Modified procedure now available

The Electricity (Licensing) Regulations 1991 (ELR) have been amended to provide for a modified procedure to reduce the volume of Notices of Completion (notices) required for large electrical installation projects.

Electrical Contractors involved with large projects may elect to use the modified system or continue to use the general notice system applicable to all electrical installing work.

The amended Regulations include criteria that must be satisfied before the modified procedure can be used. Large projects are those expected to:

• take 12 months or more to complete; 
• have a maximum demand or increase in demand exceeding 1.0 MVA; and
• otherwise require at least 20 notices.

Contractors opting to use the modified procedure need to:

1. familiarise themselves with the new Regulations, which can be viewed at www.legislation.wa.gov.au;
2. contact the relevant network operator inspectorate before submitting the Preliminary Notice to:
   • inform them that they propose to use the modified Notice procedure;
   • discuss and agree on the IT system and format to be used for the electronic log book; and
   • agree on the proposed stages for the project.
3. include the following wording in the ‘Comments’ section of the Preliminary Notice for the project: “It is intended to use the provisions of Regulations 52BB, 52BC, 52BD and 52BE of the Electricity (Licensing) Regulations 1991 for the notifiable electrical work on this project.”

If an electrical contractor’s electronic record system complies with Regulations in all other respects, the contractor is not required to obtain formal approval for the system from the Director of Energy Safety.

The network operator inspectorate contact emails are:

Western Power: waei@waei.com.au

Horizon Power: electricalnotices@horizonpower.com.au

BHP Billiton: supplyauthority@bhpbilliton.com

Rio Tinto: electrical.inspectors@riotinto.com

Building and Energy (where there is no network operator): be.info@demirs.wa.gov.au