Is a Compliance Certificate Required if Replacing Spitfire Emergency Lights?

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  trustnoone on 18/05/2020 - 00:36

  Honestly I'm not an electrician or anything but do you know if the place has some sort of insurance? I wonder if there are clauses within it such as requiring electricans for all electrical work or something?

  • 

    thwarted on 19/05/2020 - 09:58

    Of course an electrician would be required for any electrical work. The issue is whether plugging a light into an existing hard wired socket counts as electrical work.

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  AustriaBargain on 18/05/2020 - 00:54

  +2

  anything with the words "emergency" and "electricity" in it should be handled by a company with good insurance

  • 

    thwarted on 19/05/2020 - 09:59

    No

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  brokenglish on 18/05/2020 - 02:05

  +2

  Yes you need the compliance certificate in case something goes wrong. I remember it was the fire brigade who did the testing in my company semiannually.

  • 

    thwarted on 19/05/2020 - 10:03

    Agreed, a compliance certificate exists for the hard wired socket. A compliance certificate regarding “performance to standard” comes with the light. Regular checks by a certified ESM tester ensure ongoing compliance. None of these are impacted by who plugs in the light.

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  garetz on 18/05/2020 - 03:01

  Its best not to get the same party who installs it to provide the compliance certificate. Get a 3rd party like a fire dept.

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  bweiss on 18/05/2020 - 08:31

  +3

  This will really depend on whether the existing emergency lights are hard-wired into the mains, or whether they plug into a surface socket.
  If they plug into a surface socket, then there should be no issues changing them yourself (you should perform some diligence checks, like confirming it's a like-for-like replacement, checking the cables aren't damaged, or that there's nothing otherwise 'dodgy' looking about either the surface socket or the new light/plug).

  You'll still want to get someone independent in to perform the duration testing required.

  As noted by others, I wouldn't recommend just accepting the quote provided by the company doing the compliance check. Based on this alone, I probably wouldn't use this same company for the compliance check in the future. I'd consider it a bit of a conflict of interest if they are offering to perform the work themselves after saying that it needs work performed to be compliant.

  For those that want to mention a compliance certificate being required, they should look to AS3000, which clearly indicates that 'fixed wiring' terminates at the socket. Hence this is not fixed wiring, but is instead a consumer device, which does not require AS3000 (Electrical Safety) certification, nor is it prescribed work under the same legislation.

  • 

    thwarted on 18/05/2020 - 09:15

    +1

    Thanks. Sounds completely sensible to me. I don't need an electrician to plug in my christmas tree lights and provide a compliance certificate!

  • 

    mskeggs on 18/05/2020 - 09:26

    +1

    While I completely agree with your points about conflict of interest and wiring standards, it is likely the body corporate will only be able to engage a contractor with suitable liability and indemnity insurances. Because it is in a common area, just DIYing it unless it is then inspected to meet the compliance requirements could leave the body corporate exposed.

    • 

      dasher86 on 18/05/2020 - 09:57

      they get inspected quarterly.
      If it passes next inspection should be all good - "i" believe.

    • 

      thwarted on 18/05/2020 - 11:28

      Good point. I'll check with them.

  • 

    abb on 18/05/2020 - 10:42

    compliance certificate being required, they should look to AS3000

    Is OP talking about a certificate for wiring installation, or of fitness for purpose for emergency evacuation lighting? Sounds more like the latter to me.

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  apu on 18/05/2020 - 10:48

  There is only one way to find out - ask for more quotes from trades that are licensed to do emergency services lighting/equipment.

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  brad1-8tsi on 18/05/2020 - 11:03

  +1

  If it's hardwired a sparky has to do it.

  If it goes into a surface mount socket (3 pin plug) then anyone can do it. You should verify afterwards that the emergency functions work correctly.

  This is why the NSW government LED downlight replacement scheme includes fitment of surface mount sockets to plug the LEds into. If there is warranty they just send out a man with a ladder rather than an electrician with a ladder.

  To be safe, you should get the strata committees agreement that this is OK. I do a lot of maintenance or organisation of maintenance in our building with the committees consent. It saves us a bit of money. The most recent was broken springs on the carpark door. Strata manager quote was $1200+GST. I used one of my contacts and had it done for $900 including GST. Apparently our strata manager is one of the better ones but they really don't care about cost very much.

  • 

    thwarted on 18/05/2020 - 11:37

    Similar situation here. I think there's a lot of overcharging goes on in buildings where there isn't a strong and active involvement of owners on the OC committee. I imagine bigger buildings with multiple viewpoints would be quite a challenge to manage well.

  • 

    Elumen Official on 06/06/2024 - 19:01

    Yeah, unfortunately it has to be done by a sparky. Our emergency lights test themselves though so it's easy to verify that they're working correctly after. They come with a 5 year warranty trackable with our app so you know you're good for the next 5 years.

    We're based in Sydney, check out our products!