Meet Glenn, your licensed plumber and gas fitter in Mulgrave
A small family-run business where the person who quotes is the person who does the work.
Photo: Anton Savinov / Unsplash
How Upkeep Plumbing started
Upkeep Plumbing is a small, family-run plumbing and gas fitting business based in Mulgrave, servicing South-East Melbourne. Glenn came to the trade late — he spent his twenties in an office and decided it wasn't for him.
I didn't start out always dreaming of being a plumber and running my own business. But in my late 20s I realised I didn't enjoy the confines of an office and wanted a bit more flexibility to spend time with my family. I still work really hard, but I enjoy what I do — and that is the difference. I love the challenge that plumbing throws up: never quite knowing what I'll find when I turn up to a job.
That's the reason Upkeep has stayed deliberately small. Plenty of plumbing companies across Melbourne's South-East take your call at a booking desk and dispatch whichever subcontractor happens to be free. At Upkeep, the person you speak to on the phone is the person who arrives at your door — and he'd rather do fewer jobs properly than more jobs quickly.
I get to help people when they are having a plumbing emergency. It's a great feeling to get the hot water going for a family in the middle of a Melbourne winter when they need to bath the kids.
Louise handles the bookings and the paperwork, Glenn handles the tools. Between them they've built a business on repeat customers and word of mouth across Mulgrave, Glen Waverley, Wheelers Hill, Clayton and the surrounding suburbs. We're working hard to keep adding chapters to the story — let us add you to ours.
GlennOwner, licensed plumber & gas fitterWhat you can expect when you book us
Not values on a wall — the specific things we do on every job, that you can hold us to.
- We book a time that suits you, not a four-hour windowYour time is precious and the last thing you want is to wait around all morning. We agree on a time and we keep it.
- You get a courtesy call when we're on the wayIt isn't rocket science — to us it's basic manners. You'll know when to expect the van.
- You approve the price before any work startsAn upfront quote for the job in front of us. No hidden fees, no surprise invoice at the end.
- Compliance certificates where the law requires themFor prescribed plumbing and gas work you get the paperwork proving the job meets Victorian standards.
- Workmanship backed by our warrantyIf something we installed isn't right, we come back and fix it. [Warranty period to be confirmed by Glenn.]
Licensed and insured — and what that actually means
Anyone can call themselves a plumber on a website. In Victoria the licence is the thing that matters, so here's ours and here's how to read it.
Every licensed plumber in Victoria is listed on the public register. You can check ours — and any other plumber's — at the Victorian Building Authority before you let anyone into your home.
Registered plumber
- Has completed a Certificate III in Plumbing plus around four years of on-the-job experience.
- Must work under the supervision of a licensed plumber whenever a certificate of compliance is required.
- Cannot sign off prescribed work in their own right.
Licensed plumber Upkeep
- Has gone on to complete a Certificate IV in Plumbing and passed assessment in specific classes of work.
- Must hold a minimum level of insurance by law.
- Can issue certificates of compliance certifying the work meets Victoria's prescribed plumbing standards.
The eight classes of plumbing work
Victoria's plumbing regulations split the trade into eight classes. A licence is granted class by class — which is why it's worth asking a plumber not just whether they're licensed, but for what. Gas fitting in particular is its own class, and it is illegal (and genuinely dangerous) for anyone unlicensed to touch gas.
- Drainage
- Fire protection
- Gas fitting
- Irrigation (non-agricultural)
- Mechanical services
- Roofing (stormwater)
- Sanitary
- Water supply
Your certificate of compliance
For prescribed plumbing and gas work, a licensed plumber must give you a certificate of compliance. It certifies the work meets Victoria's prescribed standards, and it's the document your insurer or your conveyancer will ask for later.
Keep it somewhere safe. If a plumber has done prescribed work at your place and you never received one, that's worth chasing up.
Where we work
We're based in Mulgrave and we deliberately keep our patch tight. A local plumber who's fifteen minutes away beats a city outfit who'll get to you Thursday.
If your suburb isn't on the list, ring anyway — if it's nearby, we'll almost certainly come.
- Mulgrave
- Glen Waverley
- Mount Waverley
- Wheelers Hill
- Clayton
- Springvale
- Noble Park
- Dandenong
- Rowville
Questions people ask before they call
Straight answers, so you know what you're getting before you pick up the phone.
Who will actually turn up at my house?
Is Upkeep Plumbing licensed and insured?
What's the difference between a registered and a licensed plumber in Victoria?
How long has Upkeep Plumbing been going?
Got a plumbing or gas job in South-East Melbourne?
Call Glenn directly for an upfront quote. Seven days a week, 7am to 9pm.