Building Codes Queensland Department of Housing and Public Works

Notifiable work user guide for local governments A guide to using the Plumbing Application Service to monitor and audit notifiable work lodgements

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Table of contents

Table of contents .................................. ........................................................................................ 2

Introduction....................................... ............................................................................................ 3

What is the new process?........................... ............................................................................ 3

Overview........................................... ............................................................................................. 4

Plumbing Application Service ....................... ......................................................................... 4

Getting started .................................... .......................................................................................... 4

Existing eDA PAS users............................. ............................................................................. 5

New local governments.............................. ............................................................................. 5

Roles.............................................. ................................................................................................ 5

The chief administrator............................ ............................................................................... 5

Other local government users....................... ......................................................................... 5

Login to PAS ....................................... .......................................................................................... 6

PAS functions ...................................... ......................................................................................... 6

Quick search....................................... ..................................................................................... 7

Advanced search.................................... ................................................................................. 7

Audits ............................................. .......................................................................................... 9

Other PAS functions................................ ................................................................................... 14

History tab ........................................ ..................................................................................... 14

Communications tab ................................. ............................................................................ 14

Archive ............................................ ....................................................................................... 15

Requests for inspections........................... ........................................................................... 16

Helpdesk........................................... ........................................................................................... 17

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Introduction The notifiable work initiative will cut red tape by reducing costs and delays for licensees, consumers and local governments.

The purpose of this user guide is to assist local governments with monitoring and auditing notifiable work lodgements submitted to the Plumbing Industry Council (PIC) through the Plumbing Application Service (PAS).

Local governments will be able to use PAS to view Form 4s lodged for all notifiable work performed within the local government area. This information will allow local governments to conduct audits of work and record the results of any audits the local government undertakes.

What is the new process?

From 1 November 2012, a new category of plumbing and drainage work called ‘notifiable work’ will commence. Notifiable work expands the previous category of ‘notifiable minor work’ and increases the amount of routine work a plumber or drainer can perform on existing buildings without requiring local government approval or mandatory inspections.

A Form 4—Notifiable work must be submitted to the PIC within 10 business days of completing notifiable work. Form 4s can be submitted either electronically through PAS for a fee of $25 or any other way for a fee of $35. Licensees will also be able to attach any required additional documentation, for example, where notifiable work involves underground drainage an as-constructed diagram must be submitted.

To ensure that plumbing and drainage work continues to be performed to a high standard, both the PIC and local governments will have auditing responsibilities.

Local governments may audit the performance and standard of the notifiable work and the PIC may audit the conduct of licensees including the lodgement of Form 4s.

The schedule and program of audits are a matter for individual local governments. Local governments will also be able to target their audit programs towards types of work that pose a higher risk of noncompliance.

The PIC recommends that local government officers read this document in conjunction with the guideline Notifiable work—a guide for local governments. The purpose of the guideline is to assist local governments to understand their roles and responsibilities in relation to the notifiable work reforms under the Plumbing and Drainage Act 2002 (PDA).

Record keeping

To review local government responsibilities for keeping records as prescribed in the PDA and the Standard Plumbing and Drainage Regulation 2003 (SPDR) refer to Building Codes Queensland’s Newsflash 417 – Plumbing and drainage records. Newsflashes can be accessed through the Department of Housing and Public Works website at www.hpw.qld.gov.au

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Disclaimer

The PAS system contains information protected by legal and privacy laws. On login, users will be presented with a disclaimer regarding parties responsibilities about the use of information held within the PAS system. The PIC encourages all users to understand their obligations.

Overview

Plumbing Application Service

The PAS is the system approved under the PDA for receiving electronic notifications, including payment, of completed notifiable work and other types of plumbing applications. The PAS is web based and, like any website, can be accessed using most devices with an internet capability. This includes computers and portable devices such as laptops, tablets and smart phones.

Each local government will have 24-hour access to PAS free of charge. An administrator account for each local government will be set up by the PIC, in consultation with local government, which can then have other users added.

All Form 4s lodged for notifiable work will be entered into PAS for easy access by local governments.

PAS includes a number of important functions for local governments, including:

• providing details of all notifications lodged in their area • allowing downloads of Form 4s and any attachments, including as-constructed diagrams

where notifiable work involves underground drainage • recording information about audits performed • searching the database of Form 4s lodged in their area by a number of parameters, for

example by address or type of work performed.

While Form 4s must be lodged by all licensees within Queensland for notifiable work performed in any local government area, Forms 1, 7 and 9 can only be lodged if the user’s local government is participating in the service.

