(1) In this Act, unless the context or subject matter otherwise indicates or requires: Cathodic protection system means any appliances, wires, fittings or other apparatus designed, intended or used for the protection, by means of electrical currents, of metallic structures in contact with land, including water, from external corrosion and includes drainage bonds, boosted drainage bonds and cross bonds.Corporation means the Energy Corporation of New South Wales constituted under the. Energy and Utilities Administration Act 1987 Director means the Director of the Department of Energy.Distribution of electricity includes supply and reticulation of electricity.Distribution district of a distribution network service provider means its distribution district determined under this Act.Distribution network service provider means a distribution network service provider within the meaning of the. Electricity Supply Act 1995 Electrical article means any wire, cable, appliance, fitting, meter, insulator, apparatus or material intended, suggested or designed for use in, or for the purposes of, or for connection to, any electrical installation.Electrical installation means any appliances, wires, fittings or other apparatus placed in, on, under or over any land or premises (including land or premises owned, occupied or leased by the Crown) and used for or for purposes incidental to the conveyance, control and use of electricity supplied or intended to be supplied by an electricity supply authority, but does not include:
(a) any electricity supply main or service line of an electricity supply authority, (b) any appliances, wires, fittings or other apparatus connected to and extending or situated beyond any electrical outlet socket:
(i) which is installed for the purpose of connecting portable electrical appliances, fittings or other apparatus, and (ii) at which fixed wiring terminates, (c) any appliances, wires, fittings or other apparatus which are:
(i) placed in, on or over any land or premises owned or occupied by an electricity supply authority, and (ii) used for the generation, transmission or distribution of electricity, (d) any electrical installation in or about a mine within the meaning of the or within the meaning of the Coal Mines Regulation Act 1982 , or Mines Inspection Act 1901 (e) any electrical installation operating at not more than 32 volts alternating current or 115 volts direct current. Electrical wiring work andwork mean the actual physical work of installing, repairing, altering, removing or adding to an electrical installation and the supervising of that work.Electricity Development Fund means the fund established under section 15.Electricity supply authority means a person or body engaged in the distribution of electricity to the public or in the generation of electricity for supply, directly or indirectly, to the public whether by statute, franchise agreement or otherwise and includes:
(a) (a1) TransGrid (or any other energy transmission operator under the ), or Energy Services Corporations Act 1995 (b) a distribution network service provider, or (c), (d) (e) the Water Administration Ministerial Corporation. Power station means any station for generating or which is designed or intended for generating electricity for supply directly or indirectly to the public.Prescribed means prescribed by this Act or by the regulations.Regulations means regulations made or deemed to be made under this Act.Reticulation of electricity means the provision of all conductors and other infrastructure and metering equipment necessary to allow the delivery of electricity from the point of connection of a distribution network service provider’s assets to sources of electricity supply, to the point of connection of the provider’s assets to the assets of an electricity consumer or of an electricity supply authority.Stray current source means any appliance, equipment, fitting or other apparatus:
(a) that operates on direct electrical current or is designed or used to generate or transmit direct electrical current, and (b) that is attached, whether directly or indirectly, to a metallic structure in contact with land, including water. Supply of electricity means the delivery and sale to the supplier’s customers of electricity generated or purchased by the supplier.Transmission line means any cable or overhead line operating at a voltage in excess of twenty-two thousand five hundred volts which connects or transmits electricity between, or is designed or intended to connect or transmit electricity at a voltage in excess of twenty-two thousand five hundred volts between, two or more power stations, or which is operated for or in connection with the supply of electricity directly or indirectly to the public at a voltage in excess of twenty-two thousand five hundred volts, and all towers, poles and equipment and all step-up and step-down transformers and switch-gear necessary to or used for the control and operation of any such cable or overhead line.Unincorporated Area means the aggregate of those parts of New South Wales that are not within a local government area.
