Electrical Appliance Approvals

Every household in the state has a range of electrical appliances. An electrical appliance is any device which needs to be connected to the household electricity supply and includes such items as whitegoods, power tools, portable household appliances, and hot water services. Electrical appliances are manufactured locally or interstate, or imported from overseas.

In South Australia the sale of certain electrical products is controlled under the provisions of the Electrical Products Act 2000. The Office of the Technical Regulator, South Australia, is the approval Authority responsible for the administration of this Act.

The Electrical Products Act 2000 specifies a list of proclaimed electrical appliances which has evolved over time. These include appliances such as clothes dryers, washing machines, room heaters and electric blankets which have been involved in numerous fire and / or electric shock incidents. Because of their history of safety concerns, these appliances have been identified as 'high risk' and require pre-market approval before they can be sold. They must also carry an approval number to indicate their compliance with safety standards.

Approval is sought by producing a test report from a recognised laboratory, indicating compliance with the applicable Australian safety Standard or an overseas equivalent. These Standards set down the basic requirements the product must meet to be considered electrically safe. Typically these requirements include having levels of protection to guide against access to live parts, overheating from either normal operation or misuse, and fire propagation. If the report is acceptable, the Technical Regulator will then issue a certificate of approval which is generally valid for five years.

The Electrical Products Act 2000 requires the Technical Regulator to monitor failures of electrical products and, if necessary, to implement corrective action to remove any hazardous products from the market place.

This section provides information on the process for approval of electrical products, proclaimed products and list of test laboratories.