Electrical installation defects

Online defects list for electrical installation work

An online defects list is provided to assist the electrical industry to correctly record defects as required by the Electricity Safety (General) Regulations 2019 on Certificates of Inspection or Audit Forms.

The Defects list can be filtered by Defect Type and key words used to search the Defect Description.

Top 10 installation defects from prescribed certificate inspections

This table will be updated periodically. Latest update: November 2022.

Notes:

1. Defect ID 111018 Certificates of Electrical Safety – CoC errors identifies the amount of certificates returned by the LEI to the responsible person for certificate information/administration errors.
2. LEIs should contact ESV when a prescribed COES returned to the LEW/REC with defects and the LEW/REC has not actioned the rectification of those defects within 30 days. ESV will return the certificate to the LEI for certification as non-compliant.

Top 10 installation defects COES audits

This table will be updated periodically. Latest update: November 2022

Application

Where the electrical installation work being inspected and/or audited, does not comply with the minimum requirements of the relevant section of the Act, regulation or clause of the Standards, the defect number allocated to that particular section/regulation/clause must be identified on the Certificate of Inspection or the Audit Form.

Defect review

Where a Licensed Electrical Inspector has added defects to a Certificate of Inspection and the Licensed Electrical Worker or Responsible Person wish to appeal these defects, contact ESV’s COES Manager for consideration, including all evidence to support your appeal.

ESV can delete a defect from a Certificate of Inspection if the certificate has been returned to the LEW for rectification.

Note: Defects cannot be removed from completed COES and ESV does not cancel COES that have defects identified on the Certificate of Inspection.

Electrical installations work defects

The following criteria has been utilised to allocate the selection of ‘Unsafe’ defects in the defect list.

• Immediately unsafe: the ability for a person to make contact with exposed metal that may be live or may become live when energised where only one action is
  required by a person or animal to come into contact with those live parts; and,
• Any requirements of the Legislation and or Standards intended to protect persons and livestock from electric shock hazards that may arise from the use of an
  electrical installation.

An electrical installation or electrical installation work deemed unsafe by an Electrical Inspector or Electrical Auditor must be isolated from supply, or the individual circuit disconnected and made safe.

Defect documentation requirements

The description and location of each defect documented by an LEI during inspection or Auditor during an audit must be accurate, legible and in plain English.

To assist the LEI in preparing a valid defect description, the LEI should always use the text from the relevant clause or section of the document the LEI is defecting the installation on.

Examples:

Data collection

Data collected from defects identified on the Certificate of Inspection and completed audits will be used for future targeted education and training.

Note: ESV no longer provides descriptive content to each defect identified in the COES defect recording system.

Contact us

For advice and information about COES or using ESVConnect for COES, contact our COES team in the following ways:

• Contact form
• ‘Ask A Question’ in ESVConnect
• Email to coes@energysafe.vic.gov.au
• Call our COES team on 03 9203 9700 – select option 3.