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A compliant installation leaves a record, and the record is the thing you keep. For electrical work in Victoria, ESV states that the registered electrical contractor or licensed electrical worker must provide a copy of the Certificate of Electrical Safety to the customer, that prescribed electrical installation work cannot be turned on or left turned on until it has been inspected by an independent Licensed Electrical Inspector, and that for non-prescribed work an inspection is not required and the documentation must be provided within thirty days.

For gas, ESV's position is that licensed gasfitters must provide a compliance certificate after installing a gas appliance and that accepting the work without one is not acceptable, because that certificate is what protects you if a fault later turns out to be an installation fault. For plumbing, New South Wales requires the correct licence and may require Notices of Work, Certificates of Compliance and sewer service diagrams. Ask which documents apply to your job before it starts, and do not make final payment until they arrive.

Energy Safe Victoria's message on electrical work leaves no room for interpretation: electrical work is not a do-it-yourself job even for small jobs such as changing power points or light switches, and doing unqualified electrical work is not only extremely dangerous, it is also illegal. The same logic applies with more force to gas, where ESV advises always using a licensed gasfitter for any installation, repair or renovation involving gas work.

Two specific traps are worth naming. The first is the extension lead or piggyback adaptor used to run an appliance that needed its own circuit, which is a fire risk and not an installation. The second is a gas appliance connected to a gas it was not configured for, since appliances set up for natural gas and for LP gas are not interchangeable without conversion by a licensed gasfitter. Neither shortcut leaves you with a certificate, and both can affect an insurance claim.

Two separate protections sit behind an appliance install and people routinely blur them. The appliance itself has to be of acceptable quality, which covers safety, durability and freedom from defects. The work of putting it in is a service, and carries its own guarantee of care and skill. The ACCC also draws a clear line between these automatic guarantees and a warranty, which it describes as an extra promise a business chooses to make on top of them rather than a replacement for them.

Where installation matters most is in manufacturer warranty claims. Many appliance warranties exclude damage caused by incorrect installation, so the certificates from the licensed trades are also the evidence that the installation was not the cause. Keep the Certificate of Electrical Safety, the gas compliance certificate and any plumbing certificate with the appliance paperwork. If an appliance fails and the manufacturer questions the installation, those documents are what settles the argument.