The Consequences of Not Using a Certified Electrician

With many tradies advertising their services with a variety of rates, promises, and deals – as well as a ton of DIY advice available on the internet – it can be hard to know where to start when it comes to deciding how to go about carrying out electrical work at home.

However, when it comes down to it, the answer is simple – regardless of how easy or complicated the job, electrical work must be carried out and certified by a registered electrician.
If you have electrical work that is not certified and something happens, not only could you be found legally liable and financially penalised, but you are also likely to be uninsured.

Make Sure You Comply

A range of certifications can apply to electrical work, and the best way to ensure that you have all the appropriate sign-offs and compliance paperwork for your project is to use a registered electrician with a current practising licence who will be able to issue:

• Certificate of Compliance (CoC) – certification required for any major electrical works
• Electrical Safety Certificates (ESC) – certification required for anything connected to a power source, including small projects such as heated towel rails, wall heaters, security lights, and other appliances available at hardware stores that need to be hard-wired

Although many of these small electrical projects are things than may be tempting to wire in yourself, installing and removing them require an ESC, so you need to use a registered electrician.

Implications of Non-Compliance

The most obvious implication of not using a registered electrician is unsafe electrical work in your home, posing considerable safety risks to the occupants such as electrocution, fire, or other harm.

As this unusual case in Northland demonstrates, if you sell your home after carrying out or allowing sub-standard work, the liability comes back to you. In this instance, a man was fined $5000 for carrying out uncertified work on a house bus which was sold on Trade Me, with the “incompetent and extremely dangerous” work discovered in a subsequent electrical inspection.

In many cases, pre-inspections will pick up non-compliant electrical work at the point of sale, and you may be required to have work re-done, costing you more than it would have if you had used a registered electrician from the outset.

Also, should a fire or other significant damage occur as the result of non-compliant electrical work, it is highly likely that any house insurance would be rendered null and void.

Stay Safe Checklist

The good news is, by following some simple guidelines when it comes to carrying out electrical work and selecting tradies, it is pretty easy to ensure you keep the electrical work in your home compliant and ensure the safety of all occupants:

• Always use a professional and don’t attempt to DIY
• All registered electricians are self-certifying and can issue the required licences, so check electricians have a current practising licence
• Check the individual electrician – not the company owner – has a licence
• You can check licence status on the Electrical Workers’ Registration Board (EWRB) website
• A licence expires every two years, so check that licences are currently valid – any CoC or ESC issued by an electrician with an expired licence will be invalid
• Always ask for a copy of your CoC and/or ESC when work is completed