Plumbing Work SAC Code and GST Rate: Labour vs Supply and Fix

Quick answer: Plumbing work is a service, so it takes a SAC code, not an HSN code. The code is 995462, "Water plumbing and drain laying services", and the GST rate is 18 percent (9 percent CGST plus 9 percent SGST). That applies to labour-only work and to supply-and-fix contracts alike. The main exception: pure labour on a new single independent house, not part of a residential complex, is exempt.

We sell plumbing material, not plumbing labour, so we see this question from the other side of the counter: a contractor buys from us on a goods invoice, then has to bill the client for the finished job. What goes on that second invoice is a different code, a different rule, and sometimes a different answer. This page sets out what the law says and where the answer depends on the facts. It was checked on 3 November 2026 against the CBIC services rate and exemption notifications, including the GST 2.0 changes of September 2025 and the amendments that came into force on 1 November 2026.

HSN or SAC: which code does plumbing work take?

Goods are classified by HSN code, from the Customs Tariff. Services are classified under the Scheme of Classification of Services, published as the annexure to Notification 11/2017 Central Tax (Rate). Every service code starts with 99, and people call them SAC codes. When someone searches for "plumbing work HSN code", the code they need is a SAC.

Level	Code	Description in the scheme
Section	5	Construction services
Heading	9954	Construction services
Group	99546	Installation services
Service code	995462	Water plumbing and drain laying services

The neighbours in the same group are 995461 (electrical installation), 995463 (heating, ventilation and air conditioning installation) and 995464 (gas fitting installation). If one contract covers plumbing and wiring, it is cleaner to show each on its own line with its own code.

The GST rate on plumbing work

The services rate notification fixes rates by heading, and plumbing falls in heading 9954, serial 3 of the table in Notification 11/2017. Two items under serial 3 matter here, both at 9 percent central tax, which with state tax makes 18 percent:

• Item (ii): "composite supply of works contract as defined in clause (119) of section 2 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act". That is supply-and-fix.
• Item (xii): "construction services other than" the items listed above it. That is where labour-only plumbing sits.

The rate did not change under GST 2.0. Notification 15/2025 Central Tax (Rate), in force from 22 September 2025, raised three remaining lower-rate works contract entries (earthwork-heavy contracts for government, their sub-contracts, and offshore oil and gas works) to 9 percent central tax, so 18 percent. Most other government works contracts had already moved from 12 to 18 percent in July 2022, when Notification 3/2022 omitted their concessional entries. The latest amendment to the services rates, Notification 6/2026, in force from 1 November 2026, deals with hotels, catering, electric vehicles and delivery services, and does not touch construction.

Labour only, or supply and fix

Labour only

You buy the pipe, fittings and sanitaryware yourself, and pay the plumber for the work. Two invoices: ours for the goods, with HSN codes, and the plumber's for the labour, with SAC 995462. The plumber charges 18 percent on the labour if registered, subject to the exemption in the next section. Many plumbers working for homeowners are not registered at all; a supplier of services in Karnataka has to register only once aggregate turnover crosses ₹20 lakh in a year, under section 22 of the CGST Act. An unregistered plumber cannot charge GST.

Supply and fix: a works contract

The contractor supplies the material and installs it. Section 2(119) of the CGST Act defines a works contract as a contract for building, construction, fabrication, completion, erection, installation, fitting out, improvement, modification, repair, maintenance, renovation, alteration or commissioning of any immovable property, where transfer of property in goods is involved in the execution of the contract. Plumbing laid into a building is exactly that. Schedule II of the Act then says a works contract is to be treated as a supply of services.

The consequence: the contractor does not bill your pipes as goods under 3917 and the labour separately. The whole contract value, material and labour together, is one supply of a service under SAC 995462 at 18 percent. The material lines can be listed for your information, but the tax is worked on the contract as one service.

Where the answer depends on the facts

These are the cases where we would not give a one line answer, because the law turns on details only you know.

A new independent house, labour only. Entry 11 of Notification 12/2017 Central Tax (Rate) exempts "services by way of pure labour contracts of construction, erection, commissioning, or installation of original works pertaining to a single residential unit otherwise than as a part of a residential complex". Each condition matters:

• Pure labour: if the plumber supplies material, it is a works contract and the exemption does not apply.
• Original works: defined in the same notification as all new constructions, additions and alterations to abandoned or damaged structures needed to make them workable, and erection or installation of plant, machinery or equipment. Routine repair of a working bathroom is not original works.
• Single residential unit: "a self-contained residential unit which is designed for use, wholly or principally, for residential purposes for one family".
• Not part of a residential complex: "any complex comprising of a building or buildings, having more than one single residential unit". A flat in an apartment building, or one unit of a two-unit house, is part of a residential complex.