(1) There shall be established in the Special Deposits Account in the Treasury an Electricity Development Fund. (2) There shall be paid into the Fund:
(a) by each distribution network service provider, Sydney Electricity and TransGrid (or any other energy transmission operator under the )—such contributions as may be directed, from time to time, in respect of each of them by the Minister on the recommendation of the Corporation, Energy Services Corporations Act 1995 (b) any money provided by Parliament for electricity purposes (including money for subsidies under this Act), (c) by the Corporation—such contributions as may be directed, from time to time, by the Minister, (d) any money held in the Electricity Development Account before the commencement of this Act, (e) income accruing to the Fund, and (f) contributions under subsection (2A).
(1) In this Part, except in so far as the context or subject-matter otherwise indicates or requires: approved means subject to an approval which is in force.class specification , in relation to an electrical article, means:
(a) a specification for the time being declared by an order under section 21 to be applicable to articles of the class to which it belongs, or (b) where any such specification is declared by the order to be modified in its application to those articles, the specification as so modified, except so much, if any, of the specification, or of the specification as so modified, as is inconsistent with a type specification for the article. relevant authority , in relation to a State, other than New South Wales, or a Territory, means the authority prescribed as the relevant authority for the other State or the Territory.sell includes:
(a) auction or exchange, (b) offer, agree or attempt to sell, (c) advertise, expose, send, forward or deliver for sale, (d) cause or permit to be sold or offered for sale, (e) hire or cause to be hired, and (f) display for sale or hire. specification includes:
(a) a standard code, rule, testing requirement or other specification approved, recommended, adopted or published by Standards Australia, and (b) a standard code, rule, testing requirement or other specification described in, or prescribed by, the regulations. Territory means a Territory of the Commonwealth.type specification , in relation to an electrical article, means a specification, other than a class specification, determined by the Director to be applicable, or to be applicable in a modified form, to electrical articles of the type to which the article belongs.
(1) A person who sells an electrical article to which this Part applies is guilty of an offence against this Act if:
(a) the electrical article is not:
(i) of a type approved by the Director, or (ii) of a class, description or type approved or registered by the relevant authority for another State or a Territory, or (iii) of a type certified under a certification scheme approved by the Minister for the purposes of this Part, that certification being evidenced by marking on the article, (b) the electrical article is not marked in accordance with the regulations, or (c) the electrical article does not comply with any one or more of:
(i) the class specifications, (ii) the type specifications, if any, or (iii) the other prescribed requirements, if any, for that electrical article.
(1) A person may, by application in the prescribed form, request the Director to notify the person of the type specifications applicable to electrical articles of the type to which the application relates.
(1) Except as provided by subsection (2), the Director may, by order in writing, approve any type of electrical article. (2) The Director shall not approve a type of electrical article unless:
(a) an application for the approval is made in accordance with the regulations, (b) a declaration of compliance with respect to the type of article for which approval is sought that is in the form approved by the Director and is, in the opinion of the Director, accurate and complete, is lodged with the application for approval, (c) the Director is satisfied, where a class specification or a type specification for electrical articles of the type for which approval is sought requires the articles or any part thereof:
(i) to have been submitted to a specified test, and (ii) to have complied with a standard relating to the test, that an article or part of an article, as the case may require, of that type has been submitted to that test and has been found to have complied with that standard, and (d) each electrical article of the type is an electrical article to which this Part applies. (3) The Director may refuse to approve a type of electrical article unless an electrical article of the type has been lodged with the Director for testing or inspection.
