both have the same minimum weekly rate.
• Registered or not registered: A tradesperson who holds the registration or licence the relevant State legislation requires also gets the $44.76 weekly registration allowance (cl 21.3(c)), which is why the registered rows are about $1.18 an hour higher than the not-registered rows.
• Special class and Advanced: Higher tradesperson grades (Level 1 and 2 of each) with progressively broader skills and responsibilities (Schedule A).
• Sprinkler fitting: Fire sprinkler fitting has its own all-purpose allowances (Schedule B.3), so its ordinary hourly rate is not the same as the plumbing row of the same level. The Fire Technician sits at worker Level 1(d).

Worked example: a registered plumber's Saturday

Sam is a weekly hire registered plumbing tradesperson Level 1 and is directed to work 5 ordinary hours on a Saturday. His ordinary hourly rate is $32.80: the $1,119.10 minimum plus the $41.41 industry, $33.57 plumbing trade, $44.76 registration and $7.70 special fixed allowances is $1,246.54 a week, divided by 38.

1. First 2 hours at 150%: $32.80 × 1.5 = $49.20 an hour → $98.40.
2. Next 3 hours at 200%: $32.80 × 2 = $65.60 an hour → $196.80.
3. Total: $295.20 before tax. The award guarantees at least 3 hours' work on a Saturday, so a shorter call-in still pays for 3 hours.

A casual doing the same shift is paid 175% then 225% of the same ordinary hourly rate. A tradesperson who is not registered has the $44.76 registration allowance missing from the rate, so the same 5 hours is worth less: $284.68.

Try your own hours in the overtime pay calculator or the casual loading calculator, add up a full week in the weekly pay calculator, or check the public holiday pay guide.

Plumbing Award Pay Guide 2026-27: Every Level, Every Day

The hourly rate for each classification at each penalty band, in the layout of the Fair Work pay guide. Find your level, then the day you worked.

Full-time and part-time

Casual

Casual figures are the award's casual percentages, which already include the 25% loading where it applies. Figures are rounded to the cent. A dash means the column does not apply to that classification.

Plumbing Award Penalty Rates

Ordinary hours are 7.00 am to 6.00 pm, Monday to Friday, in a 20-day, 4-week cycle of 8-hour days with 0.4 of an hour a day accruing towards a rostered day off (cl 15.2). By agreement the day can start between 6.00 am and 8.00 am (cl 15.3).

Every percentage applies to the ordinary hourly rate, which already includes the all-purpose allowances. That is why the dollar figures on this page are higher than the percentages of the bare cl 18.1 minimum would give.

Casual penalties are the permanent percentage plus the 25% loading: 150% becomes 175%, 200% becomes 225%, 250% becomes 275% (Schedule C.1.6, cl 22.1(a) NOTE). Penalty rates are not cumulative: only one applies at a time, and none applies where overtime is payable (cl 23.5).

Sprinkler fitters are paid the same percentages on their own ordinary hourly rate, but Saturday work for sprinkler fitters outside ordinary hours is overtime at 200% from the first hour (cl 22.1(a)).

Plumbing Award Overtime Rates

Casuals who work overtime are paid the casual column of the table, which adds the 25% loading to the permanent percentage (cl 12.3, cl 22.1(a) NOTE).

An employee who has to resume work with less than 10 consecutive hours off is paid 200% until released for 10 hours (cl 16.5(c)). A fire sprinkler fitter on a service call-out outside ordinary hours is paid 200%, with at least 2 hours for the first call-back in a day (cl 17.1).

Meal breaks on a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday: a paid 20-minute break after 4 hours at the overtime rate (cl 22.8).

Plumbing Award Junior Rates

The Plumbing and Fire Sprinklers Award has no junior rates scale. Apprentices are paid a percentage of the rate by year of apprenticeship (cl 18.2, Schedule E), which this page does not reproduce. Any age-percentage table attributed to the Plumbing Award is not from the award.

Plumbing Award Allowances

Fixed-dollar allowances in cl 17 and cl 21, operative from 1 July 2026. Each is paid only where the clause’s conditions are met.

Minimum Shifts and Hours

• A casual must be engaged and paid for at least 3 hours (cl 12.2). A casual works less than an average of 38 ordinary hours or 5 days a week over any 2 successive weeks (cl 12.1).
• Ordinary hours average 38 a week over a 4-week cycle: 19 days of 8 hours with 0.4 of an hour each day accrued to a paid rostered day off (cl 15.1–15.2).
• A plumbing and mechanical services employee working on a Saturday gets at least 3 hours, on a Sunday or public holiday at least 4 hours (cl 22.1(b)–(c), 23.3(b)).

What This Page Does Not Cover

These parts of the award carry rules or rates we have not verified line by line, so we publish no figures for them:

• Daily hire employees: their hourly rate includes the 3.17% lost time loading (cl 21.3(i)) and is printed in Schedule C.2, which this page does not reproduce
• Apprentice, adult apprentice and trainee rates (cl 18.2–18.3, Schedule E)
• Casual and permanent shiftwork rates other than the Monday to Friday 133% (158% casual) rate above (cl 23.1, Schedules C.1.4, C.1.7, D.1.4, D.1.7)
• Irrigation installer, the other disability allowances in cl 21.6, and the tool allowance for apprentices
• The other all-purpose allowances you may also be owed on top of these rows, such as the leading hand allowance above

An enterprise agreement, if one covers your workplace, replaces these award rates — though it must leave you better off overall.

When These Rates Took Effect

Applies from the first full pay period starting on or after 1 July 2026, not universally 1 July. If your pay period began before 1 July 2026, the previous rate lawfully applies to that whole period and the rise starts with the next one. The award was varied by determination PR799317 following the Annual Wage Review 2026. If you have been paid below these rates, our backpay calculator works out what is owed.

Frequently Asked Questions