I have asked my electrician if he would rewire and install a 1960s ceiling light fitting that has multiple arms and shades etc.His reply was: "Electricians are not allowed to install second hand lights.You have to have a declaration of conformity before an electrician can install light fittings.(which you can only get with new fittings)" I would have thought if an electrician can re-wire a house, they could re-wire and safely install a 60slight fitting.Is there any way around this!I want to have it legally installed as anything illegal would have insurance consequences.Any ideas!
russ18,
Dec 12, 2:17pm
Well that's his interpretation. rules now are a supplier declaration of conformity must be available bla bla bla produced by the NZ manufacturer or importer. Common sense tells you that can only apply to light fittings that were NZ made or imported after that requirement came in. however, without a supplier declaration of conformity the electrician is entirely responsible should anything go wrong.
that's my take on it, others may disagree.
maggie65,
Dec 12, 2:29pm
Both completely wrong.A lot of misconception about declaration of conformity's.I have spoken to the registration board about this and the correct ruling is.Only items deemed to be medium risk require a supplier declaration of conformity prior to being sold (not installed).To date, no items have been classed as this (in order for this to happen it needs to be gazetted and as at August this year, nothing had been gazetted).Ammendment was made to the law to allow for the board to halt the installation of dodgy fittings they identified and does not apply to any and everything.
In my experiences, Electricians rely on chinese whispers to get their regulatory advice, as opposed to carefully reading and interpreting the laws.
Exact wording from the regulations follows:
83 Supplier declaration of conformity required before sale of declared medium risk articles (1) The Secretary may, by notice in the Gazette, declare that particular low voltage or extra-low voltage fittings or appliances, or particular types or classes of low voltage or extra-low voltage fittings or appliances, are medium risk fittings or appliances (in this regulation called declared medium risk articles).
(2) A declared medium risk article may not be sold or offered for sale unless the supplier (being the New Zealand manufacturer or importer) has made a supplier declaration of conformity in respect of the article
maggie65,
Dec 12, 2:30pm
Note how there is no mention of the installer being the police, only the person who sells it.
Also note, that the item needs to be clearly outlined in the Gazette and it relates to "particular" low voltage or extra low voltage fittings not every fitting.
russ18,
Dec 12, 2:43pm
Not been in the gazette! Well I've got a copy of it.
rsr72,
Dec 12, 2:49pm
#1- The guy is an idiot, hates his job, and not in the slightest interested in exerting himself to help a customer and to make some money. Australia might have him, and NZ would be well rid of him.
elect70,
Dec 12, 2:56pm
What a bloody wus.so long as itsokhe can put them up.I put up a chandelier from30 swhile backtested out OK.This is what we have come toeveryone too scared to do anythingin case they aredone .
maggie65,
Dec 12, 2:59pm
Agree entirely.
ryanm2,
Dec 12, 3:09pm
get a different sparky, this guys a nob.
russ18,
Dec 12, 4:00pm
A large list of fittings and appliances was in the gazette No 147 way back on 23-Nov-2006 starting from page 4249 and it includes light fittings by broad description. "A fitting that is intended to produce light for illumination purposes, in domestic or similar applications, having a rating up to and including 500 watts and is for use with tungsten filament, light emitting semiconductors, tubular fluorescent or other discharge lamps and includes fittings also incorporating automatic controls, such as passive infrared motion detectors."
Don't know why you call that a Chinese whisper!
rsr72,
Dec 12, 4:48pm
Just do it, folks, just do it!
pauldw,
Dec 12, 5:34pm
Maybe that's how the EWRB communicate with Energy Safety who are the responsible Authority.
kwaka5,
Dec 12, 5:38pm
An electrician can certify a fitting and when filling out his COC can fill out the DOC part to say that the fitting complies. If you use the correct gear to do the job then there is no problem with certifying it as such. If you deside to do it using dodgy gear then you're a twat and deserve to have your arse kicked. There is no problem as long as all the gear complies. Your sparky is a twat.
mrfxit,
Dec 12, 6:46pm
Good grief . how hard can it be to rewire an old light fitting correctly with new cables & connectors so that it DOES comply.
That is what I would have expected as a condition of retro fitting old lights
ladiesfingers,
Dec 12, 6:49pm
Thanks for your feedback.As a person who knows nothing about wiring, I rely on my sparky to advise me and of course I do not want to do anything that is not ligit, illegal or will put my house insurance at risk.I am happy to listen to any further feedback and advice.thanks very much
t_naki,
Dec 13, 4:36am
I agree with this entirely. The regulations have changed several time in the last few years, it now seems to be an annual event, and at no time has there ever been any form of information supplied. Bear in mind that electricians are practical tradespeople, not trained lawyers, and have received no training in the dissemination of legal papers. The only information that I have seen is the books which we have to buy and a information evening usually run by a wholesaler giving a persons interpretation of the new rules not the official one.
I think the biggest risk to the current industry is regulation overload where the guys in the field get sick of the changes and just throw away the book .
elect70,
Dec 13, 3:08pm
From energy safteyregarding a query" were not here to give adviceits up to you to interpret the regulationscorrectly "helpfull lot , get it wrong &they throw the book at you .
t_naki,
Dec 13, 3:24pm
Really!
That's just typical, "we just make the rules, you interpret what we ment". Then down the track when it goes tits up they will look back and say with the combination hind sight and the new terminology that you should have known that you installation was "unsafe" and throw the book at you.
Man I am glad to be out of the industry.
elect70,
Dec 14, 2:43pm
^^ I was fined $300by boardover non clipping of cable1 M from new manhole in roof . Owner was using it asmeans of getting out of paying rest ofaccount .They said it wasnt for that it was because I filled in COC& technicallyIt didntcomply. assholes
t_naki,
Dec 14, 3:25pm
I heard that a large majority of complaints to the board are as a result of non-related disputes, mostly around money, and not as a result of unsafe installations.
masturbidder,
Dec 14, 6:59pm
Registered electrical workers certify an installation is safe when they sign the CoC. Any fittings must be 'safe' and having a SDOC for the fittings takes care of that risk. However, many old light fittings are really quite shoddy with non-earthed metal parts and flex cables run in all sorts of odd places. Most sparkies would not risk their licences on odd jobs.
davea74,
Dec 15, 2:51pm
LOL and you call sparkies uninformed! Maybe you are the one that needs to do some careful reading.
The regulations may have been updated, but the gazette remains in force and is still called from the regs.The new regs do not require a new gazette notice.
davea74,
Dec 15, 2:51pm
LOL and you call sparkies uninformed! Maybe you are the one that needs to do some careful reading.
The regulations may have been updated, but the gazette remains in force and is still called from the regs.The new regs do not require a new gazette notice.
maggie65,
Dec 19, 1:48pm
That is fine, goes against what I was told by the registration board, but hard to argue with that facts on the link.
Still doesnt change the fact that at no point anywhere does it say the declaration of conformity has anything to do with the electrician.It is a requirement for the person selling the item, NOT the person installing it.
russ18,
Dec 19, 1:59pm
Wrong again. regulation 67 (Certificate of compliance)
(5) For the purpose of certification, a supplier declaration of conformity for a fitting is sufficient evidence that the fitting is safe to connect to a power supply.
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