Government work. Since 22 September 2025 there is no reduced rate left for works contracts supplied to government, so supply-and-fix plumbing for a government body is 18 percent. A separate exemption, entry 3 of Notification 12/2017, covers pure services (not works contracts) supplied to government or a local authority in relation to functions entrusted to a Panchayat or a Municipality under the Constitution, which include water supply and sanitation. Whether a particular labour contract qualifies depends on who the client is and what the work is for. That is a question for the contractor's accountant.

Apartment projects. A builder pays GST on apartments sold before completion at its own special rates. That does not pass down: a plumbing contractor working for the builder bills the builder at 18 percent under 995462.

Plumbers booked through an app. Serial 3 also has an entry at 2.5 percent central tax, 5 percent in all, for "services by way of house-keeping, such as plumbing, carpentering, etc." supplied through an electronic commerce operator by a person not liable to register. The GST Council's services rate schedule lists it. It does not apply to a plumber you hire directly.

What each invoice should show

The material invoice from a dealer (that is us) lists each item with its HSN code, quantity, rate, taxable value and the CGST and SGST on it. For example, ten 5 metre lengths of Astral CPVC SDR 11 pipe, 1/2 inch, at our price of ₹252 each (list ₹560), before GST on 3 November 2026:

• HSN 3917 23 90, 10 lengths at ₹252: ₹2,520.00
• CGST at 9 percent: ₹226.80
• SGST at 9 percent: ₹226.80
• Total: ₹2,973.60

The contractor's invoice to the client shows the contractor's GSTIN, the client's GSTIN if the client is registered, SAC 995462, a description of the work and the site, the taxable value of the contract or the stage being billed, and 9 percent CGST plus 9 percent SGST. If the contractor is registered, the GST on the material bought from us is input tax credit for the contractor, not cost, which is why contractors ask us for rates before tax.

How many digits of the code to print depends on turnover. From 1 April 2021, a business with turnover up to ₹5 crore in the previous year shows at least 4 digits on invoices to registered buyers, and a business above ₹5 crore shows 6, per the Finance Ministry's notice. For a service, 6 digits is the full SAC: 995462.

If the client is a business. Section 17(5) of the CGST Act blocks input tax credit on works contract services for construction of immovable property, other than plant and machinery, and the Act counts renovation, additions, alterations and repairs as construction to the extent they are capitalised. A business having its office plumbing done should not assume it can claim the GST back. Its accountant will know.

Questions we get asked

What is the HSN code for plumbing work?

Plumbing work is a service, so it takes SAC 995462, "Water plumbing and drain laying services", under heading 9954.

What is the HSN code for plumbing work with material?

The same SAC, 995462. Supply-and-fix is a works contract, treated as a service, so the whole value is billed under the service code at 18 percent.

What is the GST rate on plumbing work?

18 percent: 9 percent CGST and 9 percent SGST, or 18 percent IGST across states. Pure labour on a new single independent house is exempt.

Is GST charged on plumber labour?

Only if the plumber is registered, and not on pure labour for original works on a single residential unit outside a residential complex. Otherwise yes, at 18 percent.

Buying the material from us

If you are buying material yourself and hiring labour separately, send your plumber's list through the quote tool and we will price every line and give you one GST invoice with the correct HSN codes. Contractors on account can ring or WhatsApp 99801 00987. For the codes on the goods side, see the plumbing materials HSN code list and the CPVC pipe HSN code page. For budgeting the job, read plumbing material cost for a 30x40 house and pipe procurement planning. Our Astral price list has the pipe used in the example above.

Checked on 3 November 2026 against Notification 11/2017 Central Tax (Rate) and its annexure, Notification 12/2017 Central Tax (Rate), and their amendments including 3/2022, 15/2025 and 6/2026. Material prices are our selling prices before GST on 3 November 2026. We are a material dealer explaining the rules as written, not a tax adviser; where we say it depends, it does, and the contractor's accountant should decide.

Sources

• CBIC: Notification 11/2017 Central Tax (Rate), services rates
• CBIC: Annexure to Notification 11/2017, Scheme of Classification of Services
• CBIC: Notification 12/2017 Central Tax (Rate), services exemptions
• CBIC: Notification 3/2022 Central Tax (Rate)
• CBIC: Notification 15/2025 Central Tax (Rate)
• CBIC: Notification 6/2026 Central Tax (Rate)
• CBIC: CGST Act, 2017 (sections 2(119), 17(5), 22 and Schedule II)
• GST Council: services rate schedule
• PIB: HSN and SAC digits on invoices from 1 April 2021