As a contractor dealing with a lethal substance, power, it is your responsibility to ensure that the job has been done right. If not, you pay the price.
I don’t want to lose my Electrical Contractors License!
As wiring regulations get updated, and red tape across the electrical industry increases, an electrical contractor must be aware of what their staff are doing. (Or are not doing in some cases)…
I am all for compliance measures that protect every single person who has a stake in the job, but it seems that this is not a wide-spread thought process….
When I talk to some electrical contractors, they flat out tell me that they do not test at the end of every job! (No, I did say some and I am NOT implying that the majority of electrical contractors out there are bad or not doing the right thing). But – I am saying that there is a mentality of “I know the jobs right, so why do I need to waste time testing”.
Let’s look at the Wiring Rules – whose proper name is the AS/NZS 3000 Standards. As a contractor you are required to ensure each job satisfies this standard. That’s why a contractor’s license number needs to accompany the Certificate of Compliance (I know in various states it is called something slightly different, but we are all talking about the recording of the mandatory tests to AS/NZS 3000 Standards).
As a contractor you have “authorised” an electrician in your employ to perform work and to be able to use your contractors license number as an attachment to that certificate. That is a HUGE risk! (A risk that QuickSafety has removed for you, sign up for early access to the product now).
You are now tied to that Certificate that validates that the work completed has been tested and has been completed in accordance to AS/NZS 3000 Standards. If the state electrical regulators find that no certificate was completed, it was completed incorrectly, OR it has not been stored for 5 years (7 years for New Zealand), then they will come to you – the contractor – first!
Both the electrician and the electrical contractor can be penalised financially AND have restrictions or in extreme situations lose their license. In Queensland, this amount is $4,000 each for not completing or incorrectly completed Certificates. As well as, another $4,000 to the electrical contractor if they have not stored these for the minimum required time.
If you do not wish to lose you electrical contractors license you need to be ensuring that the issues that could make you lose it, or to penalise you, are being met. At QuickSafety, we do that for you!
Are you confident that your team of electricians are doing the right thing?
