Installation Testing and Certification Policy

Purpose. This policy sets the rules for testing, verifying and certifying electrical installation work so that every certificate Voltline issues is accurate and defensible.

1.Purpose

Under the Electricity Safety Act a certificate of electrical safety must be issued for prescribed and non-prescribed electrical installation work, and the installation must be tested before it is energised. This policy applies to every installation, alteration and repair the business carries out.

2.Mandatory tests

Before any installation or altered circuit is energised the licensed electrician responsible must carry out and record the tests required by the Wiring Rules. Results must be recorded as measured, in the compliance register, with the instrument used and its calibration status.

• Visual inspection
• Continuity of the earthing system
• Insulation resistance
• Polarity
• Correct circuit connections
• Earth fault loop impedance
• Operation of residual current devices

3.Who tests and who certifies

Testing must be carried out by the licensed electrician who did or supervised the work. Apprentices will assist and learn but must not sign test results. Certificates are completed by the licensed electrician and, for prescribed work, checked by the General Manager or the Electrical Contracting Manager before lodgement.

4.Records

Test results, the certificate reference and the job number must be recorded in the compliance register within two business days of the work being completed. Copies of certificates will be provided to the customer and kept for at least seven years.

5.Failed tests and defects

An installation that fails a test must not be energised. The defect must be recorded on the job, rectified and retested. Pre-existing defects found on a customer's installation must be reported to the customer in writing and recorded in the compliance register as an observation.

6.Instruments

Only instruments listed in the test instrument calibration register with current calibration will be used for mandatory tests. A test instrument must be proven on a known live source before and after a test for dead.