Tapware Compliance Certification

TAPWARE COMPLIANCE CERTIFICATION

For many years it has been mandatory that tapware sold and installed in Australia is specifically manufactured to the Australian tapware Standards and plumbing regulations. Tapware must be tested and certified as such and accredited with the WaterMark certification. This certification is marked on the packaging and laser marked on to the product.

Perrin & Rowe tapware is accredited with WaterMark Certification WMKA02818.

Globally, traditional brass used to make tapware commonly contains a lead content of about 8%. This lead content makes the brass easier to cast and machine.

The Australian Standard for tapware manufacture has required “low-lead” brass. The typical brass formula used to produce WaterMark certified tapware and plumbing fittings in Australia has an alloy formula with a 1.7 to 2.8% lead content. 

In recent years there has been a global movement to reduce the lead content of brass alloys used to convey drinking water. It originated in California and most of the Western world is adopting “lead-free” regulations for fittings and tapware carrying drinking water. 

While the “low-lead” designation was based simply on the brass alloy composition of the tap body, the “Lead-Free” regulations are based on a complex mathematical formula. The material composition of each component of the complete tap from where water enters the flexible inlet hoses through to where it leaves the spout tip is entered into the formula to calculate the “weighted average lead content of the wetted surfaces”. The calculated result must less than 0.25%.  The lead content of the brass body of the tap can be above this percentage as there is virtually no lead in the flexible hoses or tube brass used to produce the spout.

 Following a three-year transitional period to allow manufacturers to comply with the new requirements, all plumbing products coming into contact with drinking water which are installed after 1 May 2026, must comply with the new lead-free requirements.

Certified compliance with the new regulations is evidenced by the new Lead Free WaterMark logo on the product and packaging and listed as Lead Free on the brand’s WaterMark Schedule.  

When specifiers, interior designers, architects, consumers, tradesmen etc. are selecting plumbing products for future projects, they should request copies of a brand’s WaterMark and Lead Free WaterMark certification schedules to ensure the selected product can be legally installed. 

Tapware suppliers should host their WaterMark and Lead Free WaterMark schedules on their websites or provide them on request to enable specification of their products. Specifiers should include these WaterMark and Lead Free WaterMark certification schedules within their project documentation as evidence that this aspect was taken into account when selecting the products for that project.

Since notification of the new Lead-Free requirements, The English Tapware Company has been working closely with Perrin & Rowe and Rockwell collections on compliance with them. We have created a new Lead-Free kitchen and bathroom tap collection and have passed the necessary testing. This collection is in production for Australia and New Zealand.

The products are distinguished from the “Low-Lead” versions by the addition of  LF -LEAD FREE in their description and their item code has a 3 as an additional last digital before the finish suffix. ie AU4193CP will be AU41933CP.