A Grade electricians

Overview

You have responsibilities as an A Grade Electrician. This page outlines duties under the Electricity Safety Act 1998 (the Act) and related Regulations.

You must

As an A Grade Electrician, you must:

• sign your Electrician's licence card when you get it
• tell Energy Safe Victoria within 10 business days if you change your name, contact or address details
• produce your Electrician's licence card – or details of your licence – if requested by an Energy Safe Enforcement Officer.
• ensure all electrical circuits are correctly isolated from supply
• take adequate precautions to prevent shock or injury
  Note: guidance for safe work on low voltage is detailed in AS/NZS 4836
• ensure your electrical installation work is safe to be supplied with electricity
• ensure your electrical installation work complies with Electricity Safety (General) Regulations(opens in a new window)
• ensure your electrical installation work complies with relevant Standards
• complete all mandatory tests on your electrical installation work – as described in the Act, the Electricity Safety (General) Regulations and the Wiring Rules – before it's connected to an electricity supply
• complete the appropriate Certificate of Electrical Safety (COES) within the required timeframes.

You must also either:

• ensure that all electrical circuits handled when carrying out electrical work are isolated from supply
  or
• take adequate precautions to prevent shock or injury.

Notify us of electrical incidents

You must call Energy Safe Victoria if a serious electrical incident related to your work occurs. If this happens, call 1800 000 922 as soon as practical.

A serious electrical incident causes, or has the potential to cause:

• the death of or injury to a person
• significant damage to property
• a serious risk to public safety.

You must submit an Electrical Incident Report form after an incident. The form is due within 20 business days of the incident.

For any electric shock related to your work – or at the work's location – submit an Electrical Incident Report form within 20 business days.

Download the Electrical incident report form:

Electrical_incident_report_form-2018 DOCX 98.5 KB(opens in a new window)

Send the written report ^[1] to:

Electrical Incidents
Energy Safe Victoria
PO Box 262, Collins Street West VIC 8007

Email: info@energysafe.vic.gov.au(opens in a new window)

You must not

As an A Grade electrician, you must not:

• do electrical installation work for profit, gain or reward, unless you hold a current Registered Electrical Contractor (REC) licence
• work on electrical installations if your electrician’s licence is not current
• install any electrical equipment which will be unsafe if connected to an electricity supply
• carry out work that will make either the equipment or the building unsafe if connected to an electricity supply.

You should

As an A Grade electrician, you should:

• know the expiry date of your licence
• keep your knowledge of relevant documents current, including the:
  • Electricity Safety Act (ESA) — in particular Part 3
  • Electricity Safety (General) Regulations
  • Electricity Safety (Registration and Licensing) Regulations
  • AS/NZS 3000: Wiring Rules
  • other standards applicable to your work – including referenced sections of the Building Code of Australia
  • Victorian Electricity Distributors Service and Installation Rules.
• have current copies of relevant:
  • legislation
  • Australian Standards
  • Codes of Practice about electrical installation work
• wear appropriate protective clothing and equipment (PPE)
• understand your Occupational Health and Safety responsibilities.

You should understand that we may:

• direct a person responsible for non-compliant electrical work to rectify that work – at no cost to the customer
• take disciplinary action if you fail to comply with the Act or Regulations, including:
  • suspending your contractor registration
  • cancelling your contractor registration
  • issuing infringement notices
  • prosecutions.

Notes

The information on this page is for general use only. It's not a definitive guide to the law. You should read this page in conjunction with the Act and relevant regulations.

Also note the use of these words:

• ‘must’ indicates that legal requirements exist, which you must comply with
• ‘should’ indicates a recommended course of action
• ‘may’ indicates an optional course of action.

^[1] You are not required to notify or provide written reports to us if you have confirmed the the employer, workplace controller or relevant REC has notified us.