(1) Subject to this section, an information for an offence referred to in section 21A (1) shall be dismissed if it is proved that the defendant received a prescribed guarantee in respect of the electrical article to which the information relates from the person from whom the defendant obtained the electrical article and if it is also proved that the defendant had no reason to believe that, at the time of the alleged offence, the electrical article:
(a) was not of a type approved under section 21C or approved or registered by a relevant authority for another State or a Territory or certified in accordance with a certification scheme approved by the Minister for the purposes of this Part, (b) was not marked as prescribed, and (c) did not comply with the class specifications, the type specifications, if any, and the other prescribed requirements for the article, if any. (2) For the purposes of subsection (1), a guarantee is a prescribed guarantee in respect of an electrical article only if:
(a) the guarantee is in writing, (b) the matters guaranteed are that, when the guarantee is given:
(i) the electrical article is of a type approved under section 21C or of a class, description or type approved or registered by a relevant authority for another State or a Territory or certified in accordance with a certification scheme approved by the Minister for the purposes of this Part and complies with the class specifications, the type specifications, if any, and any other prescribed requirements for the article, and (ii) the electrical article is marked as prescribed, (c) the guarantor is:
(i) an individual who resides in New South Wales, or (ii) a corporation that has a place of business within New South Wales, (d) the guarantee specifies the name of the guarantor and:
(i) in the case of a guarantor who is an individual and who resides within the State—the address of the guarantor and of the place of business of the guarantor, or (ii) in the case of a guarantor that is a corporation—an address of a place of business of the guarantor within New South Wales, (e) the guarantee applies:
(i) generally to electrical articles of the type to which the prosecution relates, or (ii) to the specific electrical article to which the prosecution relates, and, in the latter case, refers to a sale note, bill of sale, invoice, bill of lading or other document describing the electrical article sold and the marking thereon, and (f) the guarantee complies with any regulations applicable to it. (3) Subsection (1) does not apply unless the defendant has, not later than 7 days after service on the defendant of the summons issued in response to the information:
(a) given notice in writing to the informant and the guarantor of intention to rely on the guarantee specifying, in the notice to the informant, the name of the guarantor, any name under which the guarantor trades and the address referred to in subsection (2) (d) in relation to the guarantor, and (b) given the informant a copy of the guarantee.
(1) This section applies to and in respect of electrical articles, whether or not they are electrical articles to which this Part applies. (2) If the Director believes on reasonable grounds that:
(a) any electrical article is, or is likely to become, by reason of its design or construction, unsafe to use, and (b) prohibition of the sale of the electrical article or of all electrical articles of the same type as that article is warranted by reason of the risk of death or injury to any person or damage to any property arising out of the use of that article or those articles, the Director may:
(c) by notifications published in the Gazette and in such newspapers as are prescribed, prohibit the sale of the electrical article or of any electrical article of that type from the date of publication of the notification in the Gazette or from a later date specified in that notification, or (d) by notice in writing served on any person, prohibit that person from selling the electrical article or any electrical article of that type from the date on which the notice is so served or from a later date specified in the notice. (3) If the Director believes on reasonable grounds that:
(a) any electrical article is, or is likely to become, by reason of its design or construction, unsafe to use, and (b) specific action is necessary to make the electrical article or other electrical articles of the same type safe to use or to render safe the use of that article or those articles, the Director may, by notice in writing served on any person whose business is or includes the sale of electrical articles and who has sold the electrical article or another electrical article of the same type, require that person to take, within such time as is specified in the notice, such action as is so specified, which may consist of or include:
(c) sending a written request to the person to whom the electrical article or any other electrical article of the same type was sold by that person to return the article to the place at which the article was sold, and (d) making the electrical article safe to use or rendering safe the use of that article, in the manner specified in the notice. (4) The Director or the Minister, whether on the application of an affected person or not, may remove a prohibition effected under subsection (2) by executing an instrument in writing, notice of which shall, as soon as practicable:
(a) in the case of a prohibition effected under subsection (2) (c)—be published in the Gazette and in such newspapers as are prescribed, and (b) in the case of a prohibition effected under subsection (2) (d)—be served on the person or persons to whom the prohibition applied.
