Taboo subject on this forum? (Electrical queries)

[sundancewfs]

The current value of a penalty unit in all Commonwealth and NSW cases is $ 110 and in Victoria it is $ 100 for local government prosecutions and $ 106.43 for state prosecutions.

Peter.

Mate! thats cheaper than a Sparky! U beauty! Linesman pliers for everybody! Yaaaaaaayyyy

[MurrayD99]

Mate! thats cheaper than a Sparky! U beauty! Linesman pliers for everybody! Yaaaaaaayyyy

And big alligator clips.....

[silentC]

Ah but the electricity supply company will disconnect your supply until you get it certified and the re-connection fee is a killer.

[craigb]

So if you cop the maximum 150 penalty points it's a $15,000 fine?

Ouch!

[silentC]

Plus you would have to pay a sparky to come in and fix/test what you have done.

I asked that guy this morning if he knew of anyone ever being fined for it and he said that it happens all the time...

[Frank&Earnest]

Here are the regulations.

So, in a nutshell, you can do the wiring yourself but it must be certified by a qualified person. So if you can get a sparky to certify your new light fittings, then you are OK. Otherwise, you can be fined.

... which is what I have said since the beginning. Everybody happy now?

ETA: Keep in mind that you are always referring to building. Once the place has been certified, any further maintenance work wich is up to standard would not void the certification, because it should be indistinguishable from the previous work. The certifying body would have the onus of proof that such further work breaches the Act, whoever has done it.

[Frank&Earnest]

So if you cop the maximum 150 penalty points it's a $15,000 fine?

Ouch!

If you read back post #26, you will see that in SA the maximum penalty is $250,000.

[Schtoo]

I've said it before, I'll say it now and I am sure (dag-nab-it) that I will be saying it again in the future.

"If you need to ask, then maybe you shouldn't be doing it."

That doesn't apply to all things of course, but when it comes to fixed wiring, it does.


I had a long diatribe typed in here, then I figured why bother, it's been said before already.

So, I leave you with the above. I think that's all that's really required.

[Master Splinter]

Easy solution. Since New Zealand has the same wiring rules and fittings (but they allow homeowners to do some electrical work), all electrical advice is now given for the benefit of NZ'ers. Done!

[Frank&Earnest]

Easy solution. Since New Zealand has the same wiring rules and fittings (but they allow homeowners to do some electrical work), all electrical advice is now given for the benefit of NZ'ers. Done!

Is that your attempt at ethnic cleansing?

It is depressing that after 4 pages waffling about legality the real point about not helping people killing themselves or others is not sinking in. (Thanks Schtoo. Commiserations, silentC).

[rrich]

I always thought, DIY was OK. After yesterday I understand the reason for the requirement that a sparky do the work.

Yesterday, the neighbor from across the street knocks on the door. "Your house is the same as mine. I was changing switches in the bathroom (a.k.a. WC or Dunny) and now nothing works. Would you help?"

Side note, Here in the US we have two styles of switches, normal and decor. The decor switches are the retecangular rocker switches. We also have regular, three way and four way switches. The regular has one input and one output. The three way has one input and two outputs withn one or the other always on. Without drawing it out, I forget about the four way switches.

Back to the neighbor's bathroom. I grab my meter and go to look things over. No electricity coming into the switch. My neighbor is saying that he hates doing electrical work because he knows nothing about it. The problem appears to be that the wire is broken inside the insulation. So I grab some black wire and wire nuts from home and go back to the neighbors. That was easy. A short length of black wire and wire nut to splice in the wire and now correctly connected to the switch after moving the other wires.

This is a circuit using three way switches as the light is turned on/off from either side of the bathroom. It's wierd, the light only works if the other switch is in a particular position. OK, this switch is correct and I close things up before looking at the other switch.

The other switch is a regular switch in a three way circuit. ) But there are THREE wires! How could you connect three wires to two terminals? ) Another oddity concerning the switches here. Some switches are quick connect and have a slip in, single use terminal in addition to the normal screw terminal. My neighbor, the electrical genius, used a slip in terminal and the two screw terminals. I reinstalled the old switch to make everything work normally. Then I explained that he needed to get a three way decor switch and move one wire at at a time to the new switch.

Today, I checked with my neighbor's wife to be sure that everything was working correctly.

Mates, after yesterday I fully understand the need for regulations regarding electrical work. We need those regulations here also!

[sundancewfs]

Here is a pic just for fun...... I think they do all their own electrical work.... I didn't see one grounded power point on Mexico....

[Master Splinter]

I think some people are missing the point.

Regulations are fine - the problem we have is how you can gain recognition that you have undertaken enough training to follow and interpret the Australian/New Zealand wiring rules so that you are able to undertake particular electrical tasks.

At the moment, the only way to gain electrical qualifications is to undertake a four year apprenticeship along with TAFE training. So unless you are willing to work for 'trainee' wages for four years, there is no way you can gain the qualifications.

Sounds like an unreasonably high barrier to entry, to me.

(and if anyone says "oh, but it gives invaluable hands on experience", I'll relate the story of an ex electrical apprentice friend who gave it up after spending 7 months of his apprenticeship as the person with the job of breaking the ceramic insulation off MIMS wire for fire installations. So yes, he was very good with a hammer after all that practice.)

[Schtoo]

Master Splinter, uhh, what ceramic sheath on MIMS cable?

Just curious since I have yet to see any ceramic coating on the stuff, and I think I might have installed enough of the ^%$^%$ stuff to know.

It's painful stuff to work with, and it would be impossible if they added anything extra to deal with on it.

I can however relate to being stuck doing one thing for months/years in order to gain 'experience'. Not much short of slave labour really. For those poor sods, the 4 years is basically worthless.


But then you end up on the other end of the coin, I'll put myself up for examination since no-one else is offering.

If you take a full Clipsal catalogue, and a full Pirelli (used to be) cable catalogue, throw in a Pyrotenax catalogue and cross out maybe 5% of each catologue. What is left is what I have likely installed at one time or another. I remember telling someone from Clipsal how to install some of the gear they make. Hands on experience and all that, as worthless as it is sometimes claimed to be...

We used to do almost anything, and as a result there is very little electrical work I can't do due to lack of previous experience.

However, I have been away for over 5 years, and would not kid myself that I could step back in tomorrow. I'd take at least 6 months to get back in the groove of things.


Yes, I am a sparky.

Am I good one?

Probably, but that's not my call really.

Could some folks here do their own little electrical jobs with competence and in complete safety?

No doubt. But there would be just as many, if not more who could not do their own things without some element of risk that would be eliminated or at least reduced if a professional did the job.


I might not be particularly worried about the idea of someone with no qualifications doing electrical work, but since I know that some folks really shouldn't touch the stuff, and I have no way of identifying who should and should not, I tend to avoid saying anything.

[silentC]

Once the place has been certified, any further maintenance work wich is up to standard would not void the certification, because it should be indistinguishable from the previous work.

No, I thought I cleared that up with all those links to the Electrical Safety Act and Regulations and the call to that inspector from The Dept. of Fair Trading. You are responsible for maintaining your installation according to the regulations, and the regulations state quite clearly that an unqualified person cannot do electrical work, unless under direct supervision of a qualified supervisor. The work then needs to be tested and certified by a qualified person. The only loophole is that they probably wont ever know you did it.

This is the state of affairs in NSW. I find it hard to believe that SA would be any different.