corkers

In australia the only people allowed to do any electrical work are licensed electricians. To the extent that the letter of the law was a light globe needed to be changed by a licenced electrician in some states.

To become a licensed electrician you need to complete a four year apprenticeship working for a licenced electrician. There is no classes of licences ie once you are an A grade you can perform any electrical work. So you could for example spend your entire apprenticeship changing lights in supermarkerts get you licence and then wire up a factory.

From reading some posts i get the impression that this isn't the case in other countries eg the USA. There seems to be a lot of DIY going on and also mention of journeyman etc.

I thought it might be interesting to start a topic to inform each other of the systems in place in each country.

Some other info
wiring rules AS/NZ3000:2007

phase to neutral voltage 230V (nominal however actually 240V)
phase to phase 400V (nominal however actually 415V)

earthing is MEN (multiple earthed neutral)

Neutral connected to earth at substation and at each installations main switchboard

Colours Australian standard

Active L1 - Red
Active L2 - White
Active L3 - Blue
Neutral - Black
Earth - Green Yellow

Colours IEC also acceptable generally seen in flexible leads

Active L1 - Brown
Active L2 - Black
Active L3 - Grey
Neutral - Light Blue
Earth - Green Yellow

brian john

In the USA this varies from state to state, some places have no licensing, some allow home owners to do work, some much states stricter.

In addition even though we call it the National Electrical Code (NEC), not everyone accepts the code and write their own or modify the NEC.

Varies from no requirements to 4-5 years depending on the program you are accepted in. We have a limited license in some locals for HVAC and low voltage wiring (TV Computer ect...)


208/120 and 480/277 commercial, there is some 240/120 delta high legs and 5 wire two phase around.

240/120 residential single phase


PLEASE EXPLAIN

WE HAVE NO EARTH, We are America the center of the universe. We call it ground though IMO earth would be a better term as there is a lot of confusion regarding grounding and the grounding terms.

Pretty much the same.

COLOR not COLOUR

There is no madated color coding though recommended/standard

on 208/120

L1 Black
L2 Red
L3 Blue
Neutral/grounded conductr white



480/277

L1, brown yellow or orange
L2 yellow orange or brown
L2 orange brown yellow

THEN THERE IS PURPLE
Neutral white or grey
Ground Green or green with yellow stripe.
Colours IEC also acceptable generally seen in flexible leads

Active=phase or energized

bobelectric

Then what could I buy at a local big box,besides lightbulbs,withot a proper license?

leland

Nothing. Thats a good thing.

__________________
"When one American is not worth the effort to be found, we as Americans have lost" (Rolling Thunder MA 1)

corkers

Unfortunately this isn't the case big retailers do sell electrical bits and pieces even though these laws exist. They do put signs up (very small ones) "All fixed wiring must be installed by a licensed electrical contractor"

Bkessler

I just hired an aussie so I am learning a bit about how y,all work down there myself. I was surprised to hear that you dont use wire nuts or outlet boxes behind recepticals.

__________________
When ls lunch

brian john

This is not necessarily true, it may be law in your area but many states allow non-licensed persons to do electrical work.

I have seen shoddy work done by licensed electricians, non-licensed electricians and DIYers. With concern for doing it right (if they are concerned) I see no reason that DIYers cannot wire their own homes. I have built 3 houses from the ground up (one remodel). Sure would not want anyone telling me I can't frame or build my cabinets.

simmo

corkers,

What state are you in by matter of interest?

Just a couple of points, as of only recently all the states have agreed on a uniform wiring code, as in AS/NZ 3000 2007. Up until then - Qld, SA had many differing codes.

Not absolutely necessary to complete a four year apprenticeship, I did my Trade training as an apprentice Toolmaker in NZ, and then a few years after arriving in Australia, I enrolled in Tafe (night classes after work) for four years to become an Electrical fitter, with on the job training from my employer.
My license class is EC (Electrical Contractor) as I worked for myself for many years, after completing my Trade Cert.

I'm currently employed by Australia's largest company, Woolworths (yes the fresh food people) in Sydney's largest Distribution Centre. We have a fully automated Pallet warehouse, with computorised Pick to Belt ordering system for store orders for around the states many Woolworths supermarkets. It's a huge system with monorail cranes, and about four kilometres of conveyor system.

Great to see another Aussie on the Forum

corkers

Hey simmo,

Vic mate based in melbourne's sth east. Did my time at Ford factory in broadmeadows which gave me a fantastic industrial grounding. Working in paint shop there we had something like 11km of conveyor in our section very cool.

Work for myself now for about three years and am enjoying it.

Done a bit of work for wooly's over the years mainly security stuff and installing registers for fujitsu...

Sounds like they would keep you busy.

Corkers

gilbequick

What do they use for connections? If no box what's the device screwing into?

corkers

We use a variety of different methods most commonly a stud clip ( a pressed metal bracket that is nailed to the stud at the required height) or a wall clip which is a pressed metal C shaped thing that is inserted into a hole cut in the plasterboard (drywall). The majority of fittings used in oz are plastic and are therefore not in themselves earthed (grounded), we do provide an earth for electrical equipment.

Another couple of differences in australia the lion share of cabling is done with what we call TPS which I think is similar to romex except that our cables have the earth wire insulated with green/yellow insulation.

Solid core is illegal for earth wires, it is always stranded, and most sparkys I know have stopped using solid conductor cable. Way easier to work with.