QTenders · Live feed
Where plumbing work is advertised across Queensland, what QBCC licensing you need on file, and how to catch jobs while the window is still open.
Queensland's geography shapes its plumbing tender market more than any other state's. Work is spread from Cairns to Coolangatta and out to Mount Isa, which means regional plumbers face far less competition than their Brisbane counterparts on the same style of contract. Queensland Health runs hydraulic upgrades across a genuinely dispersed hospital network, the Department of Education maintains state schools in every town, and Queensland's 77 councils cover enormous areas. For a regional plumber with QBCC licensing in order, government work is one of the more reliable revenue streams available — if you can see it.
Free alerts by email · 500 free requests · No credit card
QTenders is the central Queensland channel, carrying Queensland Health, Department of Education, Department of Housing and Public Works packages. Plumbing frequently appears within building maintenance and facilities categories rather than as a standalone plumbing RFT, so search by hydraulic services and maintenance as well. Councils run their own processes: Brisbane City Council is the largest local government in Australia and tenders substantially in its own right, while Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Townsville and Cairns all advertise independently. Many regional councils use VendorPanel for quotations. Defence base plumbing in Townsville and Amberley appears on AusTender instead.
The primary portal is QTenders. You can also see what is currently open across the state on our QLD tender feed, or narrow it to your trade on the plumbers feed. If you would rather not check portals at all, our guide to finding government tenders covers every jurisdiction and how to watch them together.
These are the credentials QLD buyers check before they assess anything else. A gap here is a compliance failure, not a scoring deduction — it removes your bid regardless of price.
Our guides on ABNs and licences for tenders and tender insurance requirements go through each of these in detail, including how long they take to obtain.
The contracts below recur year after year in Queensland. Knowing the pattern tells you which capability to evidence in your capability statement.
Travel and mobilisation are the pricing variables that matter most in Queensland, and the ones most commonly underestimated. A contract covering a regional health service district can involve hundreds of kilometres between sites, and wet season access in the north can make scheduling genuinely unpredictable. Price travel time, accommodation and vehicle costs explicitly rather than folding them into an hourly rate. For schedule-of-rates panels running three years or more, include an escalation mechanism — Queensland panels are often long-dated.
For the full method — cost build-up, overhead recovery, contingency and how to sanity-check against published award values — see how to price a tender and the tender response checklist. Before you price anything, run the bid/no-bid scorecard so you are only pricing work worth winning.
Yes. QBCC licensing in the appropriate class is a mandatory threshold requirement and agencies verify it. You will also need Queensland plumber and drainer registration. Make sure the licence class actually covers the scope of work in the tender, and that your nominee supervisor arrangements are current before you submit.
Considerably. Contracts in Cairns, Townsville, Mackay, Rockhampton and the western districts often attract only a handful of compliant bidders because metropolitan contractors cannot service them economically. If you are established regionally, that is a durable competitive advantage worth building your tendering strategy around.
Brisbane City Council runs its own procurement process separately from QTenders. As the largest local government in Australia it generates significant plumbing and hydraulic maintenance volume in its own right, so it is worth monitoring as a distinct channel rather than assuming the state portal covers it.
For any work at schools, childcare facilities or other sites where children are present, yes — Queensland's Blue Card system applies to all attending staff. Applications take time to process, so obtain them in advance rather than trying to arrange screening after you have been awarded a contract.
Free · No credit card
Every new QLD plumbing tender, emailed the day it opens. 500 free requests, no credit card.
You're in — here's your API key:
Check your inbox — we've emailed your login details too.
We'll never share your address. Unsubscribe any time.
Live from QTenders plus AusTender and every other Australian jurisdiction we cover, within 15 minutes of publishing.
500 free requests · No credit card · Cancel anytime