(1) In this section, authorised person means a person authorised under subsection (2).(2) Any person authorised for the purpose in writing by the Director may, at any reasonable time, enter any land on which, or any premises in or on which, the authorised person suspects on reasonable grounds the manufacture or sale of electrical articles is being carried on or may be carried on and:
(a) inspect and test any electrical article or prototype of an electrical article, (b) inspect any manufacturing assembly or testing plant or equipment used in respect of any electrical article, (c) open any container or package which the authorised person has reasonable grounds to believe contains any electrical article or require the person having the custody, control or possession of the container or package to open it, (d) seize, detain or remove, for the purpose of examination or testing, any electrical article or any container or package in which an electrical article is contained or has been contained, if the authorised person has reasonable cause to believe that an offence has been committed against this Act or the regulations in respect of the electrical article or that the electrical article is or is likely to become unsafe, (e) require any person on any such land or in or on any such premises to produce any accounts, records, books or other documents in the possession or under the control of that person relating to the manufacture or sale of any electrical article on, in or from the land or premises, (f) take copies of, or extracts or notes from, any such accounts, records, books or other documents, (g) require any person on any such land or on or in any such premises to answer questions or otherwise furnish information relating to the manufacture or sale of electrical articles on, in or from the land or premises, being articles in the possession or under the control of that person, and (h) require the owner or occupier of any such land or premises to provide the authorised person with such assistance and facilities as are reasonably necessary to enable the authorised person to exercise the functions of the authorised person under this section, but nothing in this subsection empowers an authorised person to enter a dwelling except under the authority of a search warrant issued under section 21I. (3) An authorised person may, if the authorised person believes on reasonable grounds that an electrical article or more than one electrical article of a type is, or is likely to become, unsafe:
(a) by notice in writing served personally or by post on the person having the custody, control or possession of the electrical article or of electrical articles of the type, prohibit the sale by that person of the electrical article or of all electrical articles of the type, and (b) affix in some conspicuous position on the electrical article or each of the electrical articles, as the case may be, a label indicating that the electrical article is to be considered dangerous and must not be sold or used until specified repairs necessary to make the electrical article safe to use have been effected by the person having the custody, possession or control of the electrical article. (4) A notice served pursuant to subsection (3) (a) shall cease to have effect after the expiration of 2 weeks from the date on which it is issued unless within that period the Director has, pursuant to subsection (5):
(a) confirmed or varied the terms of the notice, or (b) revoked the notice. (5) The Director may, at any time, by a further notice in writing served personally or by post on the person on whom a notice has been served pursuant to subsection (3) (a), confirm or vary the terms of, or revoke, the last-mentioned notice. (6) A person shall not:
(a) prevent an authorised person from exercising any function conferred or imposed on the authorised person by this section, (b) hinder or obstruct an authorised person in the exercise of any such function, (c) without reasonable excuse, refuse or fail to comply with any requirement made or to answer any question asked by an authorised person in accordance with this section, or (d) furnish an authorised person with information knowing that it is false or misleading in a material particular. Maximum penalty: 10 penalty units.
(1) In this section: authorised officer has the same meaning as it has in the. Law Enforcement (Powers and Responsibilities) Act 2002 authorised person means a person authorised under section 21F (2).
(1) Any person authorised in writing by the Director shall have power to enter any land and any structure thereon at any reasonable time for the purpose of examining any electrical installation, cathodic protection system or stray current source in or on the land or structure. (2), (3) (4) Any person authorised in writing by the Director may require:
(a) any person who claims to be a registered electrical contractor to produce for inspection by the authorised person, within such time as the authorised person specifies, his or her certificate of registration as an electrical contractor, or (b) any person who appears to the authorised person to be carrying out electrical wiring work to satisfy the authorised person, within such time as the authorised person specifies, that he or she is not prohibited under this Act and the regulations from carrying out that electrical wiring work.
(1) The Corporation may authorise a person to carry out inspections for the purposes of this Part.
