Electrical installations the Aussie way.

[1/2 Cup]

PART No.1 - Understanding the rules..

All, Firstly let me open the conversation in saying that after 5 odd years on the GJ I have always been fascinated by the way electrical installations, equipment and the codes to which you work to as they so vastly different as to what we do out here. There is always questions asked about how we do things out here, so here we go..

A little background:

All electrical work and I mean all electrical work is enshrined in law by an act of parliament and if you would like some light reading just follow the link.

http://www5.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/vic/consol_act/esa1998209/

Here in Victoria we also have the 2014 Victorian Service and Installation Rules which sets out the requirements to which an Installation must be configured to be connected to supply.

http://www.victoriansir.org.au/

With the above being administered by Energysafe Victoria.

http://www.esv.vic.gov.au/about-esv/corporate-information/about-esv/

Once you get you mind around all of the above we then have the Australian Standards, lots of Australian Standards but the one we are principally concerned with is AS/NZS 3000:2007 Wiring Rules.

The Electrical trade out here, as you may have guessed by now, is a highly regulated one with only tradesmen with the appropriate class of licence being able to work on anything electrical. Mind you one can go to the local hardware store and purchase most things you need to do almost anything electrical & many do take the DYI path.
That said we do have rednecks in the industry that do not play by the rules.

Electrical Work.

All electrical work at completion requires that a Certificate of Electrical Safety be issues which is a statement from the electrical worker or contractor that the work complies to the Australian Standards. These are either hard copy or electronic format, one copy goes to the owner or responsible person, one to Energy Safe and the last gets held by the electrical worker or contractor.

There are two types of electrical work – PRESCRIBED & NON PRESCRIBED:

Prescribed Electrical Work: requires a mandatory inspection by a third party ( Licenced Electrical Inspector – LEI ) and covers the following:


[ Prescribed electrical installation work means work on all or part of any of the following electrical installations, if they are ordinarily operated at low voltage or a voltage exceeding low voltage:
Consumers’ mains, main earthing systems and those parts of main switchboards that are related to the control of installations and the protection against the spread of fire.
Sub-mains, earthing systems and any distribution boards related to the control of individual occupier’s portions of multiple installations unless the occupier has immediate and unimpeded access to the main switch or switches controlling the whole of the multiple installation.
Electrical wiring and electrical equipment installed in hazardous areas within the meaning of section 9.0 of the SAA Wiring Rules and protection equipment associated with hazardous areas.
High voltage installations except high voltage wiring and equipment that is:
associated with an electric discharge lighting system, or
associated with X-ray equipment, or
associated with high frequency equipment, or
within self-contained equipment supplied at low voltage.
Electrical control and protection equipment associated with standby generation or co-generation electricity supply systems.
Electric fences used for security purposes but not including electric fences intended primarily for the control or containment of animals.
Electrical installations comprising remote area power supplies with a power rating exceeding 500 volt amperes not connected to a supply authority distribution system.
Electrical wiring and associated fixed electrical equipment installed in body-protected or cardiac-protected electrical areas of hospitals and medical and dental practices.
Circuit protective devices, switchgear, controlgear, wiring systems and accessories (other than fire detection and alarm systems) ordinarily operated at low voltage or a voltage exceeding low voltage installed to provide control and protection of passenger lifts, fire pumps (excluding pumps for fire hose reels where those hose reels are not the sole means of fire protection) and air handling systems intended to exhaust and control the spread of fire and smoke.
A part 1 solution ordinarily operated at low voltage or a voltage exceeding low voltage installed in an electrical installation. ] Quote Energy Safe.

Non Prescribed Electrical Work: all though not requiring a mandatory inspection may be subject to a random audit by Energy Safe at any time.

[ Non-prescribed electrical installation work means work other than listed as prescribed electrical installation work. ]

At this point in time I think that is enough to digest for the first post.

Happy to field questions at any time.


