Common plumbing tasks and skills include: Plumbing work is defined in the Australian Standards (AS3500) Regulations 2013 and refers to any operation, work or process in connection with installation, removal, demolition, replacement, alteration, maintenance or repair to the system of pipes and fixtures that conveys clean water into and liquid waste out of a building.

Plumbers usually learn the trade because their families work in the construction industry, and they specialize in this field, but anyone can legally offer plumbing services.

The most popular training institution for trades is SENA, a public school that provides high-quality education, though it is not mandatory.

There are several regulatory bodies in the United Kingdom providing accredited plumbing qualifications, including City and Guilds of London Institute and Pearson PLC.

These include electric shock, strains and sprains, cuts and lacerations, bruises and contusions, fractures, burns and scalds, foreign bodies in the eye, and hernias.

Human waste can contain infectious diseases such as cholera, typhoid, hepatitis, polio, cryptosporidiosis, ascariasis, and schistosomiasis.

Their job was to plug intelligence "leaks" in the U.S. Government relating to the Vietnam War (i.e. the Pentagon Papers); hence the term "plumbers".