Rules around discussing illegal and/or dangerous DIY electrical work

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ubergeeknz

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# 138971 23-Jan-2014 15:11

This seems to come up a lot, should there be some rules, or at least a sticky about what is and isn't legal as far as DIY electrical work?

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BDFL - Memuneh
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# 972921 23-Jan-2014 15:12

You mean a list of the rules/regulations? If someone writes a post sure we can stick that.

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ubergeeknz

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# 972931 23-Jan-2014 15:24

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I was thinking more in terms of forum rules, ie before someone gets hurt due to taking advice on these forums - although the advice is generally "Get an Electrician" I can see the potential for someone to get hurt... but maybe it's overkill. Just wondering what others' thoughts were.

mattwnz

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# 972939 23-Jan-2014 15:28

Generally I believe you need an electrican for almost everything when it comes to wiring in your house, apart from replacing already wired in appliances, such as a fan heater, where it is like for like.

It would be far more useful if one of the industry authorities had such a website, and suprised if they don't.

The other thing is anyone buying a property would want to make sure that all recent electrical work has the relevant certificates to show it was done by an electrician. Otherwise it could cause major insurance problems if some of the work caused a fire and it wasn't done by an electrican. As a house owner i make sure all work is done by an electrician and I retain certificates for the work.

MikeB4

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# 972945 23-Jan-2014 15:43

What can you do? There is a limited amount of electrical work you can do when it comes to wiring in your own home. This is listed in regulation 64 of the Electricity (safety) Regulations 2010 and includes:
Replacing switches,
socket outlets,
lamp holders,
ceiling roses,
water heater switches,
thermostats and elements.
Repairing light fittings.
Moving, repairing or replacing flexible cords connected to permanently connected outlets or ceiling roses.
Disconnecting and reconnecting permanently wired appliances.
Moving switches, sockets and lighting outlets, but only if they are wired with tough plastic-sheathed cables.
Installing, extending, or altering any cables (except the main cables that come from the street to your switchboard).
You have to get the finished job checked and tested by a licensed electrical inspector. You cannot connect your work to the electricity supply yourself. The inspector will connect it, test it, and issue you with a Certificate of Compliance (see below) if it complies with safety requirements. Fitting plugs, cord extension sockets or appliance connectors to a flexible cord.
Replacing fuse wires and fuse cartridges. Repairing appliances.

http://consumerbuild.org.nz/publish/diy/diylegal-electrical.php

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# 972951 23-Jan-2014 16:02

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The above is better read when formatted as originally published

http://consumerbuild.org.nz/publish/diy/diylegal-electrical.php

ubergeeknz

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# 972954 23-Jan-2014 16:05

I think this may be going off topic, I wasn't asking "what are the rules" but more "should we have some rules about discussing electrical work on these forums"

DarthKermit

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# 972963 23-Jan-2014 16:21

I could see it becoming a bit of a nightmare. Why stop with electrical? Plumbing is also a restricted activity, as is certain things with roofing nowadays. Where does it stop?

People should be told to seek expert advice (for any activity) and they can choose whether or not they want to do so.

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Bung

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# 972976 23-Jan-2014 16:25

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I think it is better for somebody wanting to do something illegal or dangerous to be able to post and be shot down and warned by the resident electricians than to suppress any discussion. For residential home owners there are things that they are specifically allowed to do by the Legiglation. This is not Australia.

mattwnz

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# 972996 23-Jan-2014 16:39

ubergeeknz: I think this may be going off topic, I wasn't asking "what are the rules" but more "should we have some rules about discussing electrical work on these forums"

Wouldn't that apply to everything that is discussed in the forums. Perhaps everyone should have an automatic disclaimer in their sig, that says that the person asking the question takes full responsibility for any information they use that is taken from the forums, and it is used at their own risk. IMO everyone should take personal responsibility and do their own independent research for everything, otherwise hire a professional. Goes for everything in life.

eg Someone may have a computer problem and post that problem here. Someone replies saying that it is possibly malware and to install some anti malware software. The poster then downloads what they think is that software, and it ends up being something else, and means they have to spend hundreds getting a professional in to reinstalled the software on their computer. They then blame the person who suggested that software for the problem.

hsvhel

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# 973010 23-Jan-2014 17:03

Try to take a "if its on the internet its not always true" approach. Sure people are helpfull, but not always correct. Do you're homework well before embarking and if unsure, use a profesional

ubergeeknz

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# 973011 23-Jan-2014 17:04

Let's just say that in most cases, software cannot actually kill you or burn your house to the ground, where as dodgy electrical work very much can. As a couple posts have mentioned already though, the resident electricians, and others, tend to do a good job on letting people know what's up. Still it'd be neat if someone in the know made a sticky for it, with the relevant links, that we could all point people at.

freitasm

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# 973020 23-Jan-2014 17:19

I can stick a post with the list above and a disclaimer to seek professional help for anything beyond that.

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chevrolux

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# 973022 23-Jan-2014 17:25

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Ugh seriously?

If someone gets hurts due to doing their own electrical work after reading it on the net they were probably going to get hurt one way or another due to being infected with stupid.

Stupid is the real problem here, not lack of rules.

andrewNZ

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# 973029 23-Jan-2014 17:32

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freitasm: I can stick a post with the list above and a disclaimer to seek professional help for anything beyond that.

The regs change quite often. While the information on the page in question appears mostly correct, it is lacking some very important information IMO, and the reference (reg 64) is already out of date.

Any sticky would need to be very general or constantly updated.

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Klipspringer

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# 973030 23-Jan-2014 17:33

Do we really need more rules? Rules kill innovation and just stop the stupid people from learning for themselves.

"Warning. Don't stick your finger in that socket. Your head won't glow!"

We live in a country full of warnings and rules, some things shouldn't need to be said!

ubergeeknz: I was thinking more in terms of forum rules, ie before someone gets hurt due to taking advice on these forums

Are you freaking kidding me?

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