Moving forward as time permits I would like to touch on the following subjects:

PART No.2 - Supply voltages.

PART No.3 – Cables.

PART No.4 – Electrical Equipment.

 

[zmaxmotorsports]

Pictures?

 

[Musicinabottle]

Yes, photos would help.

 

[1/2 Cup]

Pictures?

Yes, photos would help.

Pictures to follow..

 

[HOTFR8]

About time we had some one show our Aussie rules and codes for wiring here. Will be following with interest.

 

[1/2 Cup]

Typical socket outlet ( top )

View media item 42294
The one at the bottom is the rear view of an USB outlet and isolation switch.

View media item 60878
This is a typical install in a solid brick wall showing the flush mounted wall box, What we call TPS cables ( thermoplastic sheathed ) cable, double large plate out let and cover plate.

View media item 60879
The finished install..

Yes our live cables are red, the neutral is black and the earth has green and yellow insulation..

Regards

 

[wyliesdiesels]

Wow. Sounds like a whole lotta regulation and control to stop hacks and rednecks from doing harm...and yet they still do...

Seems like theres some parallels there with gun control here...smh

 

[Bob Heine]

Steve, thanks for doing this. I'm looking forward to more!

 

[theoldwizard1]

I was watching a video about a European guy rebuilding a sail boat. He pulled all of the bodged wiring out. On a trip to the US, he purchased multi-conductor AC replacement wire here because it was much cheaper. He was very concerned the difference in the color code !

 

[Norcal]

Typical socket outlet ( top )

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=3034&pictureid=42294[IMG]

The one at the bottom is the rear view of an USB outlet and isolation switch.

[IMG]http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=4926&pictureid=60878[IMG]

This is a typical install in a solid brick wall showing the flush mounted wall box, What we call TPS cables ( thermoplastic sheathed ) cable, double large plate out let and cover plate.

[GALLERY=media, 60879][/GALLERY]

The finished install..

Yes our live cables are red, the neutral is black and the earth has green and yellow insulation..

Regards[/QUOTE]

The Australian, & New Zealand, receptacle is based on a now obsolete Hubbell design. Somewhere the old patents have been posted.

 

[Craptain]

I was wondering, and this is the place to ask. What voltage do you use, 220/240 or 110/120?
Also I wondered if you use "ring main" for power distribution like we had in UK, or Spur like here in US? A ring has some benefits but uses more wire.

Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk

 

[ard]

What a great thread. I travel extensively for work, and will drop into a hardware-type store in my spare time to look at bits and bobs, see how parts vary across countries. Electrical, plumbing, hardware, tools.

(Spent a week up on the GBR...my wife thought I was nuts snooping under the cabin at how it was built, wired, the pool control system, etc. . )

Looking forward to more...

 

[Norcal]

I was wondering, and this is the place to ask. What voltage do you use, 220/240 or 110/120?
Also I wondered if you use "ring main" for power distribution like we had in UK, or Spur like here in US? A ring has some benefits but uses more wire.

Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk

A ring circuit is as archaic as the practice here of allowing clothes dryers and ranges to be grounded to the neutral.

 

[alfredeneuman]

I was wondering, and this is the place to ask. What voltage do you use, 220/240 or 110/120?

The Australian voltage is a 230/400 volt (230 from Line-Neutral and 400v line to line) system that operates at 50Hz, instead of the 60Hz system we have in North America.

 

[Ralf99]

The Australian, & New Zealand, receptacle is based on a now obsolete Hubbell design. Somewhere the old patents have been posted.

They are used throughout China and Argentina as well...

 

[Ralf99]

The Australian voltage is a 230/400 volt (230 from Line-Neutral and 400v line to line) system that operates at 50Hz, instead of the 60Hz system we have in North America.

+/- 10% on the 230/400V.

More details in this article: http://www.ecdonline.com.au/content...pt-23-v-as-our-distribution-voltage--25053451

 

[HOTFR8]

They are used throughout China and Argentina as well...

