3 Things to Look for When Choosing an Electrician for Your School

From electrical burns to electricians operating under fake identities, the real risk these mishaps pose is to the safety and wellbeing of the students in the schools they were allowed to work in.

While choosing an electrician from your home can ultimately come down to your preference, selecting an electrician for a school means you are obligated to follow and comply with government standards.

To ensure you are following policies correctly and to secure students’ safety, here are three things you must consider when choosing an electrician.

1. Meeting the right electrical standards 

As with any project involving potentially dangerous or harmful materials, the person dealing with them should be appropriately certified.

The Ministry of Education has developed the Electrical Installations: Standard for Schools and all electrical work must comply with this standard.

In keeping with the Ministry of Education’s regulations, electrical work must be installed by a professional who has passed the Ministry of Electrical Installations Standards training course and holds a valid certification or is an apprentice supervised by someone holding this certification.

This then allows them to perform electrical work, including:

  • Design
  • Supply
  • Installation
  • Testing
  • Documentation
  • Maintenance

Schools also must comply with the Australian/New Zealand Standard 3000:2007, or the Australian/New Zealand Wiring Rules.

For best practice, school project managers should ensure that they familiarise themselves with these standards.

It is also important to note that it is the electrician’s responsibility to notify the school or school representative if they find any electrical installations made by previous electricians that go against these standards.

2. Obtaining police vetting 

While criminal record checks only cover convictions, police vetting includes any information on any contact an individual has with the police. This way, the most vulnerable are protected.

Police vetting is a legal requirement necessary for an individual who will have or is likely to have unsupervised access to students or children during regular school hours or service opening hours.

Boards are required to obtain a police vet before any electrical work commences. At the moment, police vetting services are processing 62% of requests within 20 working days, so it is important you put this into consideration when managing your electrical projects.

If you are unclear about what constitutes a person likey to have access to students, here are a few helpful definitions :

  • A person who is ‘likely’ to have unsupervised access if there is more than a 50% chance of unsupervised access to one or more students
  • ‘Unsupervised access’ means access to any student at the school when a school employee or parent is not presently supervising

As soon as the electrician is vetted, they are cleared for work within a school for a period of 12 months.

3. Having the right experience 

The process of selecting an electrician, the ability for them to communicate clearly and easily, and the results they produce are all dependent on their experience.

They also must have a thorough understanding of all the standards and safety measures necessary for working in a school environment.

With more than 40 years of experience providing electrical services in the Auckland region, from residential properties to schools, French Electrical has a proven history of delivering quality craftsmanship and top-notch customer service.

USE FRENCH ELECTRICAL FOR TOP QUALITY WORK 

Do you need an inspection, maintenance, or repair work carried out at your school  property? Get in touch with us today for a no-fuss, no strings attached discussion on how we can best help you.

Give us a call on 09 274 8082, email us at info@www.frenchelectrical.co.nz or fill out our online enquiry form, and a member of the team will be in touch with you shortly.

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