A full list of participating councils is regularly updated and user guides are available on the department’s website at www.hpw.qld.gov.au

If a local government is having difficulties accessing or using PAS please call the Notifiable Work Hotline on 1800 264 585 or email pas@qld.gov.au

Getting started To use PAS users will need:

• Internet Explorer Version 7 or later, Firefox Version 3 or later, Safari Version 4 or later, or Chrome Version 4 or later

• Adobe Reader Version 9 or later (this is required to enable functionality of e-Forms).

Adobe Reader can be downloaded for free from www.adobe.com

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Existing eDA PAS users

Local governments that accepted plumbing applications for Forms 1, 7 and 9 through the PAS system prior to 1 November 2012, have had their system access configured by the PIC to perform notifiable work functions.

Existing chief administrators and account users do not need to create a new account to review or audit Form 4s. These users can simply login in via either the eDA or notifiable work online portal using their existing username and password.

New local governments

The PIC will create profiles for individual local governments. Each local government must provide contact details for their chief administrator and nominate a generic email address to which PAS notifications will be sent.

A unique password will be assigned and sent to each chief administrator. It is the role of the chief administrator to create additional users if required and set user access levels.

Roles

The chief administrator

The chief administrator is able to set up different local government locations, for example, if a local government has a north and south office. It may create passwords and assign access to other users in these different locations.

The chief administrator can perform these functions by clicking on the ‘My Account’ and ‘Manage Organisation’ tabs and following the prompts.

These tabs are available in the header bar of any screen.

Local government users

Local government users are able to review notifiable work lodgements for their area and access audit functions within PAS, but are not able to create locations or users.

Once a user is created, the chief administrator will send the username and password information to the individual. It is recommended that users change their password.

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Login to PAS To login to the PAS, visit the department’s webpage www.hpw.qld.gov.au/notifiablework

Users should see the following screen.

Enter your username and password. You will be taken one of the following screens, depending on your web browser:

OR

The ‘Notifiable work’ tab is the default setting for local government users.

PAS functions There are currently three main functions within PAS:

1. Quick search 2. Advanced search 3. Audits.

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Quick search

A quick search against a reference number, applicant name or lot on plan can be performed.

First, select one of the three quick search functions and enter the data in the field.

• To search by reference number, use the PAS ID number (begins with the code DFG).

If the search only returns one match, the Form 4 will open automatically. If the search returns more than one match:

• select the form and click the ‘Go’ button to open, or

• double click anywhere on the reference line to open the Form 4.

Advanced search

The advanced search function will allow local governments to view all Form 4s lodged in their area. This function also allows more in-depth searches to be conducted. Users can enter any combination or search criteria, for example, all emergency work performed within one postcode in a date range.

A search can be performed by selecting one or more of the following criteria:

• suburb

• postcode

• licensee’s name

• lodgement dates

• type of work.

The advanced search function will assist local governments to target particular categories of work for auditing purposes. These applications can then be marked for audit.

To perform an advanced search, first click on the ‘Advanced search’ tab.

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The following screen will appear.

To view all Form 4s lodged in your local government area do not populate any fields and simply click the ‘Search’ button. The screen will show all Form 4s for a local government area, including those marked for audit.

To conduct an advanced search :

• populate the appropriate fields (for example, to search for all category 6 work performed within a specific postcode, enter a postcode into the relevant field and click the box for the category of work)

• click on the ‘Search’ button to perform the search.

Any Form 4s that match the search parameters will be shown. If no Form 4s match the search parameters no results will be displayed.

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Audits

To select a Form 4 for auditing, users must first retrieve the Form 4 using either the quick or advanced search tools.

The ‘Audit in progress’ tab will not display any Form 4s until they are marked for audit.

To mark a Form 4 for audit firstly locate a Form 4 using one of the search tools.

• Open the Form 4 – a summary page will appear as below.

• Click on ‘Mark as audit’ in the left hand menu.

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Users will be asked to confirm the Form 4 is to be marked for audit. The following screen will appear confirming the Form 4 has been marked for audit.

Assigning or reassigning a user

Once a Form 4 has been marked for audit, it can be assigned to an officer by the local government. The chief administrator and users will be able to assign or reassign an audit to a different office or officer through the PAS.

To reassign an audit :

• click on the word ‘Reassign’ in the left hand menu

• follow the prompts to select the appropriate user or office

• click the ‘Save’ button.

The new assignee’s details will be shown above the ‘Reassign’ tab.