In China and other parts of Asia that use them they are mounted the other way up.

 

[theoldwizard1]

The Australian voltage is a 230/400 volt (230 from Line-Neutral and 400v line to line) system that operates at 50Hz, instead of the 60Hz system we have in North America.

Is 400V brought in to residential buildings ?

 

[Norcal]

Is 400V brought in to residential buildings ?

I believe in some cases, yes. It is normal in Germany, domestic ranges are 400V 3Ø.

 

[Ralf99]

Is 400V brought in to residential buildings ?

It's not common - usually only for under floor heating or the like. I can not get it in my neighbourhood, but IIRC 1/2cup has it to his shed at least.

 

[1/2 Cup]

About time we had some one show our Aussie rules and codes for wiring here. Will be following with interest.

HOTFR8, thank you..

Wow. Sounds like a whole lotta regulation and control to stop hacks and rednecks from doing harm...and yet they still do...

Seems like theres some parallels there with gun control here...smh

Wyliesdiesels, there most certainly is a heap of regulation and I believe for good reason. These have been in place for decades now.

In reality a good tradesman or contractor is very well trained and versed in all our regulations & standards right from when they are a first year apprentice and we do get regular updates from Energy Safe along with local information update seminars.
Crossing the line can lead to huge fines and at worse a jail term..

Steve, thanks for doing this looking forward to more!

Thank you Bob..

I was watching a video about a European guy rebuilding a sail boat He pulled all of the bodged wiring out On a trip to the US, he purchased multi-conductor AC replacement wire here because it was much cheaper He was very concerned the difference in the color code !

Our colour code is certainly different between both Europe & the States. Typically it goes like this:

Single phase 240 volt – Active or line is Red – Neutral is black

Three phase – L1 = Red, L2 = White, L3 = Blue.

Earth – in all cases is Green with a Yellow stripe and always insulated.

There are provisions in the rules to cater for the European colour codes.

Flexible cables that you would find in an extension lead generally follow the European standard.

The Australian, & New Zealand, receptacle is based on a now obsolete Hubbell design. Somewhere the old patents have been posted.

Norcal , our receptacle design has been around since the inception of power in Australia back in the early 1900s, it works well for us and I can’t see I changing any time soon. I must do a search on those old patents, interesting.

I was wondering, and this is the place to ask. What voltage do you use, 220/240 or 110/120?
Also I wondered if you use "ring main" for power distribution like we had in UK, or Spur like here in US? A ring has some benefits but uses more wire.

Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk

Craptain, see above. 240/415 volts in the main.

There are no ring mains in this neck of the woods only a spur like in the US. I think the only time I have seen one was on some runway lighting we did 30 years ago.

What a great thread.*@#$ I travel extensively for work, and will drop into a hardware-type store in my spare time to look at bits and bobs, see how parts vary across countries.*@#$ Electrical, plumbing, hardware, tools.

(Spent a week up on the GBR...my wife thought I was nuts snooping under the cabin at how it was built, wired, the pool control system, etc. . )

Looking forward to more...

Ard, thank you.

I do exactly the same even here in Australia…

A ring circuit is as archaic as the practice here of allowing clothes dryers and ranges to be grounded to the neutral.

Norcal, I totally agree.

Grounding the Neutral at the appliance eek

Our Neutral to Earth connections are all done at the Main Switchboard it is called the MEN system ( Multiple Earth Neutral )

The Australian voltage is a 230/400 volt (230 from Line-Neutral and 400v line to line) system that operates at 50Hz, instead of the 60Hz system we have in North America.

Alfredeneuman, spot on and see below…

+/- 10% on the 230/400V.

More details in this article:http://www.ecdonline.com.au/content...pt-23-v-as-our-distribution-voltage--25053451

Ralf99, sure is. Only recently have the powers that be have dropped from 415 tho 400 vac

I don’t see many voltage fluctuations in town our rural areas suffer badly with voltage drops..

