Electrical Work at IP

A PM called me the other day to fix a power point (PP) at an IP. Sparky arrived at the property and says wire is frayed and old. In such situations, a sparky would ordinarily run new cable from the PP back to the junction box. However, PM thinks whole house needs rewiring. I have had other jobs where I have asked for an additional PP, and the sparky says you need to install a new meter box with a safety switch. They say you cannot proceed until you fix this and that. Etc, etc.

I have muddled my way through much of this type of stuff in the past, but I now realise I need to better understand this whole area. Need to figure out the difference between something that is required by law (or prudently should be done for safety and other reasons), and what looks like ‘upsells’.

First port of call is to better understand the law. So, what is the primary piece of legislation (and regulation/guidelines/standards) I should read regarding doing electical work on a residential property in Victoria?

Any assistance from the PC community would be greatly appreciated.

 

AS3000 - Electrical Wiring Rulz

 

Thanks. Cannot find a free edition of the rules on the web. Rules cost $224!

 

Yep, Australian standards are a farce. Privatised and inaccessible to the customer

 

And people wonder why trades are expensive when they have to keep copies of the standards that they need to comply with and understand.

 

Presumably these standards are referenced in various legislation and codes. Nice, spend $224 to work work out whether you comply with the law.

 

You could probably get a second opinion before commencing work .
I know in W.A most electrical companies will not allow their employees or contractors to work on homes that do not have rcds fitted, due to OHS and a few employees that have been electrocuted.

 

UK British Standards are just as bad, with the [deliberately?] annoying thing of one standard referencing another, so that you probably need several.

Against that, Building Regulations are all now free downloads, whilst when I started as a building inspector 40+ years ago we had to buy them for serious money.

 

Traditionally, building regulations were all legislation and you had to purchase copies of them from the Aust Govt Printing Office.

When the internet thingy appeared, all legislation was migrated across to austlii.edu.au EXCEPT for the Building Code of Australia, which is now also free.

Aust Standards/International Standards are all regulated through the International Standards Organisation.

Free access to standards may be available through some libraries (eg. Uni, TAFE, major libraries & specialist libraries)

 

First thing to do would be to not ask electrical related questions on this forum. Even if you spent the money and bought the book you wouldn' be able to understand it.

 

Happened to me before. There was no light/power in one of the bedrooms. The electrician came and found out the old wire needed rewiring. Cost me $550 GST inclusive no joke! Sigh!

 

It happens - recently had a fan installed - all working perfectly. Came back in next morning, no power to the fan. Somehow the wire had died. Needed a rewire.

 

Just get a meter upgrade with RCDs , it will soon tell you if you have any issues with your wiring in the house.
Although it will probably not listen to your issues about current legislation or lack of it.Quite surprised your even allowed to rent out properties without RCDs fitted.
The issue that many homeowners are finding out ,is many electrical companies will not allow staff or contractors to work on properties without RCDs fitted , especially if it involves work inside the roof cavity.

 

You can’t take chances with electricity.

Send in a trusted electrician for a second opinion. Get recommendations if property is not close to you.

Depending on the age of the property you may be up for a complete rewire, which won’t be cheap.
Marg

 

I work in this field and have access to AS3000, although I'm not an expert on house circuits (my experience is more industrial). I have never seen anything in AS3000 that applies retrospectively, in other words an installation is deemed to be compliant as long as it complies with the version of AS3000 that applied when it was last worked on.

Further modifications to an electrical installation require it to be brought up to the current standard. I have seen this applied inconsistently with some sparkies happy to add new power points without upgrading the fuse box, and some sparkies requiring the entire house to be brought up to the current standard just for a like-for-like replacement of a damaged light fitting. I am not going to speculate here on where that line should be drawn.

However... there has been some other legislation in WA that specifies that RCDs need to be installed when a house is put up for sale, or for rent. So lack of RCDs in a WA rental is illegal, but is perfectly OK in a 30 year old rental in NSW.

From http://intranet.tenants.org.au/print/policy-papers/TU-briefing-residential-current-detectors.pdf

My NSW rental properties were built in the '90s and have RCDs on the power circuits but not the lighting circuits.

I'll second that. You should ring the building inspector that did your pre-purchase inspection (or another building inspector) and ask if they can recommend a sparky for an electrical inspection. When you talk to the sparky, actually have a conversation about your issues and what you need (don't just assign the job and await the report).

 

I just changed my electrical box from old ceramic to rcd. Cost about $500 + cost of rcd themselves. I'd rather pay that and get it fixed than have idiots wrap copious amounts of fuse wire to stop an item from tripping.

Upgrading fuse box does not mean updating the cabling. Depends on the age of the cabling itself. Mine was all plastic (like what is put in today)

 

Here’s a new rule for everyone,

By law you now have to have the oven circuit on an rcd.

 

Why are you listening to what the PM says? Why don't you get the number for the electrician and talk to him/her directly?

 

Many thanks for that. Very useful summary.

 

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