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CPCCAQA KeystoneSimulated workplace
Simulated workplace
Scenario · Plumbing and Services

Diagnose and replace a failed hot water unit

You are a plumbing apprentice working under a licensed plumber on the maintenance crew.

Intermediate3 to 4 hours7 tasks
Start the tasksAll scenarios
Home/Scenarios/Diagnose and replace a failed hot water unit
The situation

What has happened

Work order WO-26-1190 is scheduled for a Latrobe Regional Housing Trust unit in Morwell where the tenant has had no hot water for two days. The existing electric storage unit is fourteen years old, sits on an external slab and feeds a kitchen, a bathroom and a laundry. The housing trust's maintenance contract allows replacement when a repair is not economical, and it requires a tempering valve on any replacement, a compliance certificate and a copy of the test record. The tenant has a young child, so the delivered water temperature at the bathroom matters. Your supervising licensed plumber, Aisha Rahimi, will inspect and sign off the work but expects you to plan it, select the unit, install it and complete the work order.

Your brief. Inspect the failed unit, decide between repair and replacement with reasons, install the replacement correctly with a tempering valve and relief drain, test and record the installation, and complete the work order so the compliance certificate can be lodged within five days.
Read the work request in your inbox
Tasks

Deliverables

  • Completed work order with findings, materials and test results
  • Task risk assessment
  • Photographs of the installation before and after
  • Note of the compliance certificate requirement and lodgement date

Documents to use

Systems to use

Plumbing Work Orders

Every plumbing installation, maintenance and callout job from request to test, certification and invoice.

Licences and Training Matrix

Tracks every worker's licences, high-risk work tickets, inductions and training with expiry dates so only qualified people do licensed work.

For trainers and assessors

Units of competency

Current on training.gov.au for the Construction, Plumbing and Services Training Package as at 10 September 2026.

CPCPWT3022Install and commission water heating systems and adjust controls and devices
CPCPWT3026Install and fit off sanitary fixtures, water services and adjust water service controls
CPCPCM2043Carry out WHS requirements
CPCPCM2039Carry out interactive workplace communication
CPCPWT4023Commission and maintain hot and heated water temperature control devices

Qualifications

CPC32420Certificate III in Plumbing
Assessor notes

What to look for

Evidence guide

Look for a sound repair or replace decision with reasons, correct sizing for the household, a risk assessment that covers electrical isolation and scalding, delivered temperatures recorded at the outlets and within the limit for a bathroom, and a work order that is complete enough for the licensed plumber to certify from. The student must recognise that only the licensed plumber can lodge the certificate.

The student's evidence summary lists every record they created or changed in the systems named above, their notes and the tasks they ticked. Verify it against the deliverables and your own assessment tool.