Thank you one and all for your contributions…..

 

[1/2 Cup]

In China and other parts of Asia that use them they are mounted the other way up.

HOTFR8, you are spot on the, as do many other countries

Is 400V brought in to residential buildings ?

theoldwizard, yes, provided you have the load to warrant it..

I believe in some cases, yes. It is normal in Germany, domestic ranges are 400V 3Ø.

Norcal, again you are correct. Many German appliance we see out here do have that provision, mainly to balance the load over three phases. Out here we can easily run them off 240 volt, just bridging the terminals and upgrading the sub circuit cable size..

It's not common - usually only for under floor heating or the like. I can not get it in my neighbourhood, but IIRC 1/2cup has it to his shed at least.

Ralf99 I was able to get 3 phase on here at a time when it was not what you knew but who you knew.

Thank you guys, interesting and I trust you are just stating to get you mind around things in Australia..

 

[Ralf99]

The single phase voltage at my house is fairly stable at around 247-248V. It may be a while before our infrastructure gets it closer to 230..

 

[HOTFR8]

HOTFR8, you are spot on the, as do many other countries

This is what I have seen in my travels.

On another note not to side track my Solar Power inverter can disconnect from the grid if the power coming from the grid is not the correct voltage. We do have a power fluctuation every so often when the grid does not supply the correct voltage and the tolerances I am told vary although 1/2Cup perhaps can explain that better than I can.

 

[03.]

Some very old power points here were set up with the earth pin on top many many moons ago according to my late dad they were banned because if the plug started to come out the first pin to disconnect was the earth pin, leading to a dangerous situation.

1/2 cup, did Victoria utilise the direct earth method originally as opposed to M.E.N system?
Some of the supply authorities, county councils, back in the day mandated it.
Would you believe there are still some installations in Sydney that are still set up like this?
Very rare now but they still exist. Then again there are still a lot of houses that do not have RCD's (gfci for our American friends) north of the Murray.

 

[03.]

In reality a good tradesman or contractor is very well trained and versed in all our regulations & standards right from when they are a first year apprentice


Once a upon a time, Steve once upon a time

 

[AntonLargiader]

Some very old power points here were set up with the earth pin on top many many moons ago according to my late dad they were banned because if the plug started to come out the first pin to disconnect was the earth pin, leading to a dangerous situation.

The orientation debate goes on here. Having the earth disconnect results in a potentially dangerous situation, but having exposed energized plug blades is a different potentially dangerous situation.

I've seen plugs in Europe (maybe all of them) that only have metal at the tip, and by the time the metal is showing the connection has been broken. Makes tons of sense to me but you need fatter blades for that.

 

[takai]

The orientation debate goes on here. Having the earth disconnect results in a potentially dangerous situation, but having exposed energized plug blades is a different potentially dangerous situation.

I've seen plugs in Europe (maybe all of them) that only have metal at the tip, and by the time the metal is showing the connection has been broken. Makes tons of sense to me but you need fatter blades for that.

Lots of our equipment plugs are partial plastic on the live and neutral pins. Like this:

Doesnt seem to be mandated, as its certainly not universal.

Also no ground activated protection sockets, a la the UK.

 

[AntonLargiader]

Also no ground activated protection sockets, a la the UK.

That's something I hadn't heard of before. Sounds great but probably expensive.

I wonder, if the world had this to do all over again, what would our electrical equipment be like? I suspect we are very hamstrung by legacy issues at this point.

 

[Norcal]

That's something I hadn't heard of before. Sounds great but probably expensive.

I wonder, if the world had this to do all over again, what would our electrical equipment be like? I suspect we are very hamstrung by legacy issues at this point.

Legacy issues are why there are different voltages around the world, the US already had Edison's 110V by the time the rest of the world started getting electrified.

 

[Craptain]

Legacy issues are why there are different voltages around the world, the US already had Edison's 110V by the time the rest of the world started getting electrified.