Audits in progress

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The ‘Audit in progress’ tab will show all Form 4s which are marked for audit. The ’Audit in progress’ tab is available on your home page.

To return ‘Home’ from any screen click on the word ‘Home’ located at the top left hand corner any screen).

To view all audits in progress click the ‘Audit in progress’ tab. A list of all Form 4s marked for audit will appear on a screen as below.

Providing an audit response

Once an audit has been completed, the results must be recorded.

To provide an audit response first retrieve the application through one of the search tools.

• Double click on the Form 4 to open its summary page. A screen similar to that below will appear.

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Click on the words ’Provide audit response’ and the following screen will be displayed.

The PAS system allows users to either mark an audit as either:

• completed – audit has been finalised

• do this task later – the audit is still in progress and no updates are required.

Audit completed

An audit can be marked as completed once a local government inspection has taken place. An audit may still be marked as complete if the inspection found that work was noncompliant and rectification is required.

If an audit is not complete, users should select ‘Do this task later’.

To mark an audit as complete tick the ‘Has audit been completed’ box.

• Details of the audit (such as the date of the inspection and the outcome) should be included in the comments field.

• To submit the audit response click the ‘Complete’ button. Users will be taken to the following screen.

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Confirmation that the audit response has been submitted will be provided in the header bar. The PIC will have also been advised that this audit was completed.

Audit funding for local governments is calculated from the number of audits completed.

For work that is noncompliant and requires rectific ation , the ‘Comments’ field should include the action that has been taken, for example that a rectification notice has been issued.

This audit can still be marked as complete as the Form 4 can be marked for audit again at a later stage if further inspections are required. The process for re-marking Form 4s is the same as the initial process.

Alternatively, local governments may wish to keep these audits on hold until the matter is resolved and the defects are rectified. To choose this option simply click on ‘Do this task later’.

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Other PAS functions

History tab

Users are able to view the history of a Form 4.

To view the history of a Form 4 first locate the form through one of the search tools and click on the ‘History’ tab.

Users will be taken to the following screen.

This page will provide a list of all actions that have been performed for a particular Form 4, including lodgement, marked for audit and provided audit response.

To view comments on each item click the expansion button for the relevant item.

A PDF copy of the history can also be printed or saved by clicking ‘Download history as PDF’.

Communications tab

The ’Communications’ tab will list Form 4s that have not been properly lodged or contain incorrect information. The licensee will be required to lodge a new completed Form 4 to replace the rejected version.

Local governments do not currently have to perform any actions for this tab. However, local governments may wish to conduct searches to ensure new Form 4s are submitted in place of the rejected form.

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Rejected applications

Earlier versions of a rejected Form 4 application will be able to be accessed via its summary page.

To view earlier versions of a Form 4 :

• locate the form using one of the search tools

• click on the word ‘History’ on the form’s overview page.

Archive

Local governments will be able to archive Form 4s that are no longer required to appear, for example, a Form 4 for which an audit has been completed.

To archive a Form 4 users can use the archive tool in the left hand menu.

• Click on the words ‘Archive application’ and follow the prompts.

• The application will be moved to archive and will no longer appear in search results.

To retrieve a Form 4 from the archive enter the PAS ID reference into the quick search tool.

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Click on the words ‘Mark application as current’ in the left hand menu. This function will only appear for archived Form 4s.

• Confirm you wish to reinstate the application.

• Confirmation that the Form 4 has been marked as current will appear.

• The Form 4 will now appear in the local government’s list of active Form 4s and will appear in search results.

To logout of PAS click on ‘Logout’ in the top right hand corner of the header of any screen.

Requests for inspections

The PAS allows licensees to request a local government inspection of notifiable work as part of the Form 4 lodgement process. However, it is recommended that licensees contact the local government for an inspection if one is required.

Local governments are not obliged to inspect notifiable work and are able to charge cost-recovery fees for performing this service. Local governments are also responsible for determining inspection processes. If the local government charges a cost-recovery fee, the licensee – not the owner or occupier – is responsible for payment.

If a licensee requests an inspection while completing their Form 4, the relevant local government will receive an email detailing the property address, type of work, licensee’s contact details and

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their preferred date and time for an inspection. The licensee may submit the Form 4 after requesting an inspection or submit the Form 4 once the inspection is completed.

This function will be reviewed by the PIC to determine whether it is being used by licensees.

Helpdesk For assistance or any enquiries about applications or the PAS site, please contact the PIC on 1800 264 585 or pas@qld.gov.au. The PAS system will also be subject to upgrades. Please ensure you are using the most recent version of this guide as processes listed in this document may change over time.