Replacement of old halogen downlights with LED, DIY or electrician?

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Snowflake

#1093296 21-Jul-2014 21:12

Bung:
sir1963:
No, I can just remember when is was in the news when the regulations got changed allowing home owners to do more of their own work.

As an electrician, I have seen some householders work, some was excellent, some was a fire hazard and some I am surprised the home owner is still alive !

When was that? The last major change to the Homeowner Code of Practice came in with the need for RCDs in 2004. The previous Code was dated 1993.

As an electrician you must have also seen shoddy work done by other electricians.

DIY work - updated in 2010: http://www.consumerbuild.org.nz/publish/diy/diylegal-electrical.php

but insurance companies can always argue that DIY work was not carried out correctly if it results in a fire etc, and potentially deny a claim based on negligence or faulty work

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Bung

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#1093364 21-Jul-2014 23:21

Regs: DIY work - updated in 2010: http://www.consumerbuild.org.nz/publish/diy/diylegal-electrical.php

but insurance companies can always argue that DIY work was not carried out correctly if it results in a fire etc, and potentially deny a claim based on negligence or faulty work

I don't believe the limits of DIY electrical work were changed in that update compared with the 1997 version
http://www.legislation.govt.nz/regulation/public/1997/0060/latest/whole.html#DLM229444

richms

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#1093378 22-Jul-2014 00:27

Downlights are also covered buy building regs as well. That is why they differ significantly to Australia

Richard rich.ms

Satch

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#1093619 22-Jul-2014 12:27

Unfortunately what you are mostly going to get around here is other people's opinions rather than the regulations/law, you would have seen this from most of the replies to this thread so far.

You are best to talk to someone who understands the regulations/law, and also your insurance company. I went through that exact process a couple of years ago when replacing standard downlights with completely new LED fittings. The regulations (at the time at least) said I could do the work myself, and so did my insurance company (they just noted the work on my file). It did help that my girlfriend used to be an electrical engineer and I am pretty handy at holding a screwdriver and a ladder steady ;-)

Porboynz

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Master Geek

#1094417 23-Jul-2014 18:52

Satch: Unfortunately what you are mostly going to get around here is other people's opinions rather than the regulations/law, you would have seen this from most of the replies to this thread so far.

You are best to talk to someone who understands the regulations/law, and also your insurance company. I went through that exact process a couple of years ago when replacing standard downlights with completely new LED fittings. The regulations (at the time at least) said I could do the work myself, and so did my insurance company (they just noted the work on my file). It did help that my girlfriend used to be an electrical engineer and I am pretty handy at holding a screwdriver and a ladder steady ;-)

Brilliant! You have my vote and my admiration. IMO NZ electrical regs are very liberal (for the homeowner only!) and envied by our Australian neighbours who are not even allowed to replace a broken light switch. However if you are uncomfortable with your capability/ability/knowledge call an electrician. My rule of thumb is that if there is an electronic transformer expect trouble using replacement MR16 LEDs especially if there are 2 fittings per transformer. The older wirewound transformers are usually fine where there is one per fitting, but less efficient than the correct LED driver. Far better to replace the entire fitting and transformer with matched LED housing and driver for maximum efficiency and least hassle. If in doubt call in an electrician, there are lots of sole operators out there in their vans, you can even get one on GrabOne etc from time to time. Now gas fitting, there's a trade that can name its price. Ouch!

KennyM

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Master Geek

#1094508 23-Jul-2014 21:04

This is pretty much what I did 6months ago.

I have a sparky mate who offered to help - who am I to tell him not too! I asked him about the law and weather or not its actually legal for me to have done it anyway. He said that pretty much as long as I dont touch the fuse box, im fine. (referring to wiring NOT just changing fuses / fuse wire)

Also note that the law says 'on your home' If i went and did the same thing at someone elses house, it would be illegal because im not a registered electrician.

we had 2 x 360watt halogen surfaced mounted lights spaced out in the center of our lounge (which is pretty big), replaced it with 6 x led down lights evenly spaced, so this ment having to run cable in the ceiling to new positions.
Sparky said it was the worst / most burnt wiring hes ever seen behind a fitting due to the heat from the lights. said it was only a matter of time before they would have caught fire.

richms

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#1094535 23-Jul-2014 21:41

Sparkys always say that.

Richard rich.ms

Bung

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#1094557 23-Jul-2014 22:14

He said that pretty much as long as I dont touch the fuse box, im fine. (referring to wiring NOT just changing fuses / fuse wire)

Also note that the law says 'on your home' If i went and did the same thing at someone elses house, it would be illegal because im not a registered electrician.

we had 2 x 360watt halogen surfaced mounted lights spaced out in the center of our lounge (which is pretty big), replaced it with 6 x led down lights evenly spaced, so this ment having to run cable in the ceiling to new positions.
Sparky said it was the worst / most burnt wiring hes ever seen behind a fitting due to the heat from the lights. said it was only a matter of time before they would have caught fire.

It's more than just just staying out of the fuse box. Extending an existing circuit by running new cable would normally need inspection by someone with Inspector registration ie an ordinary sparky can't say it's OK.

You also need to live in the house so landlords can't do electrical work in their rental properties.

Depending on the style 360w is a lot to be surface mounted. his comment re cable condition might have been right.

Porboynz

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Master Geek

#1095246 24-Jul-2014 21:42

It's more than just just staying out of the fuse box. Extending an existing circuit by running new cable would normally need inspection by someone with Inspector registration ie an ordinary sparky can't say it's OK.

You also need to live in the house so landlords can't do electrical work in their rental properties.

Depending on the style 360w is a lot to be surface mounted. his comment re cable condition might have been right.

Hang on, if every electrician in NZ had to get an inspector in every time they ran a new cable from the fuse board or extended an existing cable to a new lamp or hot point or light switch, we would need almost as many inspectors as we have electricians. My electrician got an inspection done when he changed out the fuse board (an old ceramic fuse nightmare) with a lovely RCD protected DIN rail type with plenty of breakers. It was also inspected after the solar panels went on the roof. But the electrician who installed a new hot point in the roof for the ventilation system did not get an inspector in to check his work, he left a compliance cert he signed himself with his registration number on it.

Its my understanding that some work outside the fuse board is allowable for non electricians but only in the homeowners own home (where they live) and even then there may be insurance implications because lets face it, that lot will wiggle out of anything they can. That's why its so important to get an electrician in if you are at all unsure of your ability for your own safety and those others in the home. Not everyone has access to an Electrical Engineer. A nice compromise can be to run and clip all the wires yourself and get the sparky in to terminate, but even simply running cabling has rules and regs to comply with.

Bung

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#1095265 24-Jul-2014 22:02

I didn't say that electricians needed inspectors for routine work, they certify their own work apart from some high risk things. What I said was that apart from the things exempted in the Act a homeowner's work needs an inspector. I don't think you could do part of a job and have it completed by an electrician. Maybe you could act as a directly supervised assistant but that would probably slow the work down.

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