Actually Edison gave us DC not AC. It was Tesla that gave us AC. But due to political clout the inferior DC persisted for a while. Hmmm, sound familiar?

Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk

 

[Bob Heine]

Legacy issues are why there are different voltages around the world, the US already had Edison's 110V by the time the rest of the world started getting electrified.

Norcal, I went to work for IBM in 1964 as a keypunch/sorter Customer Engineer (repair man in a suit) in the Mid-Town Manhattan branch office. When I took a call, the dispatcher would warn me that the customer's machines were wired for 208V DC (the Con Edison power station was still generating DC power). I just checked and discovered that the last DC power connection in Manhattan was cut -- in 2007. Many buildings still need DC for their ancient elevators but now rely on converters installed by Con Edison to run them.

I remember going to one office where they had 30 keypunches in the room. When I asked one of the operators which machine was down, she pointed to it. Looked like an easy job because it wasn't plugged in. I plugged it in, turned it on and the whole room went silent. There was only enough power to run 29 keypunches on the single circuit. The owner of the company (wearing coveralls) came over to tell me to ask before I did anything in his shop. He was a wealthy but beyond frugal man. He bought used punched cards so he could run them through a high-speed sorter to find enough un-punched sections of the cards to use them for his client's work that only needed 20 or 30 columns.

 

[kbuhagiar]

Legacy issues are why there are different voltages around the world, the US already had Edison's 110V by the time the rest of the world started getting electrified.

Actually Edison gave us DC not AC. It was Tesla that gave us AC. But due to political clout the inferior DC persisted for a while. Hmmm, sound familiar?

Edison did, in fact, set the standard with 110V (although in DC).

Tesla established the AC delivery method, but it originally started out at a higher voltage (1000 volts, IIRC).

Edison had many friends in high places and for years championed his DC system as safer than the 'murderous' AC system. In fact many fatalities were attributed to the AC system, but mostly because of the lack of safety, due to inferior wiring facilities and construction methods.

If you are interested, there is a wonderful book on the origin of power delivery systems and the politics behind it called "Empires of Light". I highly recommend it.

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/507952.Empires_of_Light

 

[Norcal]

Tesla & Westinghouse had to stay w/ 110V in order to power existing lighting, otherwise a lot of potential customers would not have gone to AC.

 

[1/2 Cup]

All, thank you so much for all your contributions. To be honest I am a little overwhelmed.

I will try and respond later in the day..

 

[1/2 Cup]

The single phase voltage at my house is fairly stable at around 247-248V. It may be a while before our infrastructure gets it closer to 230..

Ralf99, my supply voltages across the thee phases are about the same they do however drop a little during the summer months as the load increases.

This is what I have seen in my travels.

On another note not to side track my Solar Power inverter can disconnect from the grid if the power coming from the grid is not the correct voltage. We do have a power fluctuation every so often when the grid does not supply the correct voltage and the tolerances I am told vary although 1/2Cup perhaps can explain that better than I can.

HOTFR8, there are certainly heaps of variants to the configuration of a socket outlet across the globe..

All solar inverters will have the ability to shut down on a voltage fluctuation, these are settable parameters with in the inverter software itself, most have a reasonable voltage tolerance.

Some very old power points here were set up with the earth pin on top many many moons ago according to my late dad they were banned because if the plug started to come out the first pin to disconnect was the earth pin, leading to a dangerous situation.

1/2 cup, did Victoria utilise the direct earth method originally as opposed to M.E.N system?
Some of the supply authorities, county councils, back in the day mandated it.
Would you believe there are still some installations in Sydney that are still set up like this?
Very rare now but they still exist. Then again there are still a lot of houses that do not have RCD's (gfci for our American friends) north of the Murray.

03, you are spot on, I have seen older installations, say 1930 to the 1950s with the earth pin at the top. When combination switch plug / socket outlets came along in the 60s that all changed.

