Home Electrical - what can you do yourself?

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Satch

1985 posts

Uber Geek

#111273 29-Oct-2012 12:42

Hi,

I am interested in hearing from someone who knows the rules around home electrical work and what work I can do myself without a registered electrician.

I understand that I can replace light switches and power outlets myself. Is it also ok to replace downlights?

I want to change my old incandescent downlights with LED downlights. Is it legal for me to do this work myself?

Cheers.

1 | 2

1925 posts

Uber Geek

#708360 29-Oct-2012 12:47

What kind of Electrical work can I do myself? The type of Electrical work that can be undertaken without a registered electrician are listed in regulation 47 of the Electricity Regulations 1997. This includes:

Replacing switches, socket outlets, lamp holders, ceiling roses, water heater switches, thermostats & elements
Repairing light fittings
Moving, repairing or replacing flexible cords connected to permanently connected outlets or ceiling roses
Disconnecting & reconnecting permanently wired appliances
Moving switches, sockets & 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 & tested by a licensed electrical inspector. You cannot connect your work to the electricity supply yourself. The inspector will connect it, test it, & issue you with a Certificate of Compliance if it complies with safety requirements.
Fitting plugs, cord extension sockets or appliance connectors to a flexible cord
Replacing fuse wires & fuse cartridges
Repairing Electrical appliances

From: http://www.tradebox.co.nz/pb_resource.asp?resourceid=18

Satch

1985 posts

Uber Geek

#708362 29-Oct-2012 12:49

Thanks for the reply. I had seen this but am still confused about replacing downlights with LED ones. Does this work come under "Repairing light fittings"?

Does anyone in the the know, know?

Disrespective

1925 posts

Uber Geek

#708378 29-Oct-2012 12:59

As I read it (And have personally deciphered it) so long as you aren't changing the voltage of the supply all you're effectively doing is changing the light fitting which is allowed under the 'repairing light fittings' point above. To repair something will often mean replace in my experience. Sorry, i'm not a sparky but have been working in the architecture world for some time and have never heard of any problems. If nobody here is in the know then your kindly lighting supplies specialist should know the cold hard facts.

Jaxson

8041 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#708389 29-Oct-2012 13:12

Disrespective: your kindly lighting supplies specialist should know the cold hard facts.

I wouldn't count on that. Many stores are there to sell product only.

I know of a few cases where the store was not able to adequately support (provide sufficient data sheets/proof of certification etc) their China sourced product sufficiently. In this case the risk/liability of installing it falls on the electrician, not the store.

As above, if you're not moving fixed wiring, ~ ie you are installing the new fitting in the same physical location as the last one, you should be ok. Do you have a link to the product you are going to be installing? And what type are your existing downlights? ie are they 12V or 240V halogens or large light bulb ones? And what are you going to do about insulation? ie can the new units be covered? (There are potential insurance aspects to this last bit at least).

All the usuals exist though, as in you must ensure the circuit is sufficiently isolated etc and if you don't know how to do this correctly then you should get a qualified electrician in to undertake this work.

SATTV

1648 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

#708393 29-Oct-2012 13:17

Actually you legally cant do anything, however your mother can.

You have to be owner and the occupier to do any electrical work.

John

See here http://www.med.govt.nz/....

I know enough to be dangerous

GBristow

178 posts

Master Geek

#708396 29-Oct-2012 13:20

Satch: Thanks for the reply. I had seen this but am still confused about replacing downlights with LED ones. Does this work come under "Repairing light fittings"?

Does anyone in the the know, know?

I did exactly the same last year to several of my light fixtures. Was very easy. Just make sure you connect the wires correctly, AND TURN OFF POWER AT THE MAINS WHEN YOU'RE WORKING ON IT.

Jaxson

8041 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#708399 29-Oct-2012 13:22

SATTV: Actually you legally cant do anything, however your mother can.

You have to be owner and the occupier to do any electrical work.

John

Ha I was going to mention this but held back. This can catch a lot of landlords out as technically they can't do work on rental properties unless they're actually living in the property themselves.

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Athlonite

1828 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#708412 29-Oct-2012 13:49

Satch your best bet is to actually ring an Electrical service person and ask them you may also want to ring your Insurance company and find out if your covered if you do the work yourself they may require you to have it inspected and certed so your covered if anything goes wrong.....

scuwp

3885 posts

Uber Geek

#708413 29-Oct-2012 13:50

IANAL - but my interpretation 'bottom line" has always been that you can repair or replace what's already there, you just can't add anything new.

Lazy is such an ugly word, I prefer to call it selective participation

Disrespective

1925 posts

Uber Geek

#708475 29-Oct-2012 15:26

Jaxson:
Disrespective: your kindly lighting supplies specialist should know the cold hard facts.

I wouldn't count on that. Many stores are there to sell product only...

Fair call. I didn't necessarily mean a generic retail store, my mind was thinking of a supplier we use but didn't want to name names.

Satch

1985 posts

Uber Geek

#708478 29-Oct-2012 15:29

Thanks for all the replies so far guys. I'm a bit under the pump at the moment so will answer the questions asked a bit later on...

CYaBro

4582 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

#708485 29-Oct-2012 15:44

Off topic:
Anyone else notice that the posts on this page, except the OP, are not aligning properly?
I.E: I can't see the right hand side of the post windows and the buttons along the top of each post are hidden (Friend, Email, Quote etc)

Opinions are my own and not the views of my employer.