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PLEASE NOTE: THIS OFFICE CATERS ONLY FOR SOUTH AUSTRALIAN BASED SUBMITTERS
South Australia's Electrical Products Act 2000
- Section 5 provides for two forms of appliance approval: electrical products safety approval and energy labelling for domestic appliances. The Office of the Technical Regulator, South Australia (OTR) is the approving authority for the current 56 classes of proclaimed products in South Australia. Reciprocal agreements apply between all Australian States and Territories so that product approvals given in one jurisdiction are recognised in all others.
The Electrical Products Act 2000 controls the sale, hire and advertising of electrical products proclaimed under the Act for electrical safety, energy labelling and minimum performance. Proclaimed products require approval by OTR or equivalent Approval Authority of another State.
Until formal approval is obtained it is illegal for any person to sell, let or hire, or offer, expose for sale or letting on hire, or advertise for sale or letting on hire any electrical product of a proclaimed class.
Section 8 of the Electrical Products Act 2000 empowers OTR to prohibit the sale of any article, whether of a proclaimed class or not, which is electrically unsafe or potentially hazardous.
This Act also requires electrical equipment offered for sale to comply with the minimum safety Standard. In addition, incidents which either may, or have resulted in electric shock or fire hazard from electrical appliances are investigated and action undertaken in accordance with the Act.
Applications to the OTR should relate only to equipment manufactured in, or imported directly into, South Australia. In other cases, the application should be made to the Approval Authority in the State of manufacture or first import.
Applications for approval by South Australian based submitters should be made to the Approvals Section of OTR, Level 8, ANZ Building, 11 Waymouth Street, Adelaide 5000. Electronic applications may be emailed to: DTEI:Electrical Approval Applications.
The approvals legislation makes it compulsory to apply for the approval of a proclaimed product. A non-proclaimed product may be submitted voluntarily for formal approval to assist in its acceptance by other authorities. Submissions for approval of a proclaimed or non-proclaimed product need to follow the guidelines in the notes preceding the application form, but in summary, shall consist of the application form, accompanied by:
The appliance approval application form is available for download as a pdf. Documentation may be submitted by email to DTEI:Electrical Approval Applications.
An application, report check and certification fee will apply, as does an hourly fee, which applies for the time required to examine the test report and ensure that it is accurate and complete, as detailed in the NOTES preceding the application form.
Applicants for approval are required to produce a test report confirming compliance with the relevant Australian/New Zealand Standard from an authorised local or overseas test establishment.
The Office of the Technical Regulator SA does not have a Product Test Laboratory facility.
The Office of the Technical Regulator SA is empowered to determine whether the appropriate tests have been conducted; however, for uniformity, all Approval Authorities require the application of the Standards Australia/ New Zealand series of Approval and Test Specifications.
The manufacture of approved equipment must be such that the product produced is identical with that originally approved. Any change in the design or in the materials or components of the equipment, constitutes a modification which must be submitted for examination and, if considered necessary by OTR, referred to a test laboratory for further testing.
The results detailed in the test report are referred to the Electrical Approvals Advisory Committee for its recommendation on the safety of the equipment. This recommendation is taken into account when considering whether approval should be granted or withheld.
The Electrical Approvals Advisory Committee includes persons recommended by the Chamber of Commerce and has representation from the industry, Electrical Contractors Association, Electrical Wholesalers' Association, supply authorities, electrical whitegoods manufacturers, NATA test laboratories and the University of South Australia.
A Certificate of Approval is issued when a product is approved.
An Approval marking is also allotted and the legislation requires this marking on each proclaimed product offered for sale, unless dispensation is given in this respect. This is seldom done, and only when a product is so small that such marking would be very difficult. The purpose of the approval marking is to enable each product to be recognised as being of an approved type.
Authorised Marking is also allotted which may be marked on each non-proclaimed product offered for sale so that it may be identified as being of an approved type.
When considering the purchase of any electrical equipment, consumers are encouraged to look for evidence of its approval or certification. This marking is normally in the form of an alpha-numeric "approval" mark which is required to be legibly and indelibly marked on the product, or in specific circumstances on the enclosing packaging. The approval mark for proclaimed products typically comprises between one and six digits preceded by a letter indicating the State of issue of the approval (eg S/543). A recent additional marking in the form of a symbol, The Regulatory Compliance Mark (RCM) is a voluntarily applied national mark intended to indicate compliance with applicable regulations. The format and details of the mark can be found at http://www.standards.com.au/rcm.
The 'AS mark' of Standards Australia is a separately licensed mark. Information should be obtained from that organisation.
All Australian States and Territories have similar legislation and rules on the approval of electrical equipment. There is provision in all legislation for reciprocal recognition of approvals granted in any one State.
Provided that approved equipment is marked with either the allotted Approvals Marking or Authorised Marking it will generally be accepted for connection to supply in all States, without any further action by the approval holder. Similarly, equipment approved in another State is accepted in South Australia.
The Electrical Products Act 2000 places responsibilities on approval holders in relation to maintenance of levels of safety, wrongful use of approvals marks, notification of modifications and changes of address. The Act provides for the withdrawal of approvals and the application of penalties for offences. It also gives authority for entrance to premises and inspection of goods by inspectors authorised to do so.
The manufacture of approved equipment must be such that the product produced is identical with that originally approved. Any change in the design or in the materials or components of the equipment, constitutes a modification which must be submitted for examination and, if considered necessary by OTR, referred to a test laboratory for further testing. The certificate or Continuation Sheets must be produced for endorsement to record the approval of the modification.
Approval holders are required to notify OTR of any change of address. The Electrical Products Regulations stipulate that this must be done within 21 days after the change.
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