44 / 116
44 E L EC TR I C AL CONNEC T I ON
SUMME R 20 1 6
SETTING THE STANDARD FOR 2017
O
ver the past few months I have
been travelling around Australia
in support of the revision of the
Wiring Rules, AS/NZS 3000.
Presentations were made to more
than 3,000 tradies at 21 shows,
demonstrating that electrical
tradespeople want to know what is
happening in their industry.
It was a first, in that the proposed
changes were presented before the
Wiring Rules were changed. Several
proposals have been thrown out or put
on the first amendment pile.
More than 2,000 public comments
from the trade were received, and the
committee has been working through
them to see what should be included,
noted or rejected. Some comments
required new work and have been put
into the next round for discussion.
The aim is to publish the revision by
mid-2017. By that time we should be
into the first amendment and planning
a release date. The Wiring Rules is an
evolutionary document – technologies
and work processes are continually
added or updated.
Another activity worthy of mention
is the revision of the generator
Standard, AS/NZS 3010. This has
created a lot of interest, as the use
of generators is quite common –
from large back-up systems in data
centres and hospitals through to
portable units used in camping and
emergency situations.
The public comments have finally
been addressed: they were shelved for
a short while because of the Wiring
Rules revision. The two Standards are
linked, so we must ensure they are not
published out of sync.
Most of the figures have been
updated. Colours are included so
that it is much clearer as to where
the actives, neutrals and earths are
connected to ensure a safe supply. The
content has been markedly improved
to provide more clarification and detail
where required. This Standard is also
expected to be published in mid-2017.
You are probably sick of reading
Standards stuff, but that leads us to a
very important standards revision for
Medical Installations, AS/NZS 3003.
Unfortunately, this has always been
a little unclear for the specifier and
installer, often leaving unanswered
questions. This can lead to serious
faults in an installation that may be
costly to rectify later.
The committee looking after
maintenance of the Standard has been
quite forthright in discussions to alleviate
these issues. For example, the delineation
of patient areas and where a body or
cardiac protected area finishes in an
installation has always been a point of
conjecture and tough to nail down.
CHANGES TO THE WIRING
RULES WILL IMPROVE SAFETY
AND COULD ALSO HELP YOUR
BUSINESS GROW IN
UNEXPECTED DIRECTIONS.
GARY
BUSBRIDGE
REPORTS.
THE BUZZ