Plumbers warn lead-free rules easily flouted by cheap import companies

Master Plumbers warns in the absence of a verification regime, the upcoming ban on plumbing and drainage products containing lead will be pointless.
The change to the Building Code was due to come into effect in September, but this was recently pushed back until May 2026. 
News of the deferral came just two days before Horowhenua District Council issued an urgent notice to Tokomaru residents to stop using their tap water because of lead contamination.
The district’s mayor, Bernie Wanden, said since then further investigation suggested the contamination was due to a “tap to nowhere” used only at a sampling site and not connected to the wider network.
“Our assumption is at this stage that it is the tap itself. It’s a brass fitting and the water has stripped some of that metal and therefore we’ve seen some contamination.
“It is not connected to the network that supplies the village with water.”
The effects of lead from leeching plumbing products is no small matter.
A number of elevated lead results were found in the Waikouaiti, Karitane, and Hawksbury Villagewater supply scheme between July 2020 and January 2021.
On February 2, 2021 Dunedin City Council issued a do not drink notice that stayed in place for just over five months.
An investigation concluded the contamination was, in part, because of water sitting for some time in pipes and fittings that may leach lead.
Master Plumbers chief executive Greg Wallace said there was no doubt going lead-free was a good idea, and this was supported by the industry. However, he had serious doubts about how effective the regime would be.
He said the recently announced deferral was so New Zealand’s regime aligned with Australia’s but that New Zealand should be following Australia’s lead on more than just the timing.  
“The delay has come about because of Australia delaying their implementation, and that was because, rightly, they decided that all product should be part of the WaterMark compliance system.
“So all product that’s sold in Australia has to be independently verified that it meets relevant standards by a lab, and then it has what’s called a WaterMark certificate that’s embedded on the product in the packaging.” 
A specific lead-free mark is being added to the WaterMark system, but there is nothing like that planned for New Zealand. 
“We’ve said we don’t really mind what regime we use, but we just need to stipulate that all product needs to be marked by packaging if its lead-free, so consumers and installers can easily identify that … but basically, MBIE haven’t agreed.”
Wallace said there was no way consumers and plumbers – who could face legal action for installing a product containing higher-than-allowed levels of lead – would know for sure a product met the criteria without a formal certification system.
But MBIE Building Performance and Engineering manager Dave Gittings said there were a number of ways, including via the new Building Product Information Requirements regime, international standards on packing (such as WaterMark) or a voluntary test report.
Wallace said about a half of the off-the-shelf market would be covered by the WaterMark criteria, but there would still be millions of dollars’ worth of goods that would not face the same rigour.
“We estimate there’s more than $130 million worth of product in New Zealand market today that has a lead content that wouldn’t meet the new regulations.”
The Building Product Information Requirements regime came into effect late last year and places obligations on manufacturers, importers, wholesalers, retailers, and distributors to ensure their products comply with the Building Code.
However, Wallace said it did not apply to overseas-based countries, which consumers were increasingly sourcing plumbing products from.
“Sites like Temu, eBay or Alibaba, if you go online, you could buy a tap from any of those and those sites aren’t incorporated companies in New Zealand … that’s crazy.” 
“You could go online yourself, import a 20-foot container of taps, put it on Trade Me tomorrow, and just set up your company out of Fiji or something, and then you don’t have to comply with any regulations.” 
He has asked the ministry to investigate the non-compliance of Temu and other such sites under the Building Product Information regime, but has been told there is no remit because they are not companies registered in New Zealand.
He said it resulted in an uneven playing field for New Zealand-based operators keen to follow the rules, and do right by the health advice.  
“It’s the right decision to go lead-free for plumbing products, but basically they’re saying, for the New Zealand manufacturers and importers you’ve got a regime which is quite costly, you’ve got to do BPI, go through the hoops, but if you set up a company anywhere else you don’t have to comply with any of those regulations.” 
He said cheaper products, like those likely found on sites like Temu, would be more likely to contain lead.  
“In basic terms, the more lead content you add to brass fixtures, the cheaper it is to manufacture it, because it makes the product more malleable. And so when you’ve got high lead content it’s normally in cheaper options.” 
Gittings said the ministry had an enforcement strategy to “assess compliance on a case-by-case basis”.
“The Building Act 2004 provides a number of statutory tools to address non-compliance. This enables MBIE to select the appropriate tool for the appropriate situation, with an emphasis on continuing to educate regulated parties as well as ensuring importers and manufacturers are notified if their product information is not compliant and rectify the situation promptly.
“It is an offence to make a claim about a building product [that] is unsubstantiated, or false or misleading in a material particular or because of an omission. MBIE will monitor the market, investigate complaints and take enforcement action where deemed necessary.”