Lead-Free Information

What plumbers need to know about the new lead-free plumbing product regulations

Plumbers should start reducing stock ahead of the 1 May 2026 deadline for the new lead-free plumbing product regulations.

Here’s what you need to know to comply.

Let your customers know too by attaching this fact sheet to your quotes.

Download the customer fact sheet

What's changing and when?

As part of the 2022 Building Code update, Acceptable Solution G12/AS1 was amended to limit the maximum allowable lead content in copper alloy plumbing products intended for use in contact with potable water for human consumption. 

The lead in plumbing product provision in G12/AS1 will be effective from 1 May 2026.

Following this date, plumbers who install such products are responsible for ensuring they are lead free.

‘Lead free’ is defined in the updated G12/AS1 as a plumbing product of material in contact with potable water that has a weighted average lead content of no more than 0.25%.

What kind of products will this apply to?

Examples include:

• Copper alloy fittings
• Stainless-steel braided hoses
• Valves (eg, valves for isolation, backflow prevention, alteration of pressure and temperature)
• Taps and mixers
• Water meters
• Pumps for use with cold and hot water supply systems
• Water heaters
• Residential water filtration equipment
• Water dispensers (eg, boiling and cooling units, drinking fountains and bottle fillers)
• Fire sprinkler systems connected to cold water supply systems and not isolated from fixtures and fittings intended to supply water for human consumption.

What kind of products won't have to comply?

• Showers and baths for bathing, including shower and bath mixers
• Emergency showers, eye wash and/or face wash equipment
• Pumps used for irrigation, fire-fighting or other non-potable water purposes
• Fire-fighting water services and equipment
• Appliances, including clothes washing machines and dishwashers
• Commercial boilers associated with HVAC systems
• Sanitary fixtures (eg, toilets, cistern inlet valves, bidets, urinals)
• Non-potable water systems, such as recycled water systems
• Products used exclusively for non-potable uses, such as manufacturing, industrial processing, irrigation or any other uses where the water is not anticipated to be used for human consumption.
  
  

How does this affect building consent applications?

• If the consent is granted on or before 1 May 2026 (including consented projects under construction), work can proceed using Acceptable Solution provisions approved by the building consent.
• If the consent application is made on or before 1 May 2026, the application may continue to comply with the Acceptable Solution provisions in place on the date the consent application was made.
  
• If the consent application is made on or after 2 May 2026, the application must follow the updated provisions when using Acceptable Solutions as a means of compliance.
  

How can I identify compliant lead-free products?

1. Building product information requirements: These regulations place obligations on NZ-based building product manufacturers, importers, retailers and distributors to state how their product complies with the relevant Building Code clause.
   Building product information should clearly state how an in-scope plumbing product is expected to contribute to compliance with Building Code clause G12 Water Supplies, including G12.3.2 (c).
2. International product certification scheme markings: These can indicate compliance with equivalent requirements in other countries:
   1. Australian Lead Free WaterMark Mark of Conformity
   2. American National Standards Institute (ASNI) accredited third-party certification body. Lead Free certification marks (nepis.epa.gov)
3. NSF/ANSI/CAN 372:2020 test report: A test report provided by a test facility with International Accreditation New Zealand (IANZ) or equivalent accreditation in accordance with NSF/ANSI/CAN 372, which verifies that a product has the required weighted average lead content of no more than 0.25%. This American National Standard establishes a standardised methodology for the determination and verification of product compliance to minimise lead contaminants. This standard serves as the basis to establish conformance with the G12/AS1 lead in plumbing product provision.

What about dezincification resistance rules?

As part of the 2022 Building Code update, Acceptable Solution G12/AS1 Water Supplies was also amended to clarify that copper alloy water supply system components must be dezincification resistant to reduce the risk of corrosion.

The dezincification resistant copper alloy water provision in G12/AS1 will also be effective from 1 May 2026. Following this date, any in-scope components in contact with water and subject to hydrostatic pressure must be DZR. 

Dezincification resistant copper alloy components are also required by some product standards applicable to compliance with Acceptable Solution G12/AS1. Until 1 May 2026, the dezincification resistance requirements of those standards must still be met.

The provision does not apply to water supply system components that are not subject to hydrostatic pressure, such as shower heads and bath spouts that are open at one end.

Brazing can affect the dezincification resistance of brass fittings. Plumbers should avoid localised ‘hot spots’ and perform brazing operations at as low a temperature as is practicable when brazing brass fittings. 

Compliant DZR products can be identified through the building product information requirements or a AS 2345:2006 test report provided by a test facility with IANZ or equivalent accreditation.

The letters DR on a brass water supply system component also indicates compliance.