New Zealand governs electrical work through the Electricity (Safety) Regulations 2010, not through AS/NZS 3000:2018. The standard describes how an installation is built. The regulations describe how work is classified, certified and recorded.
This page names the regulations by number. It states no eligibility and it gives no legal advice. The regulations are amended and reprinted. The current reprint is the only authority on what any number below now says.
Where to look, by number
Reg 6A sits in the part of the regulations that deals with the classification of prescribed electrical work.
Reg 57 and reg 59 carry current thresholds. Values of 80 A and 50 A per phase appear in this area of the regulations.
Reg 63 sits in the part that deals with testing before connection.
Reg 65 sits in the part that deals with certificates.
Reg 70 to reg 72 sit in the records and supply of documents area.
Reg 74A to reg 74E sit in the certification part. The safety certificate and its timing sit there.
Reg 92 and reg 93 sit in the offences and penalties part.
Read each of these in the current reprint. A number that once pointed at one subject can move. A regulation can also be replaced by a lettered version of itself.
The three abbreviations
Three acronyms appear on almost every job sheet in New Zealand, and they describe three different pieces of paper.
CoC. Certificate of Compliance. It records that a piece of prescribed electrical work was done and tested.
ESC. Electrical Safety Certificate. It is a separate document from the CoC and it has its own timing requirements in the regulations.
RoI. Record of Inspection. It records an inspection of work, which is a distinct activity from doing the work or certifying it.
The regulations define the circumstances for each document. The definitions are the ones in the reprint, not the ones in common use on site.
Why maximum demand appears in this conversation
A current threshold only means something once a demand figure exists. The maximum demand tool produces that figure from AS/NZS 3000:2018 Cl 2.2.2 and Table C1.
Take a single domestic installation at 230 V. The load list has four groups.
- Group A(i): 20 lighting points
- Group B(i): 24 socket-outlets
- Group C: an 8 kW range
- Group F: a 3 kW storage water heater
The tool works each group against Table C1 and gets 3 A, 15 A, 17.39 A and 13.04 A. The maximum demand is 48.43 A.
Open the maximum demand calculator with this load list.
That number is the input to any threshold in the regulations, and to the consumer mains size. The regulations decide what a threshold does with it. Nothing on this page decides that.
Terms worth separating
Prescribed electrical work is a defined term in the regulations. It is not the same as any description of the work in a standard or a contract.
Supervision is a defined arrangement in the regulations, with its own conditions.
Exemption describes a defined circumstance in the regulations. Exemptions have limits and the limits are part of the definition.
Each of these terms carries a precise meaning in the reprint. A dictionary meaning is not a substitute for it.
What a standard does and what a regulation does
AS/NZS 3000:2018 describes construction and verification. The regulations describe classification, certification and records. A design that satisfies the standard still sits under the regulations. The two documents answer different questions.
The regulations also cite standards. A citation can name a specific edition, and the edition named in a reprint may not be the newest one published. Check the edition the reprint names, not the edition on the shelf.
Where to take a question
The regulations are law, and questions about them belong with the regulator or with a lawyer, not with a calculator. The Electrical Workers Registration Board and WorkSafe New Zealand publish the current guidance. The legislation website carries the current reprint of the regulations.
The tools on this site produce design numbers. A demand figure of 48.43 A, a cable size or a loop impedance is an engineering result. It is not a statement about who is entitled to do the work or about what paperwork the work requires.
This page is a design aid. Verify every value against the current edition of the standard.