How much does a plumber cost in Townsville?
Townsville plumbers charge $86–$215 an hour, typically $130, with $65–$160 added just for turning up. Book an evening, weekend or public holiday and the hourly figure climbs to $160–$325. The problem readers here search for most is a toilet cistern that won't fill, which can be a washer you may replace yourself or a plumber's visit at $160–$380. One local quirk is worth knowing: the council's water business will clear some blocked house drains itself, so for a sewer blockage the first phone call may not be to a plumber at all.
Comparing cities, or after the Australia-wide picture? See the national guide: Plumber cost in Australia.
Detailed Pricing — Plumber Cost in Townsville 2026
Plumbing a commercial premises? See our commercial plumbing cost guide for Townsville. Need a backflow prevention device tested or installed? See the backflow testing cost guide for Townsville.
| Service | Low | Typical | High |
|---|---|---|---|
| General plumbing (hourly rate) | $86/hr | $130 | $215 |
| Call-out / service fee | $65flat | $130 | $160 |
| Fix a leaking tap | $86per job | $185 | $280 |
| Blocked drain (standard) | $160per job | $345 | $540 |
| Blocked drain (CCTV + jetting) | $380per job | $755 | $1,200 |
| Toilet repair | $160per job | $270 | $380 |
| Toilet installation (supply + fit) | $430per job | $650 | $970 |
| Hot water system (gas storage) | $1,300installed | $2,375 | $3,775 |
| Hot water system (electric) | $865installed | $1,950 | $3,250 |
| Hot water system (heat pump) | $3,250installed | $4,525 | $6,500 |
| Gas fitting (per point) | $270per point | $430 | $700 |
| Burst pipe repair | $215per job | $595 | $865 |
| Tap replacement | $160per tap | $355 | $540 |
| Bathroom rough-in | $2,150total | $3,450 | $7,000 |
| Emergency / after-hours | $270per visit | $485 | $755 |
| After-hours hourly rate (evenings, weekends, public holidays; excl. call-out) | $160/hr | $240 | $325 |
| Bathroom fit-off (fixture connection, after tiling) | $1,075total | $2,150 | $3,250 |
| Toilet relocation (new drain position) | $865total | $2,150 | $4,325 |
| Laundry renovation plumbing (rough-in + fit-off) | $1,625total | $3,025 | $5,400 |
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Get Townsville quotes →Prices include GST. Based on Townsville metro area, October 2026. Outer suburbs may vary.
How Plumber Costs Vary Across Townsville
Plumbing costs are not uniform across Greater Townsville. Where you live can shift the final bill by 10–25%, even for identical work. It is not just travel time — it reflects local demand, property age, and the kind of plumbing common in each area.
Modern estates — Idalia, Annandale, Kirwan, Burdell
Newer housing (1990s–2020s) with modern PVC supply and drainage, easy access and flat blocks — generally 15–20% cheaper than inner-suburb rates, with more plumbers competing for work. Slab-on-ground construction is the norm, which can raise costs for any under-slab drainage repair.
Inner heritage — North Ward, Hyde Park, Mundingburra
Older Queenslanders and established homes where ageing galvanised or copper pipework is common and often due for replacement. High-set homes can make under-floor access easier in some cases and harder in others, and pre-1980s properties can carry asbestos-cement pipe that needs specialist removal.
Coastal & wet-season demand — Pallarenda, Belgian Gardens, Rowes Bay
Coastal homes see faster corrosion on exposed pipework and fittings, and the wet season drives heavy demand for stormwater and drainage work — blocked or overwhelmed drains spike after monsoon rain. Booking non-urgent jobs outside the December–March peak usually means better rates and availability.
What You'll Actually Pay — Real-World Scenarios
Leaking mixer tap in a kitchen — straightforward access
A leaking kitchen mixer is $86–$280 per job in our Townsville table and a replacement mixer $160–$540. Ask about the call-out or service fee ($65–$160) when you book, so a small job doesn't surprise you.
Blocked kitchen or bathroom drain
Standard drain clearing in Townsville is $160–$540 on our table, and $380–$1,200 if it needs a CCTV camera and high-pressure jetting. Most of Townsville's 1,162.3 mm of annual rain falls between December and March (Bureau of Meteorology), so a blockage that only shows up in storms may be in the stormwater line rather than the sewer — say so when you book.
Hot water system replacement — electric to gas continuous flow
Continuous-flow gas isn't a line in our Townsville table — the hot water rows cover electric, gas storage and heat pumps — so get it quoted. Gas work needs a QBCC licence whatever its value, and the gas fitter must issue a gas system compliance certificate when the job is finished. Queensland's Climate Smart Energy Savers rebate has closed, but a heat pump or solar water heater can still claim small-scale technology certificates as a discount on the price (Clean Energy Regulator).
Toilet cistern repair — not flushing properly
A cistern that won't fill is usually the inlet (float) valve; one that runs on is usually the flush valve. In Queensland, repairing or replacing a drop valve washer, float valve washer or suction cup rubber in a toilet cistern is unregulated plumbing you can do yourself; most other cistern work needs a QBCC-licensed plumber, at $160–$380 for a repair in our table.
Emergency burst pipe — after hours, Saturday night
A Saturday-night call-out in Townsville is $270–$755 per visit on our table, and a burst pipe repair $215–$865. Turn the water off at the meter, and if you rent — 38.3% of Townsville homes were rented in the 2021 Census, above Queensland's 33.1% — call the property manager first.