(1) In this section: authorised officer has the same meaning as it has in the. Law Enforcement (Powers and Responsibilities) Act 2002
(1) The Governor may make regulations not inconsistent with this Act prescribing all matters which by this Act are required or permitted to be prescribed or which are necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to this Act. (2) Without prejudice to the generality of the power conferred by subsection one of this section regulations may be made for or with respect to:
(a) the keeping by electricity supply authorities of such books, accounts and records as may be prescribed, the particulars to be entered therein and the manner of keeping the same, (a1), (a2) (a3) the installation and operation of cathodic protection systems and stray current sources, (b) the examination, testing, approval and stamping or labelling and the withholding and withdrawal of approval of cathodic protection systems and stray current sources, (b1) (c) prescribing standards for electrical articles and for the materials used in the manufacture of electrical articles, (c1) (d) the fees to be charged for the examination, testing, and/or approval of cathodic protection systems and stray current sources, (e)–(e2) (f) prohibiting interference by unauthorised persons with any electric wire, cable and/or meter and/or any prescribed electrical appliance, fitting, insulator and/or apparatus, (f1), (g) (h) inspection by electricity supply authorities of electrical wires, cables, appliances, meters, fittings, insulators and apparatus installed in, on, over or under any place or premises whatsoever, (i) prescribing standards for the voltages to be maintained at the terminals of consumers of electricity, (j) prescribing standards and rules for the installation of electric wires, cables, appliances, meters, fittings, insulators, or apparatus in, on, over or under any place or premises whatsoever and the alteration, repair or renewal thereof, (k) the training and qualifications of persons who perform work concerning high voltage electrical equipment, (k1) (l) the safety of persons employed by electricity supply authorities in connection with the generation, transmission, distribution or supply of electricity or of persons engaged in the installation of electric wires, cables, appliances, meters, fittings, insulators or apparatus in, on, under or over any place or premises whatsoever, (m) prescribing the furnishing of reports, information, particulars, returns and statistics by electricity supply authorities or retail suppliers (within the meaning of the ) and the time and mode of furnishing and the manner of verification of the same, Electricity Supply Act 1995 (n) the fees to be charged by an electricity supply authority for inspection and testing of an electrical installation (whether or not it is a consumer’s installation), (o) the constitution, functions and procedures of a committee to advise the Director in relation to the form of declarations of compliance, within the meaning of Part 4C, and any other matters relating to the regulation of the approval or sale of electrical articles that may be referred to it by the Director, (p) the making of applications for the purposes of Part 4C, (q) qualified persons, within the meaning of Part 4C, (r) the form and content of declarations of compliance, within the meaning of Part 4C, and requiring any such declaration to be in the form of a statutory declaration, (s) the testing and inspection of electrical articles, (t) the approval, and the withholding and withdrawal of approval, of electrical articles or types of electrical articles and the renewal and duration of any such approval, (u) the fees to be charged for the testing, inspection or approval of electrical articles or of types of electrical articles or for the renewal of any such approval, (v) the marking or labelling of electrical articles, (w) prohibiting the fraudulent or improper use of marks similar to those required by this Act or of marks so nearly resembling those required by this Act as to be likely to deceive, (x) the approval of places, whether within or outside New South Wales, for the testing of electrical articles, (y) the specifications, within the meaning of Part 4C, and other requirements for electrical articles, (z) the fees to be charged for applications under Part 4C, (aa) prohibiting the making of any statement in any application, declaration or other document made or given for the purposes of this Act, being a statement which is false or misleading in a material respect, (bb) guarantees to be given with respect to electrical articles, (cc) prohibiting or regulating the disposal, whether by way of sale or not, of electrical articles and the display of electrical articles in connection therewith, (dd) prescribing standards for electrical installations and other equipment used for or in connection with the generation or supply of electricity and for materials used in the manufacture of such equipment, and the adoption of engineering standards for such installations, equipment and materials, (ee)–(gg) (hh) the connection and disconnection of an electrical installation to a supply of electricity, (ii)–(nn) (oo) requiring the carrying out of work to remove a danger or to remedy a defect relating to the distribution, transmission or use of electricity within a distribution district, (pp) the opening of the surface of roads, (qq) restricting or regulating the removal or trimming of trees by a distribution network service provider, and (rr) (2A) A regulation may apply, adopt or incorporate, with or without modification, the provisions, as in force for the time being, of any Act or statutory rule or of any other publication, whether of the same or of a different kind.
(Section 39)
(1) For orders under section 21 see GGs No 98 of 28.6.1985, p 3183 (and see GG No 142 of 9.9.1988, p 4739); No 108 of 26.7.1985, p 3844; No 44 of 14.3.1986, p 1168; No 60 of 27.3.1987, p 1645; No 147 of 18.9.1987, p 5349; No 142 of 9.9.1988, p 4739; No 117 of 1.12.1989, p 10369; No 93 of 27.7.1990, p 6915; No 125 of 16.10.1992, p 7551; No 11 of 5.2.1993, p 444; No 121 of 5.11.1993, p 6586; No 7 of 15.1.1999, p 142; No 10 of 22.1.1999, p 246; No 139 of 10.12.1999, p 11873; No 117 of 27.7.2001, p 5735 and No 77 of 30.4.2004, p 2290.