Hot Water System Installation SWMS

Suits plumbers, gas fitters, electricians and hot water installers replacing or installing a hot water unit in a home or small commercial building. It follows the job from isolating and draining the old unit through removal, connection, gas, electrical, commissioning and handover. Roof-mounted solar collectors need a separate work at height SWMS.

A SWMS is legally required under WHS Regulation s 299 only when the installation is construction work that also meets a high risk item in s 291 (for example work on or near fuel or refrigerant lines, a fall of more than 2 metres or drilling masonry that creates silica dust: tick the contaminated atmosphere item, s 291(l)); otherwise it works as a written safe work procedure or task risk assessment.

New to SWMS? Read What is a safe work method statement?

What is covered in our hot water system installation SWMS?

After the standard pre-start checks, the job steps run from “Site set-up, access and delivery” to “Pack up, remove waste and hand over”. The hazards and controls include:

• Electric shock when isolating and connecting units
• Gas leaks, fire and explosion at gas connections
• Carbon monoxide from a blocked or leaking flue
• Scalding from stored hot water and relief valves
• Asbestos in old flues, backing sheets and lagging
• Silica dust from drilling masonry and concrete
• Manual handling of heavy hot water units
• Falls from ladders and through ceilings
• Fire from soldering and brazing near combustibles
• Striking underground services when drilling or digging
• Heat illness in roof spaces
• Leaks wetting electrical parts

High risk construction work

These high risk construction work items (WHS Regulation 2011 (Qld) s 291) are already ticked because they are part of this work. Tick any others that apply to your job:

• Is carried out on or near chemical, fuel or refrigerant lines

Licences, training and competency

• Plumbers licence under the Plumbing and Drainage Act 2018 (Qld), or a restricted licence whose scope covers the work, for all water, relief and drain connections
• Solar and heat pump hot water system installation endorsement on the plumbers licence, for solar or heat pump units
• Gas work licence that allows work on a gas device (type A), for any gas hot water system
• Electrical work licence (electrician) for the electrical connection, isolation and testing
• Refrigerant handling licence from the Australian Refrigeration Council for any work that opens the refrigerant circuit of a heat pump: the full licence (RAC01), or the restricted heat pump and split systems licence (RSS03) for installing or decommissioning a 2-part hot water heat pump under 18 kW
• Asbestos identification and safe-handling training for workers who may be involved in asbestos-related work
• General construction induction training card (white card) when the work is construction work
• Training in the manufacturer’s installation instructions for the system being installed
• Site induction

Legislation and codes of practice referenced

• Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld)
• Plumbing and Drainage Act 2018 (Qld) and Plumbing and Drainage Regulation 2019 (Qld) (plumbing licences, notifiable work and temperature control devices)
• Petroleum and Gas (Production and Safety) Act 2004 (Qld) and Petroleum and Gas (Safety) Regulation 2018 (Qld) (gas work and gas devices)
• Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld) (electrical work licence)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld) (energised work and overhead power line exclusion zones)
• Electrical Safety Code of Practice 2021 – Managing electrical risks in the workplace
• Electrical Safety Code of Practice 2020 – Working near overhead and underground electric lines
• How to Manage Work Health and Safety Risks Code of Practice 2021
• Hazardous Manual Tasks Code of Practice 2021
• Managing the Risk of Falls at Workplaces Code of Practice 2021
• Managing respirable crystalline silica dust exposure in construction and manufacturing of construction elements Code of Practice 2022
• Managing Noise and Preventing Hearing Loss at Work Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Risks of Hazardous Chemicals in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Welding Processes Code of Practice 2021 (brazing and soldering are allied processes)
• How to Manage and Control Asbestos in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• How to Safely Remove Asbestos Code of Practice 2021
• Excavation Work Code of Practice 2021

What you get

• An editable Microsoft Word document (15 pages), laid out on A4 landscape pages. Type your business, client and job details once and they fill in on every page, with a space for your logo
• 11 job steps for this work, each with its hazards, controls, initial and residual risk scores and the person responsible
• PPE listed for this job: safety boots; safety glasses; cut-resistant gloves for pipe and sheet metal; heat-resistant gloves for soldering or brazing
• Emergency arrangements for: gas leak or smell of gas, suspected carbon monoxide poisoning and scald
• Plus the parts every Work Safety QLD SWMS shares, from the s 291 checklist to the worker sign-on sheet (see the layout in our free SWMS template)

Adjust it for your site, plant and crew, and talk it through with your workers before work starts.

Checked against the Queensland laws and codes of practice listed above. Last reviewed October 2026.