Precipitated by the Victorian Metropolitan Fire Brigade (MFB) report on the Docklands Lacrosse Fire, the Senate will hold an inquiry into non-conforming building products called by independent senators Nick Xenophon, John Madigan and Jackie Lambie.  This follows the ACCC’s announcement of a new campaign calling on builders, contractors and home owners to check whether they have used the now banned “Infinity’ brand electrical cable in their homes between 2010 and 2013.

In response to the inquiry, NECA maintains the trade in counterfeit or products that fail to conform to Australian Standards poses a threat to the viability of Australia’s electrical contracting industry.

The installation of unsafe, non-compliant electrical equipment can be costly for business and consumers and presents the risk of electrical fire and shocks, property damage and increase the potential legal liabilities for electrical contractors. This ultimately leads to a devaluing of industry standards and a loss of professional reputation.

NECA supports significant product quality and safety initiatives such as the Does It Comply? (to Australian Standards) campaign, developed in partnership with Voltimum and Standards Australia that seeks to raise consumer and industry awareness of the dangers of product or part use that fails to comply with Australian Standards.

A key concern for the industry is the lack of enforcement of those distributing non-compliant products and the lack of product batch testing of products to ensure quality and measurement of the performance to Australian standards.

Whilst examples of prosecution exist, such as those involved with the sale and distribution of counterfeit HPM products in New South Wales, concerns remain within the industry that more should be done to protect the industry’s professional reputation.

Recent recalls of electrical equipment such as Infinity Cable, E-Cables and Avanco DC Isolators used in solar installations have highlighted the danger of fire and shock to consumers from non-compliant goods imported by companies with no recall insurance who subsequently go into liquidation.

This results in electrical contractors as the installers of the equipment being unfairly held responsible by consumers for costly replacements with no recourse to the importer who introduced the risk into the country. The inevitable insolvencies of installers will create disruption in the industry and see the hazardous equipment having to be replaced by the home owner or not replaced at all creating a permanent hazard in the community.

A key recommendation from our Policy Statement 2015 outlines our strong calls to stamp out the use of non-compliant electrical parts and product sales that fail to meet Australian Standards.  NECA argues that the professional reputation of our industry is compromised through the weakening of safety standards, property damage and the potential endangerment of human life when non-compliant products remain on sale.

We believe there is a great opportunity to develop stronger partnerships with NECA members, State and Territory regulators and Standards Australia to further develop the number and recognition of random batch testing of products.

However, we think it is significantly important for the Federal Government to increase its commitment and resources to ensure a larger number of product random batch tests are carried out. This action would assist with the delivery of higher quality electrical products for consumers and provide greater confidence for the reputation of our sector.