The 1999 Electricity Regulation Act, as amended by the Energy (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 2006, (the ―Act‖), gave the Commission for Energy Regulation (CER), the statutory function to regulate the activities of electrical contractors with respect to safety. In order to fulfil its legal function, the CER published a Vision Document (CER/07/203), which sets out the CER‘s high-level approach to the regulation of electrical contractors with respect to safety.
The Regulatory Objective was stated as:
―To protect the safety interests of customers with respect to electrical installation activities through creating a suitable regulatory system, which provides for electrical works to be carried out, tested and certified in compliance with the appropriate technical rules/standards.
On the 28th April 2008, the CER‗s decision on the Electrical Safety Supervisory Criteria Document was published following a consultation process (CER/07/071). In January 2009 the CER, following a consultation process, published a decision document on the definition of Controlled Electrical Works, (CER/09/009).
Furthermore, the Act also provides in section 9E that the CER ―having consulted with such persons as it considers appropriate, and with the consent of the Minister may by regulations designate a class or classes of electrical work to be designated electrical works. Designated electrical works (hereafter called ―Restricted Electrical Works) can only be completed and certified by a Registered Electrical Contractor (REC). Once Restricted Electrical Works are defined it will be illegal for any person who is not a REC to undertake these classes of electrical work.
Within the consultation paper (CER/11/077), the CER presented four options regarding the proposed definition of Restricted Electrical Works. The four options regarding the scope of the Restricted Electrical Works are as follows:
Option 1: A Broad Definition Approach: this would involve restricting all Controlled Electrical Works in a commercial and domestic setting to RECs.
Option 2: An Intermediate Definition Approach: this would involve legally restricting the carrying out and certification of all Controlled Electrical Works in a commercial and domestic setting to RECs but allowing for a legal exemption for the Owner & Occupier in a domestic property only.
Option 3: A Defined Definition Approach (including work by Owner & Occupier); this would involve restricting the carrying out and certification of all controlled electrical works in a domestic setting to RECs with no legal exemption for the Owner & Occupier.
Option 4: A Defined Definition Approach (excluding work by Owner & Occupier): this would involve restricting all controlled electrical works in a domestic setting to RECs with an exemption for the Owner & Occupier.
Proposed Decision Paper on the Scope of Restricted Electrical Works 5
Following a review of responses received, the CER is proposing to implement Option 3 as the definition for ―Restricted Electrical Works at this time. The CER may in time and following consultation with relevant industry stakeholders extend the scope of restricted works to cover types of electrical works in a commercial setting.
This would mean that legally, certain Controlled Electrical Works, as currently defined, in a domestic setting can only be carried out by a REC. There would be no legal exemption for the homeowner. However, minor electrical work would remain outside the scope of Restricted Electrical Works (i.e. Option 3: Defined Definition Approach). The definition of Restricted Electrical Works will cover the following:
Option 3: A Defined Definition Approach (including work by Owner & Occupier); this would involve restricting the carrying out and certification of all Controlled Electrical Works in a domestic setting to RECs with no legal exemption for the Owner & Occupier.
The Defined Definition Approach (including work carried out by an Owner & Occupier) proposed that the application of Restricted Electrical Works be limited to Installations in a Domestic Property which include the following:
the installation, commissioning, inspection, and testing of a new fixed electrical installation requiring connection or reconnection to the electricity network;
the modification, installation or replacement of a Distribution Board or Consumer Unit including customer tails both sides of the main protective device, or new installation in special locations as defined in Part 7 (swimming pools, saunas, fountains, caravan parks & marinas) of the current edition of the National Wiring Rules;
the installation, or replacement, of one or more extra circuits in an existing installation, including the installation of one or more additional protective devices for such circuits on a distribution board;
the inspection, testing and certification of existing electrical installations in accordance with the current edition of the National Wiring Rules and to conform with Regulation 89 of SI No 732 of 2007.
Consequently, the following installations would remain as Controlled Electrical Works (and require Certification by a REC), but not be classified as Restricted Electrical Works:
Installations in Potentially Explosive Atmospheres;
Work in a commercial or work place setting including MV and HV connection and installations;
Construction site electrical installations;
Electrical installation within exhibitions; shows and stands;
Agricultural and horticultural installations;
Public Lighting and associated cabling (with the exception of lighting that is operated by the DSO).
Proposed Decision Paper on the Scope of Restricted Electrical Works 6
The CER has removed the category of Subsystems from its definition of Restricted Electrical Works for domestic installations. The installation of a Sub system in a domestic property would require a power supply via the distribution board or by adding a circuit. Rather than attempting to provide non exhaustive list of subsystem installations, the CER is of the view that the electrical work which should be restricted pertaining to the installation of subsystems is captured in items two and three above.