  
Presiding Member's ReportThe electrical workers registration board has pleasure in presenting its tenth annual report. Board Membership Apart from the resignation of Brian Velvin, through increased business commitments, the Board membership remained unchanged. Brian Velvin's background in electrical contracting, coupled with his grasp of the Electricity Act and Regulations, served the Board well. The newest members to the Board are lay member, Deborah Rundle, who has brought considerable experience in dispute resolution, group facilitation and consumer issues to the Board. This has proved to be of considerable value in understanding the background procedure of commercial disputes from which many of the Board's disciplinary complaints arise. Deborah's in-depth knowledge of legal requirements has also proved valuable. Registered member Tom Leong brings to the Board his many years of experience and service in the supply sector. Prior to his appointment to the Board, Tom was involved in the development of AS/NZS 3000:2000, and accordingly has an in-depth appreciation of the new standards and their effect on our industry. Registered member Tim Elms continued his dedication to the training needs of young persons in our industry. His knowledge of apprentice and unit standard systems, coupled with his "down to earth" approach to electrical contracting, has proved invaluable. Registered member Dennis Amiss has provided a constant vigil in matters relating to the appliance service sector of the industry and to electrical service technicians, together with his role on a number of industry committees. Lay member and Deputy Presiding Member, Barrie Mason, the longest serving Board member, has once again proved invaluable to this current Board. His background and experience as C.E.O of a number of companies continue to be a major asset. The Board urges suitably interested practitioners with an in-depth knowledge of the current Electricity Act and Regulations to consider putting something back into their industry by offering themselves for selection to the Board when vacancies occur. Vacancies are advertised in ELECTRON. Complaints and discipline Complaints heard by the Board have again increased this year as have the number of complaints processed by the Complaints Assessment Teams. The rise in complaints results from increased public awareness through problems in the building industry, the Target television series, and the Board promoting the need for all electrical workers to have a current practising licence. A significant number of complaints initially arise from commercial issues that then reveal sub-standard workmanship, failure to test, failure to have inspections carried out, or failure to issue a Certificate of Compliance on time. If you feel that your position is in danger of being compromised, use the Board 0800 66 1000 free phone and seek advice. A new trend of complaint noted by the Board is the failure to have certain work, such as the relocation and or installation of switchboards, new mains and earthing, inspected by a licensed Electrical Inspector. Independent third party inspection is an integral part of the current competency based regime in the electrical sector. While the Board looks at re-training as a way of upskilling practitioners who have been found to be deficient in their application of the Act, Regulations and Codes, the Board is also moving to recover more of the costs of the disciplinary process from practitioners found guilty of a disciplinary offence. Similarly fines are being ratcheted up. For example, working without a current practising licence is likely to result in a fine of at least $1,000 plus costs of a similar amount. Milestones While a disproportionate amount of Board time is taken up by disciplinary hearings, the Board has still managed to achieve some worthwhile milestones during the year: - The implementation of guide lines for supervision of people carrying out electrical work.
- The distribution to all practitioners of AS/NZS 3000:2000 and the associated CD covering additional standards.
- Finalisation of draft minimum requirements for refresher courses.
- Ongoing dialog in the development of EnergySafe and other code and regulation revisions.
To achieve many of these milestones and others the Board is currently working on, involves Board Member input far beyond the normal meetings. ELECTRON The positive feedback from recipients of ELECTRON, in comparison to previous means of Board communications, is very encouraging. ELECTRON is a "real-time" publication detailing many issues affecting Licensed Electrical Workers, especially on regulations. Its popularity has resulted in it now being issued six times a year. ELECTRON is your publication and input into the publication from recipients is welcomed. Electronic and information dissemination The Board website continues to grow in popularity. The number of licensed workers with email addresses notified to the Board now exceeds 8,000. The number of workers re-licensing online increased this year. You can re-licence online by visiting the Board site at www.ewrb.govt.nz. The development of ELECTRON and online information, coupled with the distribution of new standards, regulations and other important information to licensed workers, is seen by the Board as providing value for money for the annual license fee paid by all licensed workers. Industry partners Through the year the Board continued to develop relationships with its industry partners by ensuring Board member presence at various industry conferences and meetings, and by encouraging industry representatives to visit the Board on a regular basis. During the year these visits included the Electrical Contractors Association of New Zealand, Energy Safety Service, Appliance and Electronic Industry Association, New Zealand Electrical Institute, Standards New Zealand and Electrical Industry Training Organisations. The Board welcomes constructive input from these various groups and in particular acknowledges the support from the Energy Safety Service and Standards New Zealand with funding assistance to enable the AS/NZS 3000:2000 and the associated CD to be provided to every licensed worker free of charge. During the year the Board was visited by the Associate Minister of Energy, the Hon Harry Duynhoven. It is obvious to the Board that Mr Duynhoven has a clear grasp of the challenges faced by the industry and it is gratifying to know that we have a registered electrician as Associate Minister of Energy. Persons contravening the Electricity Act The Board is acutely aware of the concerns of the industry relating to electrical work carried out by non-registered people. In recent years it has not been a primary role of the EWRB to pursue unregistered workers. The Board mandate is the competency and safety of Registered and Licensed workers together with the safety of the public of New Zealand. Traditionally the industry sees the Board being responsible for both areas, but it is inappropriate for practitioners' licence fee revenue to be utilised in the pursuit of un-registered persons. In September 2002 the Board determined and announced that it was taking over the pursuit of non registered persons contravening the Electricity Act and the funding for this process is allocated from the Electricity Levy (together with other funding from the Board). As a result there are now more than fifty investigations and prosecutions in progress. Appreciation It has been a busy and fruitful year. I personally acknowledge the considerable work and dedication of the Board members. We have a proactive Board and I am proud to serve the Board as Presiding Member. We listen to your concerns and are available both as a collective and on an individual basis to hear your comments. The Board again wishes to acknowledge the excellent work of the staff of the Electrical Workers Licensing Group, Ministry of Economic Development; the service unit for the Board. Lastly, the Board expresses its sincere appreciation for the professional and quality services that it continues to receive from the Registrar Mr John Sickels and Board secretary Mrs Janine Anderson. Murray Willis, Presiding Member
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