Plumbers can move to New Zealand, but two different bodies must each agree. Immigration New Zealand (INZ), the government's immigration service, decides on your visa. The Plumbers, Gasfitters and Drainlayers Board (PGDB) decides whether you may do the work, and it warns that doing restricted plumbing work without a current New Zealand licence is illegal. INZ's registration checker lists plumbing among the jobs that need occupational registration, meaning you must be registered with the organisation that regulates the job, and it names PGDB. PGDB also offers a bridge for people trained abroad: once your overseas qualification is approved, a provisional licence lets you work legally for up to 12 months while you prepare for the registration exam.

Registering as a plumber in New Zealand

For people from countries other than Australia, PGDB says you may be eligible for registration with a formal plumbing qualification equal to or above the New Zealand Certificate (level 4) and at least four years of full-time plumbing work. PGDB counts a qualification as formal when it comes from a recognised training provider as part of structured, formal training. Its pathway guide sets out the steps in order:

1. Send an Overseas Qualification Application with evidence of your qualification and work. A Board assessor then interviews you, by phone or Microsoft Teams, about the trade's competencies and New Zealand's supervision, registration and licensing rules.
2. Once approved, apply for a provisional licence of up to 12 months. You need a job in New Zealand and a supervisor with a current certifying licence in plumbing.
3. Pass PGDB's registration exam for plumbers.
4. Apply for registration before the provisional licence runs out.

The assessment also checks that you are a fit and proper person to be registered. You give PGDB your practising and criminal history, plus a certified police certificate for every country you have lived in over the past 10 years.

After that, you renew your licence every year, and continuing professional development (CPD), the training registered plumbers complete to keep their trade knowledge current, is a condition of that renewal. Plumbers registered or licensed in Australia have a separate route: under the Trans-Tasman Mutual Recognition Act 1997, they can transfer to the equivalent New Zealand occupation if the relevant requirements are met.

Green List, work visas and residence for plumbers

The job offer comes first. The Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) needs an offer of full-time work from an employer INZ has accredited, meaning approved to hire migrants. The employer also needs an approved job check for your role, the step in which it shows INZ that it first looked for suitable New Zealanders. Because plumbing needs registration, INZ also asks for your full or provisional New Zealand registration, or confirmation from PGDB that the job is eligible for it. Our AEWV guide walks through the steps.

INZ's Green List separates roles that can lead to residence straight away from roles that lead there after a period of work. Plumbing is in the second group: once you have worked in the role in New Zealand for 2 years, you can apply for residence if you are eligible. The plumber entry asks for registration with PGDB and a minimum pay rate, and it carries a rule that helps people trained abroad: INZ accepts 12 months on a provisional licence toward the 24 months and for AEWV purposes, as long as your registration is complete when you apply for residence. The Work to Residence Visa asks for 24 months in a qualifying Green List job within the 30 months before you apply, and those months need not be continuous. Its other conditions include being 55 or younger when you apply, speaking and understanding English, and meeting its wage rules. Our Green List guide explains both groups.

The Skilled Migrant Category (SMC), a residence visa for skilled workers with a job or job offer from an accredited employer, has a Points-based pathway that needs 6 points. INZ names a registered plumber as its own example of a registration that counts for points, and its list of eligible registrations gives 4 points for the registration it calls tradesman plumber and 6 for certifying plumber. With 4 points, the other 2 can come from 1.5 years of skilled work in New Zealand (full-time work in your occupation, paid at least the rate INZ sets), but only work done after you registered counts. Our SMC guide and SMC points calculator go further. General plumbing is not on INZ's list for the Trades and Technician pathway; the plumbing roles on it are airconditioning and mechanical services plumber, and plumbing inspector.

Can I work on my own as a plumber in New Zealand?

Not at first. PGDB says everyone doing restricted work, apart from certifiers, must work under supervision, and that includes registered plumbers and provisional licence holders. Your supervisor decides how much direction you need on each job and is legally responsible for knowing what work you are doing at all times. While it does not forbid it, PGDB does not support supervision where the two of you work in different places.

Working without a supervisor takes the higher level, certifying registration. PGDB's application guide says certifying plumbers can supervise others and verify work for official purposes, and that the overseas route to it needs six years of full-time plumbing work rather than four. In place of the registration exam, you pass the Advanced Proficiency Assessment, which takes three days and tests practical and theory knowledge.

A common mistake plumbers make

Treating the provisional licence as the finish line. It lasts up to 12 months, and PGDB expects you to pass the exam and apply for registration before it expires so you can keep holding a licence to work. The same months matter for residence, because the Green List counts them toward your 24 only if your registration is complete when you apply. PGDB's registration exams run throughout the year but need booking in advance, so plan yours early in the provisional period.

First steps

1. Compare your qualification and years of work with PGDB's overseas pathway.
2. Gather the evidence and police certificates the application guide lists.
3. Line up a job with an employer accredited by INZ and a supervisor who holds a certifying licence.
4. Read the plumber entry on the Green List before you apply for a work visa.
5. Check the points INZ gives for PGDB registration before you plan a residence application.