As I understand it Victoria has always used the MEN system where the earth and neutral are linked at the main switchboard with a single earth stake. That said there are exceptions to that rule when you consider our buildings.

We have a similar situation in regard to RCDs ( Residual Current Devices / GFCI / Safety switches ) as there are many places that do not have them installed. That said should you complete any alterations and additions to a switchboard you are required to install them ( AS/NZS 3000:2007 soon to be updated )

In reality a good tradesman or contractor is very well trained and versed in all our regulations & standards right from when they are a first year apprentice


Once a upon a time, Steve once upon a time

03, I tend to agree but there are still some old school sparkies out there, myself included that do.

My role at work is an Electrical/Mechanical Services Standards & QA Coordinator which basically takes over from where the Electrical Inspector finishes off.

The orientation debate goes on here. Having the earth disconnect results in a potentially dangerous situation, but having exposed energized plug blades is a different potentially dangerous situation.

I've seen plugs in Europe (maybe all of them) that only have metal at the tip, and by the time the metal is showing the connection has been broken. Makes tons of sense to me but you need fatter blades for that.

AntonLargiader, I agree totally, our arrangement in Australia works well the brand name switchgear we don’t have issues with..

Lots of our equipment plugs are partial plastic on the live and neutral pins. Like this:

Doesnt seem to be mandated, as its certainly not universal.

Also no ground activated protection sockets, a la the UK.

Takai, We changed our plug tops to have the pins partially insulated about 10 years ago and the reasoning behind that should the top be not fully engaged in the socket out let the live pins were actually exposed and there was a number of instances where metal venetian blind blades fell and made contact with the pin and livened it resulting in a number of fatalities.

That's something I hadn't heard of before. Sounds great but probably expensive.

I wonder, if the world had this to do all over again, what would our electrical equipment be like? I suspect we are very hamstrung by legacy issues at this point.

Legacy issues are why there are different voltages around the world, the US already had Edison's 110V by the time the rest of the world started getting electrified.

Norcal, it is intriguing how things have evolved over the years I the power industry. We have a French Canadian Electrical Engineer here at work the worked with the supply authority in Montreal and they still generate and network in DC.

Actually Edison gave us DC not AC. It was Tesla that gave us AC. But due to political clout the inferior DC persisted for a while. Hmmm, sound familiar?

Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk

Craptain, I believe you are right on that point.

Norcal, I went to work for IBM in 1964 as a keypunch/sorter Customer Engineer (repair man in a suit) in the Mid-Town Manhattan branch office. When I took a call, the dispatcher would warn me that the customer's machines were wired for 208V DC (the Con Edison power station was still generating DC power). I just checked and discovered that the last DC power connection in Manhattan was cut -- in 2007. Many buildings still need DC for their ancient elevators but now rely on converters installed by Con Edison to run them.

I remember going to one office where they had 30 keypunches in the room. When I asked one of the operators which machine was down, she pointed to it. Looked like an easy job because it wasn't plugged in. I plugged it in, turned it on and the whole room went silent. There was only enough power to run 29 keypunches on the single circuit. The owner of the company (wearing coveralls) came over to tell me to ask before I did anything in his shop. He was a wealthy but beyond frugal man. He bought used punched cards so he could run them through a high-speed sorter to find enough un-punched sections of the cards to use them for his client's work that only needed 20 or 30 columns.

Edison did, in fact, set the standard with 110V (although in DC).

Tesla established the AC delivery method, but it originally started out at a higher voltage (1000 volts, IIRC).

Edison had many friends in high places and for years championed his DC system as safer than the 'murderous' AC system. In fact many fatalities were attributed to the AC system, but mostly because of the lack of safety, mostly due to inferior wiring facilities and construction methods.

If you are interested, there is a wonderful book on the origin of power delivery systems and the politics behind it called "Empires of Light". I highly recommend it.

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/507952.Empires_of_Light

Tesla & Westinghouse had to stay w/ 110V in order to power existing lighting, otherwise a lot of potential customers would not have gone to AC.

