Which electrical work needs a licensed electrician?
Wiring work. In New South Wales the rule is stated plainly: an electrical licence is needed before any electrical wiring work, regardless of the cost or the type of work. The other states and territories license the same work, and all of them test it against AS/NZS 3000:2018, the Wiring Rules.
In a store that covers moving or adding a power point, a new circuit for a display cabinet, fixed lighting, anything on or in the switchboard, and the wiring that connects refrigeration and air conditioning plant. The Northern Territory's list of work that needs a certificate names that last one specifically.
What falls outside it is maintenance of the simplest kind. South Australia says no certificate is needed for minor maintenance such as replacing lightbulbs. The Northern Territory excludes like for like replacement and equipment that plugs into an outlet. A store team can plug in a new display fridge. It cannot move the outlet the fridge needs.
The certificate, state by state
| State | Regulator | Certificate | Where it goes, and when |
|---|---|---|---|
| NSW | Building Commission NSW | Certificate of Compliance for Electrical Work (CCEW) | Lodged by the person who tested the work, through the BCNSW eCert portal, within 7 days of the test. A copy can be emailed to the customer |
| VIC | Energy Safe Victoria | Certificate of Electrical Safety (COES) | Required for all electrical installation work. Lodged electronically through ESVConnect |
| QLD | Electrical Safety Office, WorkSafe Queensland | Certificate of testing and compliance (installation work), or of testing and safety (equipment) | Given to the customer as soon as possible after the work. The contractor keeps a copy for 5 years |
| WA | Building and Energy | Electrical Safety Certificate, plus a Notice of Completion | The certificate goes to the person who asked for the work, the notice to the network operator. Both through eNotice |
| SA | Office of the Technical Regulator | Electronic certificate of compliance (eCoC) | Emailed to the customer within 30 days. Signed by the electrician and by the contractor |
| TAS | Consumer, Building and Occupational Services (CBOS) | Record of electrical work, and a Certificate of Electrical Compliance | The record to the customer when the job finishes. The certificate to TechSafe Australia for anything beyond basic repairs and like for like replacement |
| ACT | Access Canberra | Certificate of Electrical Safety | Lodged within 14 days of testing, with a copy to the installation owner. One form per switchboard or distribution board |
| NT | NT WorkSafe | Certificate of Compliance (CoC) | Required for all electrical work except like for like replacement. A copy goes to NT WorkSafe |
The table gives the regulator's own name for each document. Asking a Queensland contractor for a CCEW, or a New South Wales one for a COES, is the quickest way to end up with a generic invoice and no certificate at all.
The electrician holds a licence, and so should the business
In several states the licence that lets a person do the work is separate from the one that lets a business sell it. In South Australia a company or sole trader running electrical work needs a contractor's licence, and whoever does the physical work needs to be registered as an electrician. The contractor's licence alone does not permit anyone to do the work.
Victoria requires work done for profit to go through a Registered Electrical Contractor, which must carry at least $5 million of public liability cover. Tasmania licenses electrical contractors, individuals or companies, separately from practitioners. In Queensland the certificate itself has to carry the electrical contractor licence number the work was tested under.
So when a program crosses a border, check two numbers per state: the electrician's licence, and the contractor licence or registration of the business that engaged them.
Two rules that catch retail sites
| Rule | Where | Why it matters in retail |
|---|---|---|
| A premises with its power off for 6 months or more needs a safety inspection and a certificate before the power is switched back on remotely | NSW | A store closed for a long refit, or a tenancy left empty, cannot simply be switched back on by the retailer |
| New installations are not energised until they pass an Access Canberra audit | ACT | A new store fit out, or a new distribution board with a sub main, has to allow time for the audit before trading |
Running this across a store estate
Name the certificate in the scope, by its state name, and make it part of close out rather than something chased afterwards. A site is not finished until the certificate exists.
Keep your own copy per store. The contractor's retention duty, five years in Queensland, is theirs, and the contractor on a store can change several times over the life of an installation.
That is how Nextage runs electrical work. Licensed electricians do it, after hours where the store cannot stop trading, and the compliance certificate goes into the same completion report as the photos, for every site.
