Status of wiring rules
1 March 2018
Standards Australia has announced that a new edition of AS/NZS 3000:2018 (the ‘wiring rules’) is expected to be published in March. Standards New Zealand is likely to approve the new Standard soon.
The Electricity (Safety) Regulations 2010 cite AS/NZS 3000:2007, including its Amendments 1 and 2.
This means the 2007 standard must be used to ensure compliance with the Regulations until they are updated to cite the 2018 edition.
It is likely AS/NZS 3000:2018 will be adopted into the Regulations to replace AS/NZS 3000:2007 in late 2019.
Energy Safety are considering a 12-month transition of the 2018 edition, because none of the changes in AS/NZS 3000:2018 are necessary to address any critical safety issues.
AS/NZS 3000:2018 also contains some provisions contrary to AS/NZS 3000:2007. Domestic downlights installation is an example of how using AS/NZS 3000:2018 before its adoption in the Regulations may not comply and could constitute an offence.
Energy Safety expect Standards Australia will soon make amendments to AS/NZS 3000:2018 to include provisions to address aspects excluded from this edition.
Details of how AS/NZS 3000:2007 is applied can be found in Schedule 2 of the Regulations HERE