Certificate III in Plumbing

This is an apprenticeship course designed for those currently employed as plumbing apprentices. It will provide you with the formal trade certificate you need in order to apply to become a registered plumber.

Through classroom learning and work-based tasks, you will gain skills and knowledge to complement your on-the-job training. You will learn about:

• water and sanitary services
• drainage and blockage clearance
• plumbing materials
• plumbing hand and power tools
• mechanical services
• roofing
• gasfitting
• welding and pipe fabrication
• maintaining evaporative air-cooling systems
• reading plans and specifications
• workplace safety.

With your employer, you can choose to complete any one or a combination of the four occupational options:

• General Plumbing
• General Plumbing - Roofing
• General Plumbing - Mechanical
• General Plumbing - Roofing and Mechanical.

You will graduate with the skills, confidence and experience to be job-ready, able to work in residential, industrial and commercial workplaces in both existing and new constructions.

This is a trade qualification for plumbers in residential, industrial and commercial workplaces who are responsible for assembling, installing and maintaining water services, sanitary plumbing and sanitary drainage services in both existing and new constructions.

Occupational titles could include:

• plumber
• plumber and drainer.

The course structure comprises the following core and elective units. These electives have been selected based on industry needs, graduate pathways and/or student and teacher feedback.
To be awarded the CPC32420 Certificate III in Plumbing, competency in one of the four occupational options must be achieved.

OPTION 1: General Plumbing
To be awarded the CPC32420 Certificate III in Plumbing (General Plumber), a student must successfully complete a minimum of Fifty Eight (58) units of competency, comprising of:

*Forty three (43) core units
*Fifteen (15) elective units, of which:

• Eight (8) units from Group A and
• Four (4) units from Group B and
• Three (3) units from Group C
• Up to four (4) elective units may be replaced by units from any other group or from any relevant nationally endorsed Training Package or accredited course. The units must contribute to the vocational outcomes of the qualification.

OPTION 2: General Plumbing - Roofing
To be awarded the CPC32420 Certificate III in Plumbing (General Plumber and Roofing), a student must successfully complete a minimum of Sixty Two (62) units of competency, comprising of:
*Forty three (43) core units
*Nineteen (19) elective units, of which;

• Eight (8) units from Group A and
• Four (4) units from Group B and
• Three (3) units from Group C and
• Four (4) units from Group D
• Up to four (4) elective units may be replaced by units from any other group or from any relevant nationally endorsed Training Package or accredited course. The units must contribute to the vocational outcomes of the qualification.

OPTION 3: General Plumbing - Mechanical
To be awarded the CPC32420 Certificate III in Plumbing (General Plumbing and Mechanical), a student must successfully complete a minimum of Seventy Three (73) units of competency, comprising of:
*Forty three (43) core units
*Thirty (30) electives, of which;

• Eight (8) units from Group A and
• Four (4) units from Group B and
• Three (3) units from Group C and
• Seven (7) units from Group E and
• Eight (8) units from Group F
• Up to four (4) elective units may be replaced by units from any other group or from any relevant nationally endorsed Training Package or accredited course. The units must contribute to the vocational outcomes of the qualification.

OPTION 4: General Plumbing - Roofing and Mechanical
To be awarded the CPC32420 Certificate III in Plumbing (General Plumber Roofing and Mechanical), a student must successfully complete a minimum of Seventy Seven (77) units of competency, comprising of:
*Forty three (43) core units
*Thirty four (34) electives, of which;

• Eight (8) units from Group A and
• Four (4) units from Group B and
• Three (3) units from Group C and
• Four (4) units from Group D and
• Seven (7) units from Group E and
• Eight (8) units from Group F
• Up to four (4) elective units may be replaced by units from any other group or from any relevant nationally endorsed Training Package or accredited course.

Elective units must be relevant to the work environment and the qualification, maintain the integrity of the AQF alignment and contribute to a valid, industry-supported vocational outcome.

Victoria Polytechnic's delivery structure is designed around Option 4: General Plumbing - Roofing and Mechanical, with the other 3 options embedded in the overall program. This provides students with the opportunity to complete all 4 options within the one program.
Note - Additional units have been included to the course structure, to meet the requirements of the Victorian Building Authority (VBA) Gazette for plumbing registration.

Use our credit calculator to find out how much credit you could get towards your course, based on your previous study.

You may be able to complete your qualification sooner through formal recognition of your existing skills. This is known as Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL).

To receive RPL, we assess your previous work, education and life experiences against recognised qualifications. Applications for RPL can be made prior to enrolling.

Call us on 1300 TAFE VP (1300 823 387) to discuss RPL options with the course manager.

Before starting your application, please read through the step-by-step VU Polytechnic application process to make sure you have all the necessary documents and information ready to successfully complete your application.

Before applying, you should consider whether you also want to apply for:

• Credit transfer/Recognition of prior learning (RPL): If you have significant experience or studies elsewhere you may be eligible for credit for some units of your course and not have to undertake them.