From January 2000, Ausgrid has maintained a computer database (SAP – CCS) for recording installation work notified by electrical contractors. The database is also used for selecting work on an audit basis for inspection. Submission of a NSW Fair Trading Certificate of Compliance – Electrical Work (CCEW) form for notification has been required since January 2007. The purpose of the installation inspection is to verify compliance of electrical contractors’ work with AS/NZS3000 - Wiring Rules, the Service and Installation Rules of NSW and any other relevant standards. Ausgrid’s installation inspection audit process targets electrical contractors whose previous work has been found to contain major safety breaches (major defects) as detailed in the Code of Practice for Installation Safety Management. Electrical contractors with higher major defect rates are inspected more often. The reliability of the data collected and reported using SAP – CCS has been verified by external audit of Ausgrid’s previous annual Electricity Network Performance Reports.
Consistent with previous years, the major causes of customer electric shocks in the reporting period fell into three specific categories – Failure of Part of Installation (more specifically insufficient insulation resistance), Water Damage or Ingress, and faulty neutral connections. Ausgrid has continued an extensive program to replace all at risk aged service lines, and carrying out neutral integrity tests at targeted customer installations in conjunction with the Sydney Water mains replacement program.
6.1
Reports against Customer Installation Safety Plans
Table 6.1 Installation Inspections TrendPrevious Years Current
Year
Year 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13
Number of Notifications (CCEW) 45,093 47, 799 90,291 58,364 55,156 Number of Inspections 14,396 20,110 57,859 25,258 15,814
Installation Inspection Rate (%) 31.93% 42% 64% 43.28% 28.67%
Major Safety Defect Rate (%) 7.39% 5.3% 2.92%2 3.97% 4.07% Safety Breach Notices Issued
(%)
18.67% 13% 8.62%1 10.22% 17.53%
Number of Warnings Issued 29 22 18 14 14
Reports to Fair Trading (No.) 2 9 9 13 18
Number of Audits by Distributor 3 3 3 5 3
1 The number of “safety breach notices issued” for 2010-11 was changed from 2.36% to align with the new reporting procedure used in 2011-12 for defect notices, using SAP customised reporting.
2 The number of “major safety breach notices issued” in 2010-11 using the new SAP customised reporting (2.89%) was comparable to previous reporting method, so no change was needed.
There has been a further decrease (5.5%) in the number of CCEW notifications of electrical installation work from electrical contractors (in addition to a 35% decrease in 2011-12). This is due to a reduction of solar installations attributed to the solar credits changing to a one times multiplier, as well as a general down turn in the construction and building industry. In late 2012 Ausgrid reviewed the defect rate associated with solar installations and it had decreased to a level comparable with other installation work. As a result, solar installation inspections were then carried out on an audit basis similar to other domestic and commercial installation work.
The trends in 2012/13 continue to indicate that electrical contractors are only submitting notifications when the electrical installation work is associated with contestable service work. Ausgrid has however observed an increase in Fair Trading NSW electrical contractor compliance investigations.
The number of notifications for Level 2 Service Provider contestable work (NOSW) has decreased slightly by 3.33% from the previous year. This decrease is also attributed to the changes to the solar multiplier and general downturn in building activity. The major defect rate of 4.1% is slightly higher than last year (4.0%) but considerably lower than previous periods.
Ausgrid has continued to assist NSW Fair Trading with their electrical contractor compliance campaigns by providing CCEW notification data when requested as part of our Memorandum of Understanding for mutual cooperation on electrical installation safety matters. The number of referrals to Fair Trading NSW has increased from 14 to 18 and it has been evident that NSW Fair Trading has increased its electrical contractor compliance activities under the Home Building Act and Electricity (Consumer Safety) Act. Ausgrid has requested that NSW Fair Trading re-establish the quarterly DNSP review meetings to allow Ausgrid, Endeavour and Essential to work with them under the formalised MOU to address electrical contractor compliance issues and the failure of electrical contractors to submit CCEWs to DNSPs as required under the Electricity (Consumer Safety) Regulation.
Ausgrid is also conducting “targeted inspections” (unannounced) of specific large developments like shopping centres and unit blocks, concentrating on the electrical contractor’s compliance with Australian Standards as well as the submission of CCEWs for new electrical work.
Ausgrid is represented on related Australian Standards committees such as AS/NZS3000, AS/NZS 3002, AS2067 and AS/NZS3017, as well as on the Service and Installation Rules of NSW committee to ensure the focus on customer installation safety is maintained and improved. Ausgrid has worked closely with the Clean Energy Council (CEC – the peak solar industry body across Australia) on all matters relating to solar inspections and presented at their annual ATRAA 2012 Solar Installers conference and Professional Development Day.
Ausgrid and Sydney Water continue to jointly fund the testing of each installation neutral connection impacted by their water main replacement program. Suspected faults are investigated by Ausgrid staff and rectified where necessary. Ausgrid is also making arrangements to conduct post water main replacement tests and convert older direct earthed installations to the current MEN (Multiple Earthed Neutral) earthing.
In 2012 Ausgrid enhanced the SAP – CCS database to allow more accurate reporting on installation
inspection trends, defect history and work loads. The enhancements have built in validations that ensure users enter the correct data, which will significantly reduce human error in data entry. The data is now retrievable from the inspection service order which allows for reports to be accurate to the day of the report and will not be affected by any backlogs in completing work.
6.2
Customer Installation Shock Reports
Table 6.2 Customer Installation Shock Reports TrendPrevious Years Current
Year
Year 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13
Shocks on Customer's Premises (Number Reported)
309 344 363 389 313
result an arc flash when an earthed wire came into contact with a live busbar at a 1000 Amp distribution board which an electrician was working on. A third electrical fatality was attributed to suicide.
There was a 19.5% decrease in the number of electric shocks reported this year compared to 2011/12. Ausgrid continues to run a public electricity safety awareness program and advertising campaigns highlighting the inherent dangers of electricity and precautions that should be taken.
An analysis of customer installation shock investigations in 2012/13 follows similar trends to previous years. 19.2% of reported shocks had no apparent cause at the time of Ausgrid’s investigation. For the remaining 80.8% of investigations the dominant causes were: Failure of Part of Installation (23%), Defective Neutral on Service Line (11.5%) and faulty consumer’s mains (8.6%).
NSW Fair Trading reviewed The Electricity (Consumer Safety) Act 2004 in 2011 but there has been no amendments resulting from the review as yet. Ausgrid submitted comments and suggested changes which included mandating the fitting of Residual Current Devices (RCD’s) on power circuits at existing installations and regular safety inspections of the electrical wiring.