Thread: Electrical Regulation in Australia

I like the irony of this thread being started by chrisp........

My opinion, the shop is too closed, we need regulation, but also the ability for a course to teach the home owner how they can work on their own property, not a full course, but giving them sufficient ability to do their own wiring, with maybe an inspection facility for these people.

This would also need to come with strong sanctions against anyone who did the course and worked on someone else's property

Oh and you forgot Cliffs Rats ????? option

I voted:

Allow people to sit a full licence (without doing 4 year apprenticeship).
Allow like-for-like only (replace broken components).

I think you should be allowed to swap out a power point, switch or light fitting or other hard wired appliance with like for like.

I think you should be able to obtain a license simply by proving you have the requisite knowledge. The current arrangement should stay, where a licensed person is qualified to do the work without supervision but cannot do it commercially without a contractor's license and cannot connect to the supply without compliance testing by a qualified person.

I think that electrical inspections should be mandatory when a house changes hands (similar to a pink slip). Faults should either be fixed before sale, or factored into the contract price.

Originally Posted by silentC

I think that electrical inspections should be mandatory when a house changes hands (similar to a pink slip). Faults should either be fixed before sale, or factored into the contract price.

Like that last one Silent

Originally Posted by silentC

I think that electrical inspections should be mandatory when a house changes hands (similar to a pink slip). Faults should either be fixed before sale, or factored into the contract price.

I like it too. I'd think we'd need something like that if the system was changed to allow occupiers to do their own wiring.

I certainly had an electrical inspection done when I bought my house and was under the impression it was required. (Perhaps this was a requirement of the lending institution?)
The inspection did reveal several minor problems including a shed that had been wired bya previous owner.

Yes that could be a requirement of the lender. As far as I know, there is no legislation requiring inspections to be done. I've bought twice in Sydney and the council inspection and building inspection were required by the bank. No electrical. I hired a very good inspector to do the second place I bought - he highlighted a couple of plumbing and electrical things but conceded he wasn't qualified and suggested we get a trade in to check them out.

As far as I know, the only mandatory thing is the title search. Even the utility searches and other stuff usually done by the buyer's solicitor are only for your peace of mind. I think...

if you have to ask how to wire a two-way switch which socket on a GPO is active etc. leave it alone. I saw a contractor in the 50's trying to wire an extention lead and as he had no idea he joined all the wires together. Luckely the switchboard was fused.
les

The concept of pink slip on sale is good, but won't protect the incumbent.

I voted for the test option. But my preferred option would be to de-regulate residential (owner/occupier) wiring entirely, and for an owner/occupier to state what work has been done and submit to inspection by the supply authority (it's their system you're connecting to).

Originally Posted by Cauterise

The concept of pink slip on sale is good, but won't protect the incumbent.

I voted for the test option. But my preferred option would be to de-regulate residential (owner/occupier) wiring entirely, and for an owner/occupier to state what work has been done and submit to inspection by the supply authority (it's their system you're connecting to).

I voted the same as Silent and agree with what he says in his voting post. But I think people should think seriously about not doing it if they have to ask.

25 years ago every electrical installation had to be inspected by the local electricity council by putting a ready for test in and could not be connected until it was inspected and then the inspector would turn it on Now the councils put it back on the sparky and only do spot checks and if they think the sparky is not doing it properly they will target him.

Leave it as it is.
People will do their own work anyway.
If they are stupid they will die.
If they are clever thay will live, however they may inadvertantly kill someone down the track.
I guess the best result is that the gene pool will be a little healthier

BTW, I am an Electrician.
I do not work in the domestic field and don't care if a system is introduced allowing people to do their own domestic work, although I can see more bad than good coming of it.

Over the next few years the Electrical trade will change. Apprenticeships will be shorter and be segmented into smaller fields, ie domestic, commercial and industrial.
It may not be too far away that apprenticeships will be so short you guys will be able to do one in your spare time. Good luck getting a Sparky who knows what he is doing after this happens.

Cheers, Jack

Give em an inch they will take a mile!!!!

Shoot em all,
let God sort em out.

Originally Posted by Cauterise

The concept of pink slip on sale is good, but won't protect the incumbent.

I voted for the test option. But my preferred option would be to de-regulate residential (owner/occupier) wiring entirely, and for an owner/occupier to state what work has been done and submit to inspection by the supply authority (it's their system you're connecting to).

Well I really hope they dont go down this track. It will end in tears for a lot of people. When the last lot of licensing renewals happened I was sent by the company I worked for to a course to fulfill the license reqs. 2 full days and an assignment that took 4 hours to do.

I learnt a hell of a lot and I have worked as a sparky for over 10 years. Things like the importance of correct impedance and correct testing requirements. Things like shrouding powerpoints and insulation in ceilings.
How is the lay person supposed to learn all this stuff let alone remember it? How many people have seen the AS3000 wiring rules? It isnt the easiest regulation to interpret let alone use correctly.

I dont usually have to worry about those things as Im an industrial sparky but I have a good idea of whats required in the domestic scene.

The thing to think about is it might pass the inspection because a lot of things are unseen due to walls ceilings etc but is it worth being responsible for killing someone just because you inadvertinly made a mistake? What if it was one of your own family? Could you live with that? My father worked with a linesman who made a mistake on a powerpole and a pregnant woman miscarried when she got a shock in a bath. Dad said he was never the same person after that.

Just my 2 cents worth.

Shane.

I have abstained from voting.

If anyone is permitted to go sit a license test without getting their hands dirty, what kind of test will it be?

A 2 hour test where you answer a booklet of questions?

A day long test where you have to connect something up and a written test?

A week long test where you will have to display knowledge of all the regulations?

Or will it be the 4 hour test I did with a written test, a fault find and a safe disconnect/reconnect?

(BTW, if you have to ask what a safe disconnect/reconnect involves, you failed, don't come back ever again.)


I am a licensed electrician, and I am against any and all doing electrical work, including some licensed electricians. But I do think there is a place for those folks who are competent, and want to do bits and pieces here and there for themselves.

The problem is sorting the wheat from the chaff.

Until you work out a way to do that reliably and honestly, why the heck is this carp still being debated?