Electrical compliance requirements
Whenever electrical work has been undertaken, electricians in NSW must submit certificates to prove compliance and installation safety inspections have taken place. Penalties apply for non-compliance or unsafe installations.
Certificate of Compliance for Electrical Work
Electricians must submit a Certificate of Compliance for Electrical Work (CCEW) under the Gas and Electricity (Consumer Safety) Act 2017 and Gas and Electricity (Consumer Safety) Regulation 2018.
A completed CCEW must be submitted within 7 days of completing any safety and compliance test, on an electrical installation.
Download the Certificate of Compliance for Electrical Work form.
Licensees can use Building Commission NSW's approved PDF form (above) or an existing approved CCEW form, and email it to the:
- Building Commission NSW at meterccew@customerservice.nsw.gov.au
- customer, and
- energy provider (electricity distributor).
How to use the PDF form
Create a template by downloading and saving this form with your electrical licence details. This will save time on all future submissions of the CCEW form.
Note: This form currently can't be used on a mobile device or tablet.
Serial number
As the electrician, it’s your responsibility to apply a unique serial number to their CCEW. You may use your electrical licence number followed by a sequential number (for example, if your licence number is 444444C, your first CCEW will be 444444C001, your second will be 444444C002 and so on).
Who should receive a copy of the CCEW?
It’s the tester’s responsibility to email a copy of the CCEW to the parties.
Email a copy:
- For any electrical work – to the customer.
- For new electrical installations – to the customer, distributor and Building Commission NSW.
- For any alterations or additions to an existing electrical installation that will require additional work to be done in relation to the network connection for the installation – to the customer, distributor and Building Commission NSW.
- For work on a switchboard or associated equipment – to the customer, distributor and Building Commission NSW.
- For electrical installation work for an installation using a stand-alone power system – to the customer and Building Commission NSW.
- For installation, alteration or replacement of an electricity meter – to the customer and Building Commission NSW.
Penalties
Substantial penalties apply, including on-the-spot fines of up to $1,000, for each occasion when a Compliance Certificate is not supplied to the consumer (or network provider if relevant).
Under the legislation, substantial penalties also apply (up to $550,000) for failure to carry out electrical installation work in accordance with the technical standards set out in the Regulation.
These standards are the Australia/New Zealand wiring rules.
Electrical installation safety inspection prior to remote re-energisation of premises
If an electrical installation has been de-energised for 6 months or more, an electrical installation safety inspection is required by a qualified electrician to ensure, as far as practically possible, the electrical installation is safe to re-energise.
After the safety inspection has been conducted, an Electrical Installation Safety Inspection Certificate (remote re-energisation safety statement), on the approved form, is completed and provided to the customer.
The Remote Re-energisation Safety Statement includes details of the minimum checks and tests required prior to issuing the certificate.
The customer will need to provide a copy of the certificate to their electricity retailer when arranging for re-energisation to be undertaken.