Bob, Norcal & Kbuhagiar, , thank you for sharing your experiences, that is just incredible & something we have never experienced out here, well may be as I can remember my grandparents did have 32 vdc lighting plant up until the early 60s until the network was extended to the rural areas…

Thank you one and all for your contributions..

 

[Norcal]

There is quite a lot that has been written about the "War of the Currents", & the fight between Edison's DC, & Tesla's & Westinghouse's A/C, one book "Empires of Light" by Jill Jonnes is pretty decent account of those 3 men.

Note: Some areas still have 2 phase power still in use, Philadelphia being one.

 

[1/2 Cup]

There is quite a lot that has been written about the "War of the Currents", & the fight between Edison's DC, & Tesla's & Westinghouse's A/C, one book "Empires of Light" by Jill Jonnes is pretty decent account of those 3 men.

Note: Some areas still have 2 phase power still in use, Philadelphia being one.

Norcal, when I get 5 I will do a search for War and Currents it sounds like a great read..

We have two phases 480 vac on typically rural networks and go hand in hand with Single Wire Earth Return systems.

https://www.powercor.com.au/about-us/electricity-networks/

Thank you, have a great day..

 

[03.]

We have a similar situation in regard to RCDs ( Residual Current Devices / GFCI / Safety switches ) as there are many places that do not have them installed. That said should you complete any alterations and additions to a switchboard you are required to install them ( AS/NZS 3000:2007 soon to be updated

NSW comes under the same deal, additions alterations RCDs must be installed.
I am lead to believe that in Queensland that if a house is sold then it is required to have RCDs installed before title passes. Perhaps one of our QLD friends on here may be able to confirm this for us.


03, I tend to agree but there are still some old school sparkies out there, myself included that do.

Yeah I think we went to the same 'old school'!
My comment relates to a young workmate who was badly burnt, very badly, after I retired and the new hot shot sparkie who apparently knows everything, was not only incompetent enough to hook him up, he didn't disconnect properly after the event and managed to zap himself as well.
Without sounding like too much of a smartass it would never have happened if I was still there, lack of knowledge of split steel conduit and VIR caused the injuries, and a total lack of knowledge of safety and rescue caused the injuries to be much worse than they should have been. On top instead of a calm head panic set in and made the situation even worse.

 

[1/2 Cup]

We have a similar situation in regard to RCDs ( Residual Current Devices / GFCI / Safety switches ) as there are many places that do not have them installed. That said should you complete any alterations and additions to a switchboard you are required to install them ( AS/NZS 3000:2007 soon to be updated

NSW comes under the same deal, additions alterations RCDs must be installed.
I am lead to believe that in Queensland that if a house is sold then it is required to have RCDs installed before title passes. Perhaps one of our QLD friends on here may be able to confirm this for us.


03, I tend to agree but there are still some old school sparkies out there, myself included that do.

Yeah I think we went to the same 'old school'!
My comment relates to a young workmate who was badly burnt, very badly, after I retired and the new hot shot sparkie who apparently knows everything, was not only incompetent enough to hook him up, he didn't disconnect properly after the event and managed to zap himself as well.
Without sounding like too much of a smartass it would never have happened if I was still there, lack of knowledge of split steel conduit and VIR caused the injuries, and a total lack of knowledge of safety and rescue caused the injuries to be much worse than they should have been. On top instead of a calm head panic set in and made the situation even worse.

03, Queensland is definitely leading the way in regards to Residual Current Devices / GFCI / Safety switches an I firmly believe other states should follow suit.

That said have you read the ( due out later this year ) draft copy of AS/NZS 3000 Wiring Standards the is a fair emphasis and many changes in regards to RCDs , so watch this space.

http://www.masterelectricians.com.au/content/Document/Events/ASNZS3000_Guidelines.pdf

Split conduit and Vulcanized Rubber Insulation and young players is never a good combination..

Thanks for dropping by, have a great day..