Field           Engineering and Technology

Rollover and Revision of Electric Switchboards unit standards

Subfield	Domain	ID
Electrical Engineering	Electric Switchboards	14979, 14981, 24610, 29750-29752, 29755-29762

Waihanga Ara Rau Construction and Infrastructure Workforce Development Council has completed the rollover and revision of the unit standards listed above.

Date new versions published                                                               July 2024

Planned review date                                                                              December 2026

Summary

These unit standards were due for review by December 2021.  They were transferred from Skills Organisation to Waihanga Ara Rau in December 2021.  These unit standards have had little use since publication but are required for the programme leading to the New Zealand Certificate in Electrical Engineering (Switchgear Fitting) with an optional strand in Electrical Installer (Level 4) [Ref: 3470].  The rollover period of two years provides sufficient time for the programme to be launched with assessments based on these unit standards.  In the next two years, Waihanga Ara Rau will develop skill standards for the electrotechnology area, when the programme will be reviewed to include them.

Providers with consent to assess the unit standards and companies working in the switchgear industry were contacted by email for comment.  Industry representatives agreed the current unit standards were fit-for-purpose and endorsed the approach to rollover and revise them.  The group also agreed on minor updates to the guidance information.

Main changes

· AS/NZS 3000:2007 is cited by the Electricity (Safety) Regulations 2010 and its replacement AS/NZS 3000:2018 is not.  To address this, the two sector regulators, WorkSafe New Zealand and the Electrical Workers Registration Board (EWRB), have agreed that any reference to AS/NZS 3000 in the unit standards will be written as “AS/NZS 3000 (version as cited in the Electricity (Safety) Regulations), Electrical Installations (known as the Australian/New Zealand Wiring Rules)”.

· AS/NZS 61439.4:2016 replaced AS/NZS 3439.4:2009.

· Planned review date was extended to December 2026.

· The standard setting body was changed from The Skills Organisation to Waihanga Ara Rau Construction and Infrastructure Workforce Development Council.