Water Efficiency Labelling and Standards
(WELS) Scheme

Plumbers and builders

Water efficient toilet. Photo: Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts

Plumbers and builders play an important role in encouraging Australians to use water more efficiently.

They are often in a position to recommend or sell products to clients. They are also bound by law to ensure that they are selling WELS rated products.

Your legal responsibilities

Plumbers and builders need to ensure that any products they sell:

Are you selling a product?

You are considered responsible for selling a product if you:

You are not considered to be selling products if you are only involved in installing a WELS product that:

Note that the WELS Scheme does not mandate installation requirements—these are specified under relevant plumbing/building codes and regulations.

What are the WELS products?

WELS products are:

Other products are being examined for possible future inclusion in the scheme.

WELS Standard

If you would like to know whether the products you are selling meet labelling requirements, the WELS Standard will provide this information. It covers labelling specifications including size and colour requirements for packaging, swing tags and product displays, publicity and product specification paperwork. A copy of the standard may be purchased from Standards Australia . The following summary may also be useful.

Labelling

All labels have required minimum dimensions.

Whitegoods

The label needs to be fixed (e.g. glued) to the upper front portion of dishwashers or clothes washers.

If fixing the label directly on the machine will damage the finish (e.g. permanently mark or stain finishes such stainless steel) the label can be attached to the machine by a doubled-sided swing tag or single-sided non-rotating swing tag.

Plumbing and sanitary ware

For products displayed for sale in packaging

The label needs to be fixed (e.g. glued) to packaging so that it is clearly visible on the front portion of the package when it is hung from a rack or placed on a shelf.

For products displayed for sale outside of their packaging

There are four options:

  1. the correctly-sized label fixed to the product itself or
  2. a swing tag showing the correctly-sized label on both sides securely attached to the product or
  3. a correctly-sized label fixed next to the product so it is obvious that the product and the label are linked or
  4. a tag (e.g price tag) fixed next to the product showing WELS star rating and the water consumption figure (e.g. WELS 3 Star, 9L/min) so long as there is a clear and obvious connection between the tag and the product.

When a product is sold after being selected from the above forms of unpackaged display items, the product must be provided labelled.

Registering

All products with a WELS label should be registered. If you have any doubts, or find you have been sold unlabelled products you should contact your own supplier and the WELS team at WELS@environment.gov.au or on 1800 803 772.

You can search for registered products on the WELS product search database.

Enforcement

Under the WELS Act, penalties apply for:

If you are not sure that you are complying with the Act, contact WELS at wels@environment.gov.au.

WELS inspectors with significant monitoring and investigation powers are in the field checking that manufacturers, suppliers and retailers are complying with the WELS Act.

Strong enforcement powers under the WELS Act include the ability to:

For more information go to Frequently Asked Questions - How is the scheme being enforced?

Keep informed

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