Townsville plumbing: a toilet that won't fill, hot water by type, and taps
A Townsville toilet that won't fill: repair or replace
A toilet repair is $160–$380 in our Townsville table and a new toilet, supplied and fitted, $430–$970. At the typical prices the new toilet costs $380 more than the repair. The call-out or service fee is $65–$160.
Hot water through a Townsville plumber, by type
Installed, an electric hot water system is $865–$3,250 in our Townsville table, gas storage $1,300–$3,775 and a heat pump $3,250–$6,500. Electric is the lowest of the three at the typical prices and the heat pump the highest, $2,575 apart.
Fixing a leaking tap or fitting a new one in Townsville
Fixing a leaking tap is $86–$280 in our Townsville table, and replacing the tap $160–$540. At the typical prices the fix costs $170 less than a new tap.
These answers use the prices in the table on this page.
What Affects Plumber Costs in Townsville
A cistern that won't fill
Queensland lists a few cistern fixes as unregulated plumbing that anyone with the skills may do: repairing or replacing a float valve washer, a drop valve washer or the suction cup rubber in the cistern. If the inlet valve itself has failed, or water is escaping at the pan or the wall, book a licensed plumber; a toilet repair costs $160–$380 in our table and replacing the whole toilet, pan and cistern included, $430–$970.
Townsville Water and blocked sewers
Townsville Water owns the sewer up to and including the riser, and the house drain from your home to that point is yours to maintain. Ring council's 24-hour line, 13 48 10, before booking anyone. If its crew finds the blockage in your house drain, you can ask them to clear it for the standard fee, $633 in normal hours or $801 after hours, plus any digging needed. A plumber's standard clearance is $160–$540.
Drains that keep blocking
When a drain blocks again and again, plumbers usually run a camera through it and jet it clean, at $380–$1,200, so you learn whether tree roots or a cracked joint are to blame. Weak drains tend to show themselves in the wet season, when the BOM averages put 312.4 mm in February and 274.4 mm in January, against almost nothing from June to October.
Hot water in climate zone 1
As an NCC zone 1 city, Townsville stays mild even in July, when nights average 13.8 °C (BOM averages), warm air for a heat pump water heater to work with. A heat pump typically costs more up front, $3,250–$6,500 against $865–$3,250 for electric storage, but approved heat pumps can create federal certificates that a registered agent converts into money off the price. Whatever you choose, the NCC caps the water reaching a new bathroom outlet at 50 °C.
A licence whatever the job size
Queensland sets no minimum value for plumbing, drainage or gasfitting: even a small job needs a QBCC-licensed tradesperson. That is stricter than general building, where the licence line is work worth $3,300. Gas fitting is quoted per point at $270–$700, and a bathroom rough-in for a renovation runs $2,150–$7,000, so ask the plumber to show the licence class that covers each part.
Night calls and cyclone season
After hours the rate is $160–$325 an hour before any call-out, and an emergency visit costs $270–$755. During the November to April cyclone season a burst pipe ($215–$865) or an overflowing drain can't wait. A tap that drips ($86–$280) or a cistern that refills slowly will keep until Monday.
How to Save Money on Plumber Cost in Townsville
Plumber Cost in Townsville by Job Size
Assume a blocked drain in a Townsville house takes two and a half hours to clear. At the low ends a $65 call-out with two and a half hours at $86 an hour is $280; at the high ends a $160 call-out with the same hours at $215 an hour is $698. The standard clear row is $160–$540, so a quote should state which basis it is on and whether the call-out is counted inside the fixed price.
What moves a drain job here is where the water is going. In the wet season a blockage that shows up only in storms may sit on the stormwater line instead of the sewer, and the plumber needs to be told. Slab-on-ground houses can add under-slab work, and a blockage that needs a camera moves the job to the row at $380–$1,200.
Plumber Cost in Townsville: What the Quote Should Include
In Townsville a plumbing quote has to separate the sewer, the stormwater line and the house drain, because heavy rain between December and March can make a storm-time blockage a stormwater job, and the council's water business clears some blocked house drains itself. The quote should name the line it covers.
- Which line is blocked: the sewer, the stormwater line or the house drain, named on the quote, with a note if the trouble shows only in storms.
- The call-out fee against its row of $65–$160, and a note on how a wet-season delay to the booking is handled.
- Labour at $86–$215 an hour, with the after-hours rate of $160–$325 an hour on its own line for evenings, weekends and holidays.
- In a high-set home, the access under the floor priced as a line, since it can make the work easier or harder.
- For a slab-on-ground house, as in the newer estates at Kirwan or Idalia, any drainage work under the slab shown as its own line.
- Camera and jetting against the row of $380–$1,200 per job for a drain that keeps blocking, with the finding on the invoice.
- A toilet that will not fill: the cistern part named, with the fixed repair row of $160–$380 per job and the parts shown.
- For a rental, the property manager's name on the booking before the plumber attends.
- A written warranty on parts and workmanship, GST shown, a start date and the payment stages.
Frequently Asked Questions — Plumber Cost in Townsville
Our Methodology
These are independent estimates from public cost guides, marketplaces and industry rate data, and no tradesperson can influence them, so always get a few quotes. Last reviewed October 2